Tell Me About Tuesday - Clothing Swaps

"What's this?" you say. A TMAT post? And about swapping no less?! Yes, as promised, here is my post about swapping.

It's no surprise that since making a complete career change from being in the Air Force to being a stay at home mom, my fun allowance money has dropped dramatically. It makes running a blog about shopping and fashion fairly challenging. That is until I discovered the world of online swapping.

How did I find this magical world? After the last ModCloth Stylish Surprise round, I had a few items that I wasn't fond of but didn't want to donate, so I asked on the ModCloth facebook page where the swap groups were. I ended up joining 2 of them and they have changed my shopping life.

It's no surprise that I have more dresses and skirts than I will ever wear, and with my weight fluctuations there are quite a few that have only been worn once or twice (or not at all and now don't fit). Instead of crying over the wasted money, I just swap them and get something that I will more likely wear, and all I had to do was pay the cost of shipping. The 2 groups I'm in are mostly ModCloth focused groups but you are allowed to swap any clothes. The ModCloth stuff usually swaps quicker.

How It Works:
In order to keep the page less cluttered, they require that you post all your items to an outside source (pinterest, poshmark, tumblr, etc.) and then post the link to that site with the items on it that you are wanting to swap. For my board, I use pinterest because I already had an account and it seemed to be the most popular one for this sort of thing. There's more info on building your board further down. When posting, there are typically hashtags that you use in your post as well so others can quickly identify what size you're swapping, but they are group specific so be sure to read the 101 document once you're in the group

Once you post your board, with the appropriate hashtags, the other ladies will comment with what item they are interested in and a link to their board. You browse through what they have and if you find something that you like and think would be a fair trade, you private message them and see if they're willing. You can also exchange measurements and such on the items so it's more likely you'll get something that fits. Once you work out all the details and agree on the swap, you exchange addresses and each pay the cost of shipping on your end.

Building Your Board:
The majority of items that I swap (and that get swapped in the groups I'm in) are from ModCloth or eShakti. I find the items (you can usually get them from your order history if those items aren't available anymore), and pin the stock photo to my pinterest swap board. Then I edit the description to include the size, condition, and sometimes measurements if fits small or big. If there's an item I'm going to be picky on it gets labeled "limited".  If it's a non-ModCloth/eShakti item or I can't find a stock photo, I just take a picture of the actual item and pin it to the board. For reference, here is my actual swap board.

Shipping:
Since I hate standing in line at the post office, I handle shipping almost primarily with flat rate padded envelopes. I order them online from USPS.com by the cubic ton (maybe a slight exaggeration) for FREE. Then I just purchase the postage online ($5.70 per padded flat rate envelope) and tape it to the envelope. Then I either drop it at the Post Office's dropbox, or schedule a pickup. Easy peasy!

Swaplifting:
Are there dangers to swapping? Absolutely. There are dishonest people that occasionally get into these groups and do some "swaplifting" (you send your item and they never send theirs because it's likely they never had the item in the first place). I personally have been a victim of this, and it really sucks. So I've had to start taking precautions when swapping with people I've never swapped with. The first thing I do is check the groups feedback doc to see if anyone has had a successful swap with them before. If there isn't anything on the feedback doc, I'll purchase and print the postage for the item and provide them with tracking, but I won't actually drop the package off until they have provided a tracking number to me. That way, if they never send you the item, you're only out $5.70, and not the whole item. The moderators in the groups try really hard to spot these people (and if you're suspicious, let them know immediately) and remove them so they can't hurt too many people.

That's pretty much the rundown of swapping. I want to reiterate that this is how the particular groups I'm in work, but it seems it's fairly common, and I think it's pretty efficient. I'd also like to point out that these are swap groups not sell groups (although I'm in some of those too) so posting for sale only boards will get your post deleted. You have to be open to swapping because that's kinda the point!

One added bonus I've found is that you tend to swap with the same people over and over (because you're the same-ish size) and those people may very well become your good friends. I haven't been doing it long, but I've met some fantastic women who I now call friends. 

The first group I'm in, and the one I use most often is Fashion Swap: Clothes, Deals, Advice, and More.  The second group I'm in is Clothing Swap Group. I've also had pretty good success there. Both groups have great moderators that keep the groups safe, fun, and drama free.

If you have any other questions that I didn't cover in this crazy long blog post, let me know, and I'll try to answer them!

Happy Swapping!