I hosted a swap party a few times before. A Swap party or Barter party is where a group of people getting together to swap, barter, exchange or just give away your personal items with other people with the same goal. The party itself may have lasted for hours, but the party goers only attended long enough for the exchange. The exchange may have lasted between 5 minutes to 35 minutes. My front door became a swinging door for hours.
I like the general idea of a swap party because you can get rid of unwanted stuff from your house and covet what your neighbor has for free and without guilt.
I have met people who have taken this idea further to where they exchange goods and services. I've once signed up for a bartering group in Takoma, MD for a $15 annual fee. At the monthly meeting everyone would bring a list of services they could provide, pictures of the items they wanted to barter, or a bag full of items they could trade. A list would be updated monthly with group members and their goods/services.
Did you ever receive a Christmas gift you didn't want? Did you ever buy something and once you got it home and unwrapped, you changed your mind about the item? Did you ever buy something and find out later you already had one of those? Did you ever buy something for your spouse or child and they didn't want it?
Didn't you wish you could just go to the corner shop to exchange your unwanted item for something someone else left on the table who didn't want their item? There would be no need for money or monthly membership fees.
JUST BARTER!
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