My favorite loyalty program perk? The one that pays me back when my kid outgrows her clothes
After more than a decade of nonstop travel, I recently hit a point in my life where, all of a sudden, I was spending more on baby supplies than on plane tickets.
That's not to say I'm not traveling, or not traveling with my daughter. I am! But that baby stuff isn't cheap, and the things you need change and multiply constantly over the first couple of years.
Case in point: Clothes, which need to be swapped out every few months until your child turns 2. (Nobody mentions that hand-me-downs are essentially useless if your child isn't the same age in the same season or climate as the original wearer.)
Luckily, I've found a loyalty program that helps ease the sting of buying new clothes all the time: Rylee + Cru Collective.
Before I had my daughter, I used to make a mental note for "someday" when I saw children's clothing I really liked: well-made, fashion-forward but not over the top, and in a muted color palette that didn't make me feel overstimulated.
Turns out, 95% of it was from the same place: Rylee + Cru. The brand sells whimsical yet understated clothing pieces for kids of all ages, ranging from swimsuits to outerwear to pajamas and beyond — not to mention accessories, a handful of home and school items, and some adult clothing. Its parent company, the Rylee + Cru Collective, also encompasses baby basics brand Quincy Mae and occasionwear brand Noralee, and the three share a loyalty program.
Let's quickly address the elephant in the room: This stuff is expensive. The products are ethically made, the fabrics are premium quality, and the company operates on a giving-back principle it calls philanthro-capitalism. In other words, it's catnip to this Millennial shopaholic.
But that's exactly the reason I'm obsessed with Rylee + Cru's rewards program. It offers many ways to earn points that add up to meaningful discounts. Plus, the company runs a platform that allows you to sell your used items or trade them in for store credit, bringing costs down for both sellers and secondhand shoppers — and reducing their environmental impact, too.
Here's how it all works together.
How the Rylee + Cru loyalty program actually works
Rylee + Cru uses a points system for its rewards, and one thing I love about it is how many different ways it offers customers to earn. You can earn points for taking actions like following the brand on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook (30 points each), posting a product review (100 points, with a 50-point bonus for adding a photo and a 75-point bonus for adding a video), referring a friend (3,000 points) and more. Considering redemptions start at just 500 points, it doesn't take long for these actions to add up to real value.
Of course, you also earn points for spending money with the collective's three brands, and the rate at which you earn depends on your status tier. Base-level Enthusiasts earn 5 points per dollar spent, mid-tier Trendsetters and Icons earn 6 and 7 points per dollar, respectively, and top-level Insiders earn a whopping 10.
In addition to earning more points with higher status, you also gain access to new benefits, including upgrade bonuses, exclusive product drops and free shipping and returns. But as you can see in the chart below, even joining for free as an Enthusiast is lucrative.
| VIP status tiers | How to qualify | Earnings rate | Birthday perk | Upgrade tier bonus | Other benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enthusiast | Free | 5 points per dollar spent | $10 Collective Cash | - |
|
Trendsetter | Unlocked at $500 lifetime spend | 6 points per dollar spent | $30 Collective Cash | 100 points |
|
Icon | Unlocked at $1,000 lifetime spend | 7 points per dollar spent | $40 Collective Cash | 150 points |
|
Insider | Unlocked at $3,500 annual spend | 10 points per dollar spent | $60 Collective Cash | - |
|
What I love about Rylee + Cru's tiers is that with the exception of the top Insider status, which requires $3,500 in yearly spending to unlock, you're not required to requalify — and as someone who jumps through hoops every year to hit the annual spending threshold for United MileagePlus status, that's a relief. Instead, your status is based on lifetime spend, and if I'm being honest, I hit the $1,000 needed for Icon within a year of my daughter's birth (they grow quickly that first year, OK?!).
How much are Rylee + Cru points worth?
Once you've racked up some points, redemptions are pretty straightforward. As you can see in the table below, you can cash them out as coupons at a flat rate of 1 cent per point, provided your shopping basket hits the minimum, which is not difficult to do at a store like this one. With this flat rate, you're not incentivized to hang on to them to score a larger discount later, which is great, since I find myself trying to knock money off every receipt before I have to explain to my husband what I've done.
| Redemption option | Shopping basket minimum | Points cost | Redemption rate |
|---|---|---|---|
$5 off coupon | $50 | 500 | 1 cent per point |
$10 off coupon | $50 | 1,000 | 1 cent per point |
$15 off coupon | $50 | 1,500 | 1 cent per point |
$20 off coupon | $50 | 2,000 | 1 cent per point |
$25 off coupon | $50 | 2,500 | 1 cent per point |
$30 off coupon | $50 | 3,000 | 1 cent per point |
$35 off coupon | $100 | 3,500 | 1 cent per point |
$40 off coupon | $100 | 4,000 | 1 cent per point |
$50 off coupon | $100 | 5,000 | 1 cent per point |
$60 off coupon | $120 | 6,000 | 1 cent per point |
15% off coupon | n/a | 3,000 | More than 1 cent per point on purchases over $200 |
There's one key exception: The 3,000-point opportunity to snag 15% off. While 3,000 points would normally get you a $30 coupon, if your order total is more than $200, you'll come out ahead by applying the percentage discount instead. In the past, I've used it to save as much as $60.60 on a new-season haul, which is more than double the savings I would have gotten if I'd redeemed for the $30 coupon.
With this redemption structure in mind, let's go back and review the earnings rates one more time. As an Icon, I earn 7 points per dollar, which I can cash out for at least 1 cent per point for a baseline 7% return on spending. And each time I spend $428.57, I unlock 15% off my next order.
Related: From 'free' alterations to bonus Notes: How to maximize the Nordstrom Nordy Club
My favorite under-the-radar Rylee + Cru perk
But it gets better. Rylee + Cru lets you resell or trade in the items you've purchased from the site for store credit. Let that sink in. Those old, too-small clothes I'm getting rid of anyway? They're taking money off my next purchase.
You can consign your items through the company's sales platform, Treet, which takes a 20% cut from all cash payouts. But my personal favorite tactic is the trade-in. Treet integrates directly with your order history, so all you have to do is click the items you want to send in, answer a few quality questions, apply a prepaid shipping label and send the items on their way. As soon as they're approved, you'll get an electronic credit for 100% of the resale price (or more, during promos) that you can instantly apply toward new items.
I know what you're thinking. What are the chances of items actually getting approved after they've been used by a baby or toddler? Higher than you'd think. I've managed to trade in items that were stained, missing buttons — you name it. Those lower-quality items typically net me $5 in credit, but that's not nothing. And rest assured: Many of my payouts have been much higher. I'm often able to score 25% of my purchase price, and sometimes close to 30% on items I purchase on sale.
Treet credits can also stack with holiday and end-of-season sales, where discounts range from 20% to 40%.
My last trade-in looked like this: I sent back seven items, ranging from tights to sweaters to headbands, and, because of an April trade-in promo, received a $72.05 credit equal to 110% of their resale value. I applied it to an order during the Mother's Day sale in May, where I got eight items that made up the core of my daughter's summer wardrobe. Four of those items were on sale for 20% off, and I redeemed 2,500 points for another $25 off. Instead of the full retail price of $323, my total was $268.60, and with the trade-in credit, just $196.55 was charged to my credit card. I also earned 7 points per dollar for 1,880 points, worth a minimum of $18.80, and I can reasonably expect to trade most of those items back in for money off my next purchase. (And that doesn't even include the return I got from using a credit card that maximizes retail spending.)
Related: The best credit cards for online shopping
Of course, the loyalty program comes with some restrictions. Points expire after a year, which doesn't affect me as a parent who continually buys new items as my daughter grows. If you have viable hand-me-downs or shop less frequently for another reason, though, it's important to note.
Who should actually join Rylee + Cru's loyalty program
As you can see, if you maximize the opportunities this loyalty program has to offer, you can bring Rylee + Cru prices down from the stratosphere to a level that feels much easier to justify for items with a short shelf life.
At the end of the day, though, it still won't be for everybody, especially if price is your primary lens. Despite all the discount opportunities, you'll still likely save more money by doing all your shopping at Carter's.
I encourage you to take a look at this loyalty program if you buy in bulk seasonally, constantly get rid of outgrown clothes, or simply find joy in having the tiniest fashionista at daycare. I know I do.
Bottom line
Rylee + Cru doesn't appear to participate in any shopping portals like Rakuten or AAdvantage eShopping, so you can't stack your rewards beyond the points you'll earn through its loyalty program and your credit card. However, the points I earn through Rylee + Cru Collective Rewards, alongside the VIP status perks and trade-in credits I receive, create meaningful savings for my family.
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