SwapSF

Not for me and I’ve went twice.
The «What Irks Me» List: It was impossible to get near to the tables to get to the clothes. Several people pushing and elbowing – ladies (not that you acted like it) at the Shirt table, I’m talking about you. The selection of clothes was questionable (that is, once I was able to hold my breath and get through the masses of people to inspect the clothes) and was dirty (um, quality control is NON-​Existent). It was like another person said, do you think I want your stained, 7^th grade Old Navy cast-​off t shirt? They charge you to get in, even though you are donating clothes.
Two stars were for the fact that they had beer, which I chugged and got the hell out as soon as I could, and the fact that the guy that handed it to me was the ONLY friendly person in the place.

Top three reasons to enjoy the Swap:
1) GOOD RIDDANCE. I’ve brought in bags of clothes I wore in high school, pants from Old Navy and shirts two sizes too big, weird belts that make me wanna dress up like I did when I was 8, books like «The Return of the Jedi» in its original novelization, whole bags worth of thrift store finds that I really don’t even think Salvation Army can appreciate (or wants, necessarily). But that’s the point! What’s not wanted by the lucust-​like swarms becomes wanted again, by folks who could hopefully use them more than us, the more fashion-​conscious. It’s okay to be a style-​whore – it’s for a good cause. SwapSF is the highest level of the used clothing food chain; eventually my baggy Old Navy cargo pants will be sold by the pound (cause they’re awful), end up somewhere in Africa, and be greatly appreciated by someone who’d otherwise be wearing goat-​skins in 120 weather.
2) FREE SHIT. Seriously, no, free. Although I bring in a lotta junk, I take out a LOT MORE stuff that I totally want. Sure, trying things on can be problematic. Not exactly a changing room amongst the hordes, so often stuff just doesn’t fit once at home… but hey, it gets brought back to the next swap. It happens. But the whole point is that all these clothes are new, and practically free. New to ME… old to some other poor sucker who gave ‘em up.
3) CUTIES. Packed to the rafters with young, attractive people, many in various states of undress and dishevelment, sometimes randomly prompting for fashion advice, and often imbibing various liquors and lollipops of questionable constitution. Guess what? You too can be amongst them.

I «own» freeganomics (.com, .org) etc… if they had a sale at godaddy that day I probably have .info and .biz and .tu too. If I ever get around to developing something around that (doubtful, so PM me if you want to swap something for the domain), BookSwap, ClothesSwap et al are going to be prominently featured.
I don’t have much interest in clothes but the BookSwapSF is seriously some of the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Help yourself to Free Coffee (bring your own mug), or buy a beer or Jason I’s superfantabulous Absinthe Lollipops (rumour is the bacon flavor is under development in the secret SwapSF candylab).
Just to see that much energy surrounding tables and tables of books warms the cockles of my raised-by-parents-who-don’t-believe-in-tv hardened heart. Yep, that was me in a fetal position on the periphery couch sobbing «THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD SHOULD BE CAN I STAY HERE FOREVER?»
Next BookSwap will be in March of ’08…check the website
for more details!

Oh… what fun was had by all. Me and three friends piled in the car with our bags of clothes and set out for an adventure… getting there early was great as it was not too too crowded but that soon didn’t last. The music and kick ass coffee (bring your own cup) made it all the better. It was cool to just sit and watch everyone after picking up a bag full of new/​used items. I love this concept of recycling and giving freely and it sure beats the idea of rejection from those picky resale shops! I can’t wait for the next one!

I don’t need to go shopping anymore! From my super comfey, geroguse tall black boots to my funky new sweater SF Swap has killed any need to spend money on cloathes. There is beer, a DJ spinning, lots of yummy coffee, and on site silk screening!
Though the silk screening is a bit of a drag sometimes, I have gotten bumped back in line a few times.
Other than that I give it two thumbs up. Everytime I go I gather more and more friends to come… we are starting an SF Sawp cult.

Getting rid of 2 garbage bags full of clothes that have been occupying crucial space in my garage + being able to manhandle Monica H. and Jason L. meant I could kill (or rather fondle) two birds with one stone.
So I packed it up, paid my 5 bucks, and handed ‘er over.
True true it was a madhouse in there, but it was pretty similar to many Asian markets and I got pretty good at pushing ajumas out of the way to get to my goods. So I felt right at home and had no problem getting to what I wanted.
I gave up some pretty good stuff I hadn’t touched in 3 years and ended up with a sweet pair of pumas, a pair of yoga pants that fit my bod like a glove, a few things for work, and the piece de resistance… a gorgeous mauve 70’s prom dress that may just get to have an outing fairly soon. Seriously. It fits me like it was made for me. I am trying to pare down the closet situation, so I told myself that once my little plastic bag was full, I’d split. And it took me no time at all to fill it up.
Although I was off the sauce that day, they had beers and whatnot for imbibing. And meth coffee. And absinthe lollipops. And drag queens. And some pretty seriously hot men. And women. And the freest of the lot were getting downright scantily clad to try on their wares.
Do you need any more reasons to swap stuff with SwapSF?

Really great clothing swap yesterday at CELLspace, although it was a little cramped in there. The women’s shirts table was pretty crazy! But I was happy with what I found – lots of clothes for only $ 5 (the admission fee). I look forward to future swaps. =)

What an awesome idea. I went to their clothing swap today and traded two giant sacks of clothes for three cute new skirts: one for Burning Man, one for the Oregon Country Fair, and one for daily wear. Woohoo!
I would give five stars, but it was SOOOO super crowded (they were rationing people to get in due to fire code restrictions) that it was really hard to get around and impossible to get near some of the tables. I love CellSpace as a venue, but I think that SwapSF may have outgrown them!
I’m waiting with great anticipation for the book swap. :D

I know I should think that one girl’s trash is another’s treasure, but really this was not the case for me.
$ 5 gets you in if you brought clothes. They didn’t say how much clothing so I assume you can get in for $ 5 whether you bring a shirt or 5 bags. You go in, and it is pure chaos. Tables with homemade signs identifying the items though some of the signs didn’t really id anything, they just had words on them. Mass amounts of people crowded at tables grabbing things, looking at them, and then throwing what they don’t want back in the pile. It was so crowded at the girls section that girls were actually shoving each other which is not exactly my idea of fun. And when the staff came through and dumped (I don’t exaggerate this) the «new» merchandise, the girls dove in like orphans that hadn’t been fed for months. We’re diving in for what? That Forever 21 shirt that has been washed and stretched out and has tears and sweat stains on it?
Which segways me into the quality of the clothing. I sorted out my stuff into stuff that wasn’t quality to donate to Goodwill (all still wearable and clean and neat), and then the better stuff to swap. Apparently I was too generous. Everyone else dug up their sh*t from the 7^th grade, bottom of the closet, or stuff they have worn 100 times. I don’t want your baby tee from Old Navy with sweat stains in the armpits. And I don’t want a black t that has been washed so many times it is grey and has bleach spots! My stuff was all relatively new, a majority had tags on them still, still in style and stuff I would still wear out, had I not gotten bored with the item, and not stuffed my closet with new clothes on a regular basis.
The bar was packed, though I don’t see how anyone can drink while being shoved around and grabbing clothing from each other, but maybe everyone buying from the bar was warming up or done. It was a great idea to have a bar, as the drinks were cheap and the staff there nice.
Great idea in concept but maybe there should be a larger space, and some system to calm the chaos down. I should have just donated all my stuff to Goodwill or thrown out the embarrassing stuff, or sold the better stuff to a vintage store or something. At least I came though and saw it and now know what it’s about.

Dragged all my book fiend girlfriends to the Book Swap, we were there early and we lucked out. We came home with more books than we brought and expecting. Just the experience alone was fun and with free coffee too. We are so down for the January clothing swap, and the next book swap, where we are going to swap the same books we just snagged last month! The cycle baby… and did I mention how funky the music was too? It was really an amazing afternoon.

Holy crap — why is this the first time i’ve ever heard of this?
I mean, $ 5 to swap all the clothes/​books/​etc you can. its AWESOME.
and cheap drinks. and good beats. and witty bartenders.
Saweeeeeet.

Food is to an all you can buffet as books are to Swap SF. I donated a tiny selection and came home with an entire box of new reading material.
All in all it was a civil event. People were nice enough pass down a title if you asked for it, but I must admit every now and then I had to fight back the urge to use my elbows to get to a desired book.
Books were divided into broad categories fiction, non fiction, sci fi, mystery, children’s, and cooking.
Maybe they should add another table for freaky sex books. I saw one book that was written by some reverend that explained why premarital sex was evil. I am willing to wager that the person that donated the abstinence book is the same person that donated the book that had the naked woman’s ass on the cover and something about pony training in the description.
Tips:
If you really want to get the best stuff — volunteer to sort. I was heartbroken when I was following one of the volunteers that I thought was about to dump a motherlode of good reading onto the table, when I realized he was taking it to an off limits area to hoard for himself.
Bring wheels e.g. rolling luggage, radio flyer wagon, etc.

I heart SwapSF.
The clothing swap thing is fun (especially if you’re into used Burning Man fur pants and accessories) but for me, the crème de la crème is book swap day.
I’ll admit I have a larger than is reasonable collection of cookbooks. On book swap day I can purge and binge all in the same afternoon, while drinking copious amounts of cheap drinks — and the 1^st one is free, which totally rocks my boat. At the last swap I found an original 1950s Cambell’s Soup recipe booklet: score!
All the leftover books go to Friends of the Library and help support programs in our public libraries. Gotta love that.

SwapSF, I love you!
So here’s my first experience of clothes swap. I arrived there an hour and a half late. I was kicking myself thinking all the people are going to be gone and all the good stuff is going to be taken. ARGH!
But to my surprise, there was a line of about 60 or more people outside still waiting to get in. YES! So I got in line with my puny little bag of clothes to donate to the event. About 20 minutes later (and after being treated to strawberries by a very friendly volunteer) I found myself inside a very interestingly decorated warehouse (CellSpace). I payed my $ 5, showed my ID, got a free drink ticket, walked to the back and said gaa-​bye to the shoes, purse and other items I had carried for the very last time. I turned around and quickly launched myself into what turned out to be an hour and a half of rummaging through FREE clothes, shoes and various other accessories.
I cannot belief the stuff that people had given away. It was wonderful. Specially the coats, jackets and sweaters. T-​shirts were meh, men’s clothes, meh. Shoes, meh. But pants, skirts, sweaters, even dresses!!! So cool. It was quite a workout, too. I was only prepared to take the things I really wanted (after all, I had only brought 3 empty bags to fill up and my husband had refused to come with me so I had no one to help me carry stuff. I was on my own.) I needed to make sure stuff fit before I committed to it. I very quickly developed a strategy: go through all the tables and spend no more than 5 min at each, grab all the shit that looked cool and might fit me, then rush for a spot at the mirror and try everything on. Keep what fits, put back what doesn’t. And then repeat.
At one point I got a little dehydrated so I decided to take a break and get a beer, but they were all out. POO

The Most Hyperbolically Stupendous Clothing Swap In The History of the Word Ever Event was EARTH-​SHATTERING AND ORGIASTICALLY AWESOME! It was SO much fun, I’m wearing a HAIRSHIRT right now and for the next fifty years as penance for all the SINFUL PLEASURES! If you missed it, you might as well TAKE A BUBBLE BATH WITH A PLUGGED-​IN TOASTER OVEN. Jonas Salk, for example, is MIGHTY PISSED that he missed out on all the fun — BUT I DISCOVERED THE POLIO VACCINE! WAAAAH! Oh yeah? Not only did I find the perfect black shirt dress at the event BUT I CURED CANCER WHILE NURSING MY DRINK AND SHAKING MY ASS SO QUIT YER BITCHING AND GET BACK IN THE GRAVE, SALKIE! Oh, Billy Shakespeare is complaining too? Gee, Billy, perhaps you should have spent less time writing plays that NO ONE READS and more time LOOKING FABULOUS! Besides, we know you didn’t get any action as a result of your plays — that Shakespeare In Love WAS A TOTAL CROCK OF SHIT! Now get the fuck out of here before I get all TITUS ANDRONICUS on you! Not since THE EGYPTIANS BUILT THE PYRAMIDS USING SLAVE LABOR have I been party to an event of such COLOSSAL SIGNIFICANCE. Studio 54 with Warhol and Bowie? Fuck that — were YOU at CELLspace when it all went off, you douchebag?
In all seriousness, TMHSCSITHOTWE was a wonderful event. Granted, it was the site of my first major panic attack of the day due to the hundreds of people there, but that’s my problem: I don’t like people touching me.
The folks over at
deserve five stars for the following:
1. Coming up with yet another reason to drink in the afternoon. Booze was provided, as advertised. Perfect. I don’t know about you, but I always make excellent, well-​reasoned choices while under the influence, especially when it comes to picking things up and bringing them home.
2. Giving folks the opportunity to get a ton of clothes for dirt cheap. Shirts, pants, shoes, purses, sweaters, coats, dresses — this was the Golden Corral of clothes shopping.
3. On-​site tailoring services. For a nominal fee, the tailors made minor adjustments to new clothing «finds.» I was going to ask if they could add a backdoor zipper to this sweet pair of mint velvet jeans, but I figured I could just wear it backwards.
4. Giving back to the community. Clothes donations were made to various nonprofits and shelters.
I just have a couple of things to say to some people.
To the woman who literally SNATCHED the 70s ski sweater from my hands: Fuck you!
To the folks who BROUGHT used swimwear and underwear to the swap: You’re fucking nasty.
To the folks who TOOK the used swimwear and underwear home: You’re even NASTIER! Do you use communal tampons, too?
To the folks who DIDN’T bring home the NCLR baseball cap: You’re all homophobes!
To Jason: You needed more volunteers for the event. You’re also fucking hot. I am at your disposal. I’m a hard worker, an efficient multi-​tasker, and a great lay. I can also fit a Patron bottle in my mouth. Really.

Wow. The clothing swap this saturday was amazing. I went with a couple of friends a bag of clothes and five bux. We were basically fouth in line (what can I say we were excited) We got so many great clothes and shoes. This is a great idea, and it’s for charity! I’m hooked.

SwapSF is a really awesomely cool idea.
Starla made me go to their clothing swap this afternoon; due to the need to break someone’s «falafel cherry» this morning (not me) we were running a bit late… By the time we got to CellSpace for the swap there was only 10 minutes left in the event.
The cool part was that the door guy let us in w/​out paying the cover because we brought clothes to swap and because there wasn’t much time left.
The bummer part was that there was not the greatest selection of clothes left. It was a mad dash to grab what you could. My companions didn’t fare too well, but I managed to grab up a bag full of stuff. A couple of cool «ironic» t-​shirts to work out in, a funky red sweater-​coat-​thingie, a skirt, some cute little button up shirts which are 40’s reminiscent. I also snagged a weird poodle skirt type thing and some psychedelic funk velvet pants — which I immediately put into a free box because once I took a close look at them I couldn’t imagine using them for anything at all.
I did kinda feel like I brought nicer stuff to trade than what I got; but, I’m okay with that.
All-​in-​all a very cool event, despite the time constraints. Plus, I love the idea that it was all to benefit charity. This kind of organization epitomizes the vibe of this city. I love it. I’m gonna sign up for their mailing list so that I know what their next event is. Dope, man.

One persons trash is another persons treasure.
I am actually humbled that i know the people who put on this amazing clothing swap today, and seriously… recruit me for the next one… I’m totally down to help!
What started as me sifting through piles and piles of clothes, hoping for some cat fight over the perfect shirt, ended with me helping sort clothes, and bringing them out for the vultures to pick at.
They did a fantastic job with this event. (Jason and Monica… Kudos to you.) Pay $ 5 if you come with clothes. $ 10 if you don’t. Flash your ID and they throw in a drink ticket too! Then have fun kids, cuz you take what you want. Seriously… it comes to $ 5 all you can shop. OK, sometimes it felt like slim pickins, but I walked out of there with some pretty cool shit. They didn’t even have time to put all the stuff on the table for picking through, and all of the extra clothes are going to be donated to Community Thrift. What a fun day.
A bright green hand crafted scarf, with some cool furry stuff, a «I humped Tull» shirt… which i though was hilarious, specially cuz i don’t listen to Jethro Tull, a neon blue mesh shirt, and a Harley Davidson shirt, cut up the sides, restitched with blue shoelaces. Most of it is going to head straight into my costume box… but for me, today it was treasure.

Those crazy kids at SwapSF have created the ultimate in afternoon activities and entertainment.
Whether you’re swapping books or cloths they provide an economical and FUN way to clean out, revamp and renovate your closet OR your bookshelf.
Come to their monthly event with a bag of cloths (or books) to swap, pay $ 5, get some drinks, listen to some good music, hang out with your friends and leave with an entirely new wardrobe (or reading material) !! All items left after the swap are donated to local SF charities… shopping with a conscious!
Last month I had an awesomely fun afternoon and left with 10 cute new shirts, two pairs of pants, a dress, a hat and a pair of shoes. All fit perfectly and were in great condition (think Crossroads, Buffalo Exchange, etc.) ALL THAT for a mere $ 5.
When was the last time you drank, listened to music, mingled, shopped and left with 15 items of clothing for that price? yeah, i thought so… DON’t MISS OUT
(check their website for updates on their upcoming events and locations)

SwapSF is a pretty-​much-​monthly extravaganza with wave after wave of people rolling into the venue dragging boxes of clothing or books (depending on the type of swap), running around seeking out the perfect item to fit their style, taking off and trying on clothes (or flipping through books) while a mess of volunteers sort newly brought items into easily-​picked-​through categories.
If you have clothing or books to get rid of, make sure you bring them down, because entrance is half-​price if you bring something to swap! A drink ticket is provided upon entrance, and additional cocktails are only $ 2. Water and Meth Coffee are always free and served with a smile.
Like music? Swap SF has got it, with poolboy (4handed/​Sol System) spinning beats from opening to closing. If you’re looking for fun, a way to get rid of some disused clothes or old books, there’s no better place for you than SwapSF.
Comparable value for clothing or books does not exist in all of San Francisco, and all leftovers are donated to SF nonprofits.