Green plan: Use a swap site

Little boys, especially growing three year olds, go through a lot of clothes. I've been pretty lucky that I've been given hand me downs for my son since birth and haven't had to spend much money on items for him. Each season I take inventory on what he needs and doesn't need and keep a ColorNote in my phone in case stores have a big sale or if I am at the consignment shops.

As of late, he has plenty of 3T shorts and jeans/pants, in fact, he's can still fit in most of his 2T shorts because he's a skinny bugger. What's he's lacking is long sleeve fall shirts/sweaters and even pajamas.

Enter ThredUp, an online swap exchange for kids clothes, toys and books. How it works is you sign-up and pick a box for $5 (plus $10.95 shipping), then list a box and then when someone picks your box, you send it. It's easy to sign up, especially if you have a Facebook account already.

I found out about ThredUp through a recent deal with Plum District, a discount site offer deals for moms. They were offering get two boxes for the price of one and of course I couldn't pass up the deal so I joined ThredUp, browsed  and picked two boxes that included mostly long sleeve, fall shirts.  Within a week, my boxes arrived! I was so giddy!

ThredUp bounty

Twenty items! Clean, in good condition and exactly what my son needed, all for $15! They were tightly rolled in a USPS priority box.

Here are some tips on picking out items:

• Boxes come either mostly tops, mostly bottoms or a mix with icon for what season they would be suited best for
• Sometimes it will list if there is a specialty item such as a costume, shoes or holiday outfits
• Read the description very carefully. Good listers will include the brand names, sizes.
• When in doubt, ask questions.

Tips for listing:

• Be descriptive as possible.  List the name brands and color schemes.
• When stuffing the box, roll the items neatly in the priority box
• Once you list it on ThredUp, make sure you let your social networks know too

I listed my box but haven't had any bites on it! Happy swapping!