One way to save money on school clothes is to hold a clothing swap with other parents. It is kind of like a “free” yard sale for clothing and other items your kids may not need anymore because they have grown out of them, along with getting to “shop” your friend’s giveaways. How do you hold a clothes swap? In this post, I will show you how easy it is to hold one of your own and maybe even make it an annual event!
1. You will need a place to hold your swap. The size of the place will depend on how many people you intend to invite. A small swap could be held in a garage or basement, while a larger one needs more room. If you need to find a place to hold it, but don’t have a lot of money, most public libraries have community rooms for things like this for free or very cheap or you could check with churches in your area.
2. Decide what kinds of items will be allowed at the swap. Is it just for clothing for kids? Adults? Will you also be allowing house wares or other items? Whatever you decide, have everyone who comes bring a table to display items on and come up with some guidelines such as:
- No clothing with stains, holes or tears
- No broken items. All items up for swap much be in good working order.
- No items missing pieces.
3. To get a buzz going about your swap, share with friends, but also consider making a face book group or page. There, you can keep swappers updated on swap times, rules, and changes. To create a great buzz, consider putting up flyers in supermarkets in your area, school bulletins and even in newspapers.
4. Have everyone who is interested in going sign up. This way you will know there will be enough for everyone and make a rule that a minimum number of items must be brought to each swap.
5. To avoid greed in the swaps, have someone checking to make sure people are bringing the required amount of items to each swap.
6. Set up tables in sections: clothing sizes, gender of clothes, house wares, etc. This way people who are “shopping” will know exactly how to find what they are looking for.
7. If you have a lot of interest, and little space, try doing swaps with once certain items on certain days. For instance, you could do kid’s clothes the first week of the month, women’s clothes the second week and so on.
8. Encourage help. Have a start time after everything is displayed. No one is allowed to shop until everything is set up. Those that show up early, are given a head start on shopping, by say 2 minutes.
9. Have a plan for leftovers. Call local charities that may be willing to take leftover items off your hands. That way, no one has to halu their old stuff home.
10. Have fun. Make sure people agree to the rules to begin with to ensure everyone has a good time and goes home with some new treasures.
Have you ever organized or been involved in a clothing swap? Leave us your tips or experience in the comments!
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