A guide to Calgary Girls Swap and Shop

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If you grew up in the city, I’m sure you visited your fair share of garage sales. Countless used toys, books, furniture items, clothes, you name it, all for very low prices. Then the concept of a garage sale evolved and thrift stores (such as Value Village and Goodwill) emerged globally, acting as one huge, non-stop garage sale. Well buckle your seat belts, because the 21st century has brought us Facebook, and with it a whole new experience in thrifting.

Although there are many groups for different cities, I will be focusing on the Calgary Girls Swap and Shop group since I’m a member and can speak from experience. The general idea is that the group provides a place for girls/women in Calgary (and surrounding areas) to sell their new or used clothes (furniture, shoes, movies, video games, books, lizards, etc.) for cheap. I’m talking $5-10 in most cases. Many people also advertise small businesses and you have the opportunity to discover photographers, hair/nail salons, and so much more. Needless to say, you will need a Facebook account, or you can work through a friend’s account. To join the group, you must have admin approval, otherwise you will not be able to see the posts or post yourself.

Check out all the other Facebook groups for specific locations in Calgary: SW, SE, and NE!

How it Works

If you decide you want to sell something:

1. Take a picture of your item(s).
2. Upload the photo(s) to the group and add the price (or indicate if you want to trade or use the OBO system) and size to your photo(s). This process may be a bit more difficult if you’re on a mobile phone, in which case you should consider uploading them one by one.
3. If you choose not to add the price and size (which many people do), just include “message or comment for description” somewhere so people feel more invited to contact you.
4. Should someone become interested in your item, it’s best to message them and arrange a meeting  time.
5. You will likely have to add people as friends in order to message them (depending on both your privacy settings), so don’t feel bad for deleting them as a friend afterwards, they’ll understand.
6. Arrange a meeting place and time, most likely this will be a train station as it’s easy to access the LRT.
7. Give up your old clothes for new ones or some cash!

If you are buying:

1. Comment something along the lines of “I’m interested” or “I’ll take this” in the comments.
2. Wait for the seller to respond and then message them.
3. Leave a comment letting them know you’ve messaged them and also tag them in the comment to make sure they look.
4. Set up a date and time to meet.
5. If you would like, feel free to negotiate the price with them or offer items to trade.
6. Pick up your new/used clothes for extremely low prices!

Tips

1. Once you join the group, spend some time scrolling through and get a feel for how things work. If you want to sell things, looking at the prices that other people set will give you an idea of what’s considered a reasonable price.
2. Try to set up meetings in public locations because you really never know if a person could be trying to scam you. Don’t be afraid to call someone out if you do feel like they are an unreliable seller. The admins are very kind and patient.
3. If you are interested in an item, always ask for the location first. You don’t want to fall in love with something and find out that the seller is located in the NW when you live in the SE.
4. Don’t worry if you don’t have cash, if you really like something try to see if the seller is willing to trade. Sometimes people are looking for money, but other times people just want to get rid of old clothes to make room for new items.
5. If you’re not sure about the way something fits, ask to try it on. 99% of the time the seller will be more than happy to let you.
6. OBO stands for “Or Best Offer” which means that if the seller (this could be you) has posted a price, they are willing to take other offers. This is a very confusing system, and I would avoid using it, but I will explain it anyways. Example: Someone is selling a sweater for $10 OBO and someone says “I’ll give you $8 for it” in the comments. If the seller does not receive any other interest, they will probably sell it for $8. But say someone else comes along and comments “I’m willing to give you $12,” the seller then has the right to cancel the deal with the first person.

Have fun, be smart, and I hope you all find what you’re looking for!