I love the idea of the Swoondle to, so I appreciate the business design and thought that went into this creative clothing swap model. The Swoondle Society was one of the sponsors for our 2019 Baby and Family Expo and let me try it for free (it’s only $5 to try it so no biggy there), but this is still all my real opinion.
The model is pretty smart. They send you a tyvek bag with cute designs and you just put in what you want to trade and flip over the label. Super easy. After you send it in they process your trade-in and assign a value to what you sent in.
Cute trade-in bag
We sent in two dresses, some shoes, and some brand new footy pajamas… at least I think they were new because no one here ever wore them but they may have been second hand already. I purposely sent in things that were a variety of conditions and brands to see what would happen. Not sure what was wrong, but that apparently the pajamas were marked “Grab bag” which is only partial credit.
Our trade-in report
Then comes the fun part–the shopping. The selection was really big. There were a lot of things to choose from for babies to about 5 and then not quite as many for older kids, but still some good things. As we didn’t have a lot of credit from our trade-in, we had to be modest with our selections. The Swoondle Society gives you credit for your trade-in based on quality, brand, and condition and then you use those credits to select items.
Shopping time… this is what we used our credit for
I picked some shoes with laces so we could practice tying. The clothes were about the same as the clothes you would get at any clothing swap, but I didn’t have to take the time to go anywhere. I think the biggest plus about the Swoondle Society is not going to a clothing swap. It is certainly more environmentally friendly than getting new clothes and you can shop for what you need versus just grabbing what is available as there is always new stuff coming in.
You can buy things with dollars if so inclined, but the prices are similar to new, so it may not be worth it if you plan to do that, unless your primary motivation is the environmental factor. There is also a shipping charge for the order portion of the trade. I think that makes sense as the subscription rate is so inexpensive they would lose money otherwise.
The standard plan is currently only $9 (40 trades per year) so with a growing kid you will save a lot over buying new clothes, if that is how you get your clothes. If you mostly get your kid’s clothes from friends or aunts and uncles, then maybe not as much. For the right people, this is going to be a great thing and I’m glad it’s here. Overall, it you are interested in the concept of swapping children’s clothes, this is a good way to go.