Swapping: It's the new shopping!

My aunts in Santa Barbara often had monthly garage sales in their driveways and front lawns. They were happy if they sold about $100 worth of merchandise all day.

One of my aunt's often sold dresses she wore only once or twice. It didn't bother her if she sold a dress she bought the month before for only 20 or 30 percent of what she paid for it.

Frankly, I thought they were wasting their time, but I knew they enjoyed doing their garage and lawn sales.

A few years, I decided to give it a try. I was moving out of a large, two-bedroom apartment in Thousand Oaks, not sure where I woud live and work next. I'd have to put my things in storage for awhile. So I placed a four-day ad in the Thousand Oaks News Chronicle, listing a few things I wanted to sell.

My garage sale went very well. I sold things I never dreamed any one else would want to buy.

For instance, I sold 15 pressed wood bookcases I bought for $30 each about 10 years earlier. assembling each one. My price: $50 each. No problem! They sold fast.

I gave almost all of my books and old magazines to the Thousand Oaks Public Library. A beautiful young mom and her young daughter came by to get them. There were 25 or 30 book boxes filled with my books, which went back to my high school days in the 1950's! The mother and daughter made several trips to and from the library that day.

I didn't want to part with them because they were like old friends to me, but I couldn't keep lugging them around. I still miss my physics text book and my novels by Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and Thomas Mann. Sometimes I want to read a passage in one of them and walk over to my two current bookcases, then realize I no longer have them. That makes me sad!

A local disc jockey stopped by. He hosted a jazz show in the Conejo Valley that I often listened to. I told him I really didn't want to sell my jazz and big band LP's but suggested he browse through them. He found six albums he liked and offered me $100 in cash. I accepted.

I gave dozens of magazine boxes filled with old model railroad magazines to the Simi Valley Model Railroad Club. I had been collecting these magazines since the 1960's. Some even went back to the late 1930's and early 1940's. One of the club members came by to pick them up. He was ecstatic when he saw how extensive my collection was. He packed them neatly into book boxes he brought with him, handling each magazine box with kid gloves. He couldn't thank me enough!

My aunts and uncles and cousins drove down on Saturday and Sunday to help out. They were amazed! My ad really paid off! My furniture and other items I no longer wanted sold at what I thought were fair prices.

On Sunday evening, I counted how much money I took in. The total was $3,300. I was amazed, but my aunts and uncles were flabbergasted!

I took my relatives out for dinner....

At MakeupAlley.com, we swap cosmetics, clothing, and other items. I know the idea of swapping used makeup is disgusting to some, but each swapper can set her own rules, so if you don't want to swap for used mascara (which is dangerous) or other items, just say so. If you want to swap for only new unused items, you can do that too. It's a good way to get rid of those items in gifts with purchases you'll never use, as well as other things.

This is not a new concept! I own The Kids Closet, Illinois' largest children's resale store in Rochester, IL and we have been accepting items kids have outgrown in exchange for store credit for years. Moms can use the store credit to purchase things to fit their kids now. If you're keen on swap shopping, check out a reputable resale or consignment store, one that is a member of the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops.

I love to bargain hunt and than upgrade through a lot of swapping, I got my first car for practically $20.00 even though it took a lot of time and swapping but it was a ton of fun. Lately I have hit the garage sales as the economy has detoriated and sites like: http://www.garagesalestracker.com have seen the advent of being able to search for specific goods that I know are hot and selling for top dollar or trade at the moment.

I don't necessarily see meetup as a relevant swap site, I think a flea market finder or directory may be more appropriate as they are often called "swap meets" to me thats relating a sports site like: http://www.cooperspick.com to thrifting. However, I do think sites like u-exchange.com and favorpals.com are beneficial to the readers.

Swapping is shopping and the new economy reflects it. Next thing you know individuals will resort to anything to put food on the table. the rise of garage sales in the past 2 years has been unprecedented, its always sunny in Philadelphia is exploiting the crisis, http://www.cooperspick.com, is hurting the casinos, and http://www.swaptree.com is exchanging old videogames and making mother nature a little bit greener...