Brooke sent me a link to ThredUP, an online clothing swap. After poking around a little on the website, I contacted the founders and asked if I could peruse the service to see what's what. ThredUP initially began an an adult-centric clothing swap, but it soon occurred to James and Oliver that it makes a whoooole lot more sense to offer this service to parents.

By making the clothing swap digital, ThredUP offers parents all over the country (as far as I can tell, it's US-only) the chance to swap out outgrown children's clothes for larger sizes (the boxes run from 2T to size 18). The explanation of the workings of the site is fairly straightforward, but here's a breakdown of the process:

You have the option to sign up for a Basic (and free!) membership or a Pro membership (only $29.99 a year). Most of the differences are marginal (both pay a $13 shipping fee for clothing boxes received) with two notable (and big) differences. Basic members can neither read the details of the contents of a box (you can only see what size/sex the box is intended for) nor can they access "Golden threds" -- boxes of brand-new designer clothing that are hidden throughout the site.

After signing up, you get to browse the site and pick a box. Right away, I was faced with two gigantic dilemmas: first, there are no photos of the items--only descriptions, and as previously mentioned, if you're rocking a free account you don't even get the details. When it comes to the clothes I put on Jasper, visuals are everything, and I took SO much longer going through the boxes than I would have if I could see the items. Second, when browsing for a box you have to choose "boy" or "girl." There are "mixed" boxes on the site, but they generally contain heavily gendered clothing items -- you just get some of each.

Part of Jasper's haul. I could live without the Motor Rally shirt, but the rest is ok.

Depending on how picky you are, the selecting a box process is fairly painless. You pick the box you want, let the site know that's the one, and then pay the $13 shipping fee. Before you balk at the price, consider that you're generally getting 5-10 items per box, and even if you're an awesome thrifter, you're probably still going to spend at least $13 at a thrift store.

ThredUP contacts the creator of the box, who ships it to you in a supremely timely manner. ThredUP also mails you 10 free boxes, as you are then in turn expected to create and list your own box of gently used items on the site for another family to snag. Another bonus to making a box is that you earn credits ($3 to $6) depending on the size of the clothing.

My items arrived within a few days, and I can happily say that most of them did not disappoint. Everything was in fantastic, better-than-thrift-stores-for-sure quality, and came from a smoke-free home, so I was 90% pleased with what we got. The service itself was awesome -- I had a $13 credit in my account, but after getting the number of items I did (8), I'd definitely consider returning to ThredUP to get a few more boxes.

I haven't sent a box yet, but sending is totally free, and ThredUP will actually pick up your boxes for you -- no hanging around in the Post Office to ship someone their clothes.

Interested in learning more? Visit ThredUP's FAQ page, or if you're feeling bold, go ahead and sign up for an account!

The Giveaway

ONE winner will receive a free annual PRO ThredUP membership!

Main Entry

Visit ThredUP and then come back here and leave a comment letting us know how this service would be most useful to you!

The nitty gritty

• Giveaway closes on August 26 at 9am (PST)
• One winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries
• The winner will be emailed and must claim their prize within 48 hours or a new winner will be picked
• Prize will be shipped within one month