Idea for thrift stores

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earlnabby
earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
in Motivation and Support
Wouldn't tit be great if thrift stores offered a swap option? What I mean by this is, you can take home a similar garment for one that you bring in, like a pair of pants for a pair, T shirt for a T, etc. It would be great for those of us who are losing, and it would bring in more traffic which is likely to generate more donations and purchases in addition to the swap.

Probably never happen, but I think it would be wonderful.

Replies

  • Bri_Becq
    Bri_Becq Posts: 146 Member
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    In THEORY, that sounds great. HOWEVER, not everyone takes such good care of their clothes so... That would be the issue. But that would be amazing! Save TONS of money!
  • emmietoby
    emmietoby Posts: 171 Member
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    ooohhh i would love it!! i always shop at thrift stores . can't remember when i ever paid full price for anything !! in fact i buy my christmes persents all year long if i see a good deal i get it. it's all new things that i buy for gifts when they have been marked down... in fact i have gotten some uniforms the other day i have gone from a 2x to a large.
  • JGT2004
    JGT2004 Posts: 231 Member
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    I don't know where you live but I just learned of this website in the US call gwynniebee.com that lets you "rent" clothes. You subscribe and can get 3 - 5 items at a time, wear them as many times as you like and then just send back and they send you the next items on your list. Sounds a lot like Netflix for clothes to me. Great idea if you need dressier items and are losing weight. Or if you work in a professional field and wear a lot of nicer dresses. They seem to have some decent brands. Their sizes are 10 - 32 I believe.
  • GuyIncognito123
    GuyIncognito123 Posts: 263 Member
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    And stores need to make money - even charity ones.
  • amethyst7986
    amethyst7986 Posts: 223 Member
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    We have a SWAP facebook page for my office. There are over 100 employees here and many of us with children and some that are loosing weight too. We sell/trade/give away everything from clothes to furniture and sometimes offer services like baby sitting, lawncare or home improvement things.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    That sounds like such a cool idea. Unfortunately though it would probably turn into a nightmare for the store clerks, and some shoppers would try to take advantage of it by bringing in ratty clothes and trying to trade them for nicer items. I am a huge fan of thrift stores but I can see myself avoiding stores that had a policy like that because it would probably be a nightmare trying to check out behind some freak with a giant bag of Walmart Faded Glory stuff.
  • Scott_2025
    Scott_2025 Posts: 201 Member
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    If the thrift shop doesn't make any money they will not be open long. So, trading will not work in the long run....
  • chubby_checkers
    chubby_checkers Posts: 2,353 Member
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    I don't know where you live but I just learned of this website in the US call gwynniebee.com that lets you "rent" clothes. You subscribe and can get 3 - 5 items at a time, wear them as many times as you like and then just send back and they send you the next items on your list. Sounds a lot like Netflix for clothes to me. Great idea if you need dressier items and are losing weight. Or if you work in a professional field and wear a lot of nicer dresses. They seem to have some decent brands. Their sizes are 10 - 32 I believe.

    I was coming here to post this. I've looked into it, but can't justify the monthly fee.
  • logicman69
    logicman69 Posts: 1,034 Member
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    The Musical Instrument store I used to work at did this. You could bring in your old guitar or amp and trade it towards new gear. It did work good in practice, but there is a downside. You never get what they are worth. Picture paying $100 for a good pair of jeans, then you bring them to the store and they offer you $10 for them... that's probably about what you would get. You would be pissed and would likely never go back there after being "insulted" with their offer. I've seen it happen so many times. It sounds good on paper, but I don't see it working IRL.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    One thing I would love, which one store in my area KIND OF does...would be a small credit in exchange for your donation. There is a thrift store in my area that gives you a coupon for 20% off your next purchase when you make a donation of items. I wish it worked a little differently, like when I bring in a huge trash bag of really nice clothing or a nicer small furniture item, I might get a $5 or even $10 (depending on value of my donations) credit toward my next purchase...but if I just brought in like 3-4 paperbacks and some random coffee mugs I'd get 50 cents off...something like that would draw me in.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    And stores need to make money - even charity ones.

    In theory, the extra traffic would up sales. People would shop and purchase in addition to the swap.

    ( I know, it's a pipe dream)
  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
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    If you're in the Montpelier VT area, my college (Norwich University) ran a 'Drop N Swap' drive. Its over one of the very few 3 day weekends our college gave us.

    One day you drop off your unwanted clothes, voluteers sort through everything and lay it out. Then you can go back and grab new stuff. The leftover items were then donated to somewhere else (I dont remember where).

    I helped sort one year. It was kinda neat lol
  • civilizedworm
    civilizedworm Posts: 796 Member
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    You could try:

    https://www.freecycle.org

    "Welcome! The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 5,143 groups with 7,665,684 members around the world. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on 'Browse Groups' above the search box. Have fun!"
  • JG762
    JG762 Posts: 571 Member
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    Wouldn't tit be great if thrift stores offered a swap option? What I mean by this is, you can take home a similar garment for one that you bring in, like a pair of pants for a pair, T shirt for a T, etc. It would be great for those of us who are losing, and it would bring in more traffic which is likely to generate more donations and purchases in addition to the swap.

    Probably never happen, but I think it would be wonderful.

    Horrible idea... the store would be broke and closed in a matter of a weeks....
    If you want free clothes why not try a church, they might let you trade?
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    One thing I would love, which one store in my area KIND OF does...would be a small credit in exchange for your donation. There is a thrift store in my area that gives you a coupon for 20% off your next purchase when you make a donation of items. I wish it worked a little differently, like when I bring in a huge trash bag of really nice clothing or a nicer small furniture item, I might get a $5 or even $10 (depending on value of my donations) credit toward my next purchase...but if I just brought in like 3-4 paperbacks and some random coffee mugs I'd get 50 cents off...something like that would draw me in.

    Yeah, Goodwill in my area does that any time you make a donation. Kohls (at least in my area which is the corporate headquarters location) will run specials where you get a 20% off coupon to their store for each donation to Goodwill that you bring in.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    You could try:

    https://www.freecycle.org

    "Welcome! The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 5,143 groups with 7,665,684 members around the world. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on 'Browse Groups' above the search box. Have fun!"

    I freecycle. I got my carpet cleaner that way and I freecycled an ancient CRT television.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    Wouldn't tit be great if thrift stores offered a swap option? What I mean by this is, you can take home a similar garment for one that you bring in, like a pair of pants for a pair, T shirt for a T, etc. It would be great for those of us who are losing, and it would bring in more traffic which is likely to generate more donations and purchases in addition to the swap.

    Probably never happen, but I think it would be wonderful.

    Horrible idea... the store would be broke and closed in a matter of a weeks....
    If you want free clothes why not try a church, they might let you trade?

    Nobody is looking for anything free. You would have had to pay for the item you are trading, wouldn't you?
  • ThinLizzie0802
    ThinLizzie0802 Posts: 863 Member
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    I work at a resale boutique and you can just keep the money you get from bringing your stuff in on the books to be put towards your purchases in the store. Plus they second week of the month they do 25% off, then 50% off the third, then 75% off the fourth, then the first week is a sales break, and it starts all over. That's to keep the inventory fresh and move your items quickly. Works well, and a ton of the consignors just reshop at the store.
  • JG762
    JG762 Posts: 571 Member
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    Wouldn't tit be great if thrift stores offered a swap option? What I mean by this is, you can take home a similar garment for one that you bring in, like a pair of pants for a pair, T shirt for a T, etc. It would be great for those of us who are losing, and it would bring in more traffic which is likely to generate more donations and purchases in addition to the swap.

    Probably never happen, but I think it would be wonderful.

    Horrible idea... the store would be broke and closed in a matter of a weeks....
    If you want free clothes why not try a church, they might let you trade?

    Nobody is looking for anything free. You would have had to pay for the item you are trading, wouldn't you?

    That's the only possible way it would work which is essentially how it works now, take your old clothes into the store and they will give you a store credit for them then you pick out the new clothes and pay for them.
    No muss no fuss, done.

    Edit; Yeah what she just said ^^^^. LoL

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