May 25, 2009 9:26 pm US/Eastern
MoneySaver Report: Clothes Swapping
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Everything old is new again.
Now, there's a guilt-free way to revamp your wardrobe.
Clothing swaps are a fast-growing, budget-friendly, trend – turning someone else's trash into your treasure.
"Look at that, I love that," one shopper said. "That's very cute."
Carter Klenk-Morse has become an expert "swapper."
"I very much enjoy clothing swaps – I enjoy bargains," Klenk-Morse says.
Instead of traditional shopping, she prefers to hunt for trades to save money – and she says she's found some great stuff.
"Brand new North Face jacket – that was a great find," Klenk-Morse says.
A jacket like the one she was pointing out costs almost $200 at retailers.
At this swap, she and her husband are looking for baby clothes.
"When I was two months pregnant, I was laid off from my job – so [money] was definitely a factor as we go into having our first child," Klenk-Morse said.
There are different ways of swapping, depending on where you go. Often, it's simply a case of giving one item, to get one item.
Other times, the value of your donated items are estimated, and you receive a voucher for that amount to "spend" at the swap.
"Retailers here on Fifth Avenue are all-too-aware that shoppers aren't spending in this recession. In fact clothing sales were down over 10 percent just in the first quarter of 2009. But swapping has seen significant increases.
Popular swapping site clothingswaps.com has hosted 33 percent more swaps in just the last two months, and meetup.com now has more than 40 clothing swap groups, up from just 13 a year ago.
"You get help and you are helping someone else at the same time," mother and swapper Sara Holden says.
Swapping groups will meet everywhere from the YMCA to night clubs.
"We got [our son] a swimming pool for the summer," swapper Noelle Zummatto says.
First-time swapper Zummatto saved herself a bundle.
"[I saved] probably over a hundred, two hundred dollars," she says.
In this economy, families are finding that it pays to "swap 'til you drop."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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