Don't Shop - Swap!: Tip-of-the-Day #128

REIN IN YOUR SHOPPING HABITS AND START SWAPPING

Have you been trying to rein in your shopping during this "recession"? Well, one way to do it but still enjoy the feeling of getting something "new" is to swap gently used or even new clothing online!

A number of sites are catering to this need at the moment and swapstyle.com, rehashclothes.com and dignswap.com are just a few that people are talking about and are free to use.

All it takes is a camera and access to the web to start swapping. So, if you’ve been holding on to your Benetton sweater collection thinking they’ll come into style again, maybe it’s time to purge. I just did! As long as your stuff is in pretty good condition and the size is accurate to the label (i.e., you didn’t throw your wool in the wash rendering it unwearable by humans), you’re good to go!

Each site has a rating system (like eBay, Amazon, etc.) and that makes it a little easier to trust the deal that you are eyeing...

swapstyle.com is based in Australia, so if you want to receive your “swap” inside this Gregorian calendar year, you may want to only swap with U.S. members. At rehashclothes.com, the site guides shoppers with simple navigation, like “popular categories,” which makes it easier to dip your toe in before diving. dignswap.com is the simplest site of the three mentioned here, but is still working out some of its early kinks.

I went to all three to do a quick search for some of my favorites – Velvet, Free People and 501’s – and didn’t find anything worth setting up an account for at the moment. That said, I’ll bet you can find new things cropping up all the time and you probably have to act fast. If nothing else, it’s a fun way to move tired stuff out of your closet and into someone else’s!