The Fashion Barter System
A few years ago if I had an event to attend my girls and I would head straight to the mall or to South Street in Philly (where I’m originally from). We’d make our rounds in every store from Urban Outfitters to Express and of course ran through every girls last minute oasis Forever 21. However, these days I’m totally in love with the explosion of Barter Boutique Shopping (BBS). What is barter boutique shopping? It’s when you go to a store, vintage or other wise, that allows you to trade, sell, and buy clothes! If your unfamiliar with this idea let me explain how it works.
First — you bring some old clothes of yours that you no longer want or something new that you just never wore to your local BBS. You pick out some pieces from the store that you would like to purchase. Once you have both sets of items, a sales associate will take your old clothes and calculate their value. Once the value of your old clothes is tallied you have the option of selling them for cash or trading them for your new items. Amazing I know, but it gets better.
All the clothes that they sell are super cute and really inexpensive. My favorite place to barter shop is Beacons Closet in Brooklyn. Once, I went there and got two dresses and a pair of earring for under $35 dollars! Beacon’s Closet gives you the atmosphere of a boutique, the labels of chic vintage and the prices of Goodwill.
BBS’s are popping up everywhere; you have Dee Lux in Costa Mesa, Mexico, Freestyle Clothing Exchange on the West Coast and Buffalo Exchange which is in over 25 cities across the US. Another favorite is Crossroads Trading Co., which has locations in Portland, Seattle, California and Chicago.
All of the BBS’s listed above have websites that I suggest you visit. BBS’sing is one of my favorite things to do and definitely my favorite way to shop. I fell in love with it and I know you will too.
If you have any questions, comments or would like to recommend your favorite BBS email me at kbarge@clucthmagazine.com.
definetly feeling this, favorite is beacons closet been dying to go there. heard its truly worth more than life can offer.
We have alot of BBS’s here in Chicago. The only problem is that our stores tend to carry cloths that are extremly vintage….like my great-grandma wore that to here prom kinda vintage. I love the idea but Chicago needs to upgrade on the BBSs
i like the reference to south street i can really relate to you … many vintage looks now days…
Woah, you’re a Philly girl? I thought all the contributers to Clutch repped the ATL.
Walnut and Chestnut St. and King of Prussia are the go to spots for girls in need of a cute look. I didn’t think many people went to shop on South St. though; I thought that people went shopping before hand to look good on the flyest street in South Philly.
@ Liah: Clutch writers, editors. contributors are from all over the world. L.A, ATL, NYC, Philly, London, Africa and more, our homebase is in Atlanta. But, not all staffers live here :)
Liah, thanks for showing hometown love by reppin’ PH and reading Clutch! I’m originally from Philly but now live in NYC, so I know all about KOP and Center City shopping, but I love little the hidden oasis shops, because they have the all hottest clothes. The higher hundreds of both South st & Bainbridge have fabulous vintage boutiques that me and my girls love to shop in. So for us south st is a one stop shop, there we can shop, eat, drink and be merry!
Wow! What a fabulous idea! I can’t wait to check this place out.
Thanks for the heads up on Beacons Closet, I’m moving to NY in a couple of weeks…
Which cities in Africa do Clutch contributors come from?