Swapping It Up with Swapdom

I am HUGE fan of consignment and secondhand finds.  I could blame it on the fact that money is super-tight in our family, and we simply don’t have the option of buying firstclass every time the kids need a new summer outfit or are lusting after a new toy. But the truth is, it’s the thrill.  It’s the thrill of finding something we need for way less than retail.  It’s the excitement of scoring stuff for cheap and making our budget stretch.

I have long loved on yard sales, outgrown sales, and consignment shops.  Then last summer a funny thing came into our world: the power of an online yardsale.  Through a local Facebook group, I posted the items my family no longer needed, while actively trolling for things we did.  I sold a ton.  I also bought a ton.  I was fine with this.  My conclusion?  If it evened out at the end of the day and “trading” things we didn’t need for things we did, it was success.  Also, I give myself props here for being rather “green”.

In fact, what I was doing was a “swap”. It wasn’t officially called this, but I was selling outgrown items so I could buy things we were growing into.  It was a trade.  A swap of items.

And then I went and discovered Swapdom.  How does this site work?  In short, you post an item you no longer want, find an item on the site you do want and request an exchange.  The site’s tagline, “Waste not, want lots”, says it all.

The advantage of Swapdom over a local online yardsaling site?  It’s not local.  It’s not limited by location at all, actually.  And there is no money exchange.  You post an item, indicate what you are willing to trade for it, and Swapdom finds matches within their network to get you what you want.

There is no person-to-person limiting.  Have a kids’ backpack you want to unload, but craving a JCrew cross-body bag?  Swapdom can make it happen. With the power of their nation-wide network, they aren’t limited to in-person matches. They can create swap circles, so a whole group of people can get something they are looking for through through one swap.

While I have enough kids’ gear and fashion loot to trade for a long time, I am happy to see Swapdom introduce their new Home Goods sector.  As the Person-Who-Has-Never-Really-Paid-Attention-to-Her-Decor, it is time I started trading in some of the items that don’t really fit in our home for items that do. I’m pretty giddy see what finds await me.

You see, when my husband and I were initially starting to build a home, we had no real sense of what the style of our house would someday be.  We got some lovely items, but they were items that, for whatever reason, don’t fit the home we ended up creating.  Now I am left looking to exchange them for some things that would suit our home a bit better.

I’ve got a lot of posting to do, but to start off, I listed three items.

I posted a gorgeous wood-framed wine cork-board that I just haven’t found the right place for:

This vase is gorgeous. My children would break it in a millisecond if I put it out.

These shelves? Adorable. Each large enough to fit a wine bottle behind a bar for display.  Except I don’t have a bar in my house to display anything behind…

So, sure, if somebody wants to snatch up one of these items so I can score a groovy bag to sport at BlogU retro prom?  Yes, I’m game! That is my favorite part of Swapdom: I can trade in something I don’t want (any category) for something I do want (read: cute accessories for Mom to splurge on herself?).

I had a lot of questions when first navigating Swapdom; it’s a new and different concept for sure.  But I was so thankful for the direction of Turi, the Most Swap-Savvy Employee of Swapdom.  She was kind and patient as I delved into all the intricacies of online swapping, the sweet world that it is.

I love that I have this option for my family and that I can trade in no-longer-needed goods for things that we do need.  What a creative and innovative way to put the power of online connecting to work.

Go check Swapdom out.  I’m excited to see the finds Swapdom brings to my family and tickled to hear about all the fun stuff it brings your way too!

*****Many thanks to Swapdom for sponsoring this post, but my enthusiasm for this site is 100% original!****

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Meredith

Meredith blogs at The Mom of the Year, where she dedicatedly earns her title one epic parenting fail at a time, offering quick, relatable laughs for fellow parents and all their empathizers. She has been part of several best-selling anthologies, featured on prominent sites such as Huffington Post, In the Powder Room and BlogHer, and loves her role as the Executive VP/Operations Manager of The BlogU Conference. When she's not breaking up fights over Legos and juice boxes, she remains fully committed to sharing a less serious look at the world of parenting.

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