Getting Started

So the other day I was cleaning out my daughter's closet and realized how fast she grows out of her clothes. I mean, some of the outfits are brand new, she's just never had the chance to wear them! So I think of my options, donate them to a thrift store, save them for when the weather gets better and I can have a garage sale, or try to sell them on Craigslist. All three options are great and I've tried them all in the past, but I don't get much out of it and the work you put into it doesn't match what you get in return.

I start thinking about what would make it worth it. Wouldn't it be nice if I could take her clothes somewhere and trade them for clothes that would fit her now. An even trade, I get what she needs and someone else will be able to go there and get what they need. No money involved, no garage sales, no waiting for tax time to get my donation tax break and no need to wait for someone to email me interested in haggling over pennies to buy my stuff.

What do you call a place like this? A Trading Post! But there isn't one out here that I know of, just a lot of thrift stores and other stores that sell used kid stuff. They'll take your donations and they'll SELL you what they have, but I don't know of one that will do a dollar for dollar trade on items. Why? Because they have to pay for the store space or other programs that the money funds.

So here is my solution! Start a Kids Clothing Trading Post out of my home! All items will be assigned a value of between $1 - $5 and you can trade dollar for dollar. If you see something you like and don't have something to trade for it, you can buy it. On the other hand, if you don't see anything you want but have items to trade, you can either take them back with you or trade them for credit. Then you'll be able to come back on a later date and check out the ever changing inventory!

To start I've posted an "Items Wanted" ad on http://www.craigslist.org/ for the Kitsap County area asking for parents to "donate" their child's gently used clothing to help start this trading post. I've decided to collect both boys and girls clothing sizes 0-5 years. Once I've collected enough items, I'll post it on the internet and in other various places around the community that the trading post is open.

So if you're reading this blog and you have some clothing that you would like to donate, please email me at michele.evans@wavecable.com and I'll come and pick them up!

Thanks for reading and I hope to post that "We've Opened!" real soon!

Michele Evans