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DO-IT-YOURSELF CLOTHES SWAP
So, you’re going to hold a clothes
swap! Fabulous!! Here are just a few
logistical steps and ideas you may
like to try. This is by no means an
exhaustive list, so get creative and
make it your own.
Holding a clothes (or any!) swap
event is really pretty simple and
lots of fun.
1. Theme / Timing
What message do you want to convey? What
do you want to raise money for? What time
of year are you wishing to hold the event
and what might be a “selling point”? For
example, perhaps you’d like to raise funds and
awareness for maternal and child health or
women’s projects? Why not consider holding
a swap around Mother’s Day, International
Women’s Day or something similar. Consider
something seasonal like “spring clean”, “summer
wardrobe” or “winter woollies” and use this
theme in advertising to guide people around
the type of clothing to bring and expect.
PO Box 164 Victoria Australia 3130
Toll Free 1800 244 986 • [email protected]
2. Size / Location
How many people do you want to cater for?
This will determine where you might hold the
clothing swap. If you just want to try something
small with a group of friends, you could hold it in
someone’s home. If you want to try something
bigger and plan to advertise in the local
community, consider churches or community
centres you have connections with. To keep
costs to a minimum, see if you can use the
space rent-free or negotiate a small fee. If you
plan on providing food/drink, make sure you
are allowed to do so and have the required
facilities. Separate spaces for serving food and
displaying clothing are useful. Change rooms
can be helpful but are not essential.
3. Promotion
How can you best get the word out there?
Again, depending on the size of the swap,
promote it amongst family, friends and the local
community. Consider using social media such
as Facebook and approach the local paper; it
makes for a great “feel good” story. Distribute
fliers and speak with people about it in local
shops, cafés, churches, libraries, universities,
schools, kindergartens – ANYWHERE! Local op-
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shops may even be happy to have a bunch
of fliers at their register. Make sure you ask
for permission before posting advertising
material.
4. Preparation
Gather what you’ll need for the big day and
ensure you have volunteer helpers assigned
to specific tasks. You’ll need people to help
with setting up (and packing up), receiving
payment at the front desk, displaying clothing
on racks, preparing and serving afternoon/
morning tea (optional) and receiving payment
(of tokens) at the conclusion. You might like
to invite someone from TEAR or from within
your group to speak about the theme and
where donated funds will go. A few clothing
racks are available for borrowing from the
TEAR Australia office (Blackburn) if you should
require them and happen to live locally (for
TEAR fundraisers only). You’ll also need
coathangers and some plastic/paper bags
perhaps. Have a central contact number for
enquiries and ask people to RSVP so you
have some sense of numbers for catering
purposes. One year we supplied attendees
with a little show bag which included a tea
and chocolate sample from Universal Village
(who donated our fair trade tea and coffee), a
copy of TEAR’s latest newsletter and a TEAR
gift catalogue. How else might you provide
a little “take-home message” or gift for
attendees?
5. Presentation
So the big day arrives! What do you do!? This
is what we did:
- We had customers arrive at a set starting
time. We invited them (in our promotional
material) to bring up to six items of pre-
PO Box 164 Victoria Australia 3130
Toll Free 1800 244 986 • [email protected]
loved clothing in good condition, not
including underwear and swimwear. As a
guide, we asked people to bring things they
would be happy to give to a good friend
(not their daggy tracky pants)!
- Our customers paid $15 cash at the door
and were then issued with tokens - we
used old buttons but you could use raffle
tickets, beads, straws – anything really!
They supplied us with their clothing which
we ensured were in good condition and
then hung on coathangers. For items of
exceptional value (e.g. leather jackets,
boots, etc.) an agreed value was placed on
them for purchase, aside from the swapping
items. This was felt to be a fair way of
distributing the really good stuff!
- Volunteers then displayed the clothing
on racks and trestle tables in a separate
room while customers were invited to help
themselves to the afternoon tea, free of
charge. We played a CD of world music
in the background, as well as displaying
saris and pictures of women from around
the world on the walls to create an uplifting
“bazaar-like” atmosphere. We found having
two separate rooms was ideal. This gave
the volunteers a chance to set up, while
everyone else mingled and had afternoon
tea. It also ensured no one started
“shopping” before everyone had arrived
and all the clothes were on display. Our
host welcomed everyone and spoke about
the rationale behind the event. A guest
speaker from TEAR then spoke about the
TEAR-supported projects which monies
raised would fund.
- After these speakers, and once the clothes
were on display (around 30 minutes after
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the advertised starting time), we opened
the doors to the hall and to a rush of
enthusiastic women on a mission - think
Myer stocktake sale hysteria! For each
token, they could choose and take home
one “new” item of clothing to enjoy.
Additional items could be purchased for a
gold coin donation.
- Think about how you might raise other
additional funds on the day or afterwards.
Perhaps hold a sweets or accessories
stall in the corner of the room? We had a
stall in the foyer from fair trade store “Only
Just” (www.onlyjust.com.au) who donate
their profits to TEAR. We had quite a lot
of clothing left over as lots of clothes had
been donated from people unable to attend
the event, but wanting to support it in
some way. These, we sold at a market stall
(Kingsley Community Market at La Trobe
University) and garage sales after the event.
- Tokens and any additional payments were
received as people were ready to leave.
We took down peoples’ email addresses
if they wished to be informed of future
clothing swap events, which most did!
We’d love to hear from you if you hold an
event and have feedback or ideas to add to
this tip sheet. This way, others can benefit
from your experience. We’d particularly love
to hear if you hold a swap event of some
other kind. Perhaps books are your thing? Or
CDs, DVDs, tools, home-wares or toys? The
options are as numerous and varied as the
excess stuff we possess.
Please email [email protected]
with any of your ideas.
Carrie Philpott
for Eastern TEAR Action Group (ETAG)
PO Box 164 Victoria Australia 3130
Toll Free 1800 244 986 • [email protected]
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