Trade your babe’s clothes up with ThredUP

I recently received an invitation to become a founding member of thredUP kids and want to share the link with you guys.

Heather and I are big proponents of the adult clothing swap, and have brought kids clothes to our swaps, but never had enough focus on kids to organize that piece of it. At our swaps, it’s usually just a big pile of hand-me-downs that the women who are moms can go through when they are done outfitting themselves. So I was intrigued when thredUp, an online facilitator of clothing swaps announced they are launching a kids channel.

thredUP kids is a new site that combines aspects of Netflix, eBay, and even StubHub to allow you to exchange your kids clothing online, swapping with strangers. The website, launching in just a few weeks, aims to make clothing your child easier. Sign-up here for a chance to swap your first box for free (a $20 value.):

Here’s how the thredUP kids “community” works:

1) Sorta like Netflix, thredUP members browse and choose boxes of clothes they’d like to receive. For example, a box of snow clothes for a 2 year old, or maybe just an assortment for a 12-month old.

2) Similar to eBay, you build and upload virtual boxes of clothes (10 + items/box) that are available for selection. No pictures, no detailed descriptions, just a simple overview of a box of gently worn items (e.g. “Size 3T, Boys, Pants & Jeans, Gap, Target & Old Navy).

3) Then like StubHub, thredUP enables and manages exchanges. The website facilitates exact matches and ensures quality.They don’t take possession of the clothing, as thredUP is strictly peer-to-peer. You’ll pay online for the swap and they send you empty boxes to ship off your items. Zero trips to the post office.

You can also set up circles of friends with whom you want to swap – in case the stranger thing is not for you.

Note: thredUP also allows parents to just sell or buy on the site, as they recognize not everyone is a swapper.

I personally have access to several excellent second-hand children’s stores where I save tons of money buying gently used clothes. If you don’t, perhaps you will be an avid user of thredUp. What do you think of the idea?