Running Swap Shops – a short guide
Why Swap Shops?
By reusing items, we cut down on the amount of waste that goes into landfill with the consequent release of climate change gases such as methane. Putting an item into reuse means that an equivalent new item is not required thus saving the energy needed for manufacture. If an item is beyond reuse then at least it is correctly recycled.
There’s also a secondary benefit – Swap Shops become social events in their own right and really engage the community giving the opportunity to get the ‘climate change message’ across to a broad audience.
What is a Swap Shop?
Swap shops can be run by any volunteer group and exist in many variants. The term Swap Shop is somewhat mis-leading since neither ‘Swap’ nor ‘Shop’ is actually involved. But they ARE events to encourage the reuse and recycling of things which are clean, safe and genuinely reusable.
Swap shops are similar to a ‘bring and buy’ sale – but without money changing hands! Members of your community have the chance to bring and donate items they no longer want. Similarly anybody can come along and take away any items they feel they can use – without charge.
Success of a Swap Shop is determined by the amount of items taken away and thus deemed saved from going to landfill. For that reason everything taken away is weighed.
How to get started?
Book your venue
Your Village Hall, Community Centre, school hall or church hall will be suitable. A car park is almost essential since many people will bring (and take away) more items than they can easily carry. The hall should have the usual facilities including those to produce refreshments.
Timing
The Swap Shop itself should be scheduled for at least 1½ hours; probably 2 hours is best. For booking the venue allow 1 hour set-up and ½ hour clear-up time.
Suitable items
Make sure that people realise that Swap Shops are not a way for people to avoid having to take their rubbish to the tip! Monitor what people bring in on the day. Items should be reusable, clean and non hazardous. The test to offer participants can be, “Is what you are bringing to the Swap Shop in such condition that if you were someone else, you might want to take it away?”
For example they can bring:
toys books tools and DIY materials
CDs & DVDs small items of furniture household items & furnishings
games garden equipment small Bicycles
You will actually find that after a couple of Swap Shops, people have got the idea and mostly bring appropriate items.
Things to tell people NOT to Bring
knives food/drink baby/child car seats
paint/chemicals previously opened toiletries
Items that require special consideration
Clothes:
Some groups say no to clothing, mostly because there are many Charity Shops that deal with this type of item, and those brought to swap shops tend to be inferior quality – although these can be recycled into textile banks. It is your decision. (But note that curtains and other soft furnishing materials are very popular so you should accept those).
Mains powered electrical items:
Under EU law, electrical items can only be swapped if they have been tested by someone who is Portable Appliance Test (PAT) trained. Luckily, in West Berkshire, the Community Furniture Project will normally support your event by sending qualified PAT testers. This is hugely valuable – you will tend to get many electrical items. Note that items failing a PAT test are automatically retained, and are taken away for recycling.
Very heavy items:
A good rule is “You should be able to carry an item in – so someone else can carry it out.
So for larger items such as tables, beds etc. have a display board and tell people in your publicity that they can bring a photo/description and contact details on a card instead and pin it to the board.
Publicity
Extensive publicity is essential. Apart from the usual posters etc. around your locality you are strongly advised to deliver a leaflet to every household. Make sure the publicity clearly states what you will / won’t accept at your Swap Shop. See some sample publicity material attached below.
By reusing items, we cut down on the amount of waste that goes into landfill with the consequent release of climate change gases such as methane. Putting an item into reuse means that an equivalent new item is not required thus saving the energy needed for manufacture. If an item is beyond reuse then at least it is correctly recycled.
There’s also a secondary benefit – Swap Shops become social events in their own right and really engage the community giving the opportunity to get the ‘climate change message’ across to a broad audience.
What is a Swap Shop?
Swap shops can be run by any volunteer group and exist in many variants. The term Swap Shop is somewhat mis-leading since neither ‘Swap’ nor ‘Shop’ is actually involved. But they ARE events to encourage the reuse and recycling of things which are clean, safe and genuinely reusable.
Swap shops are similar to a ‘bring and buy’ sale – but without money changing hands! Members of your community have the chance to bring and donate items they no longer want. Similarly anybody can come along and take away any items they feel they can use – without charge.
Success of a Swap Shop is determined by the amount of items taken away and thus deemed saved from going to landfill. For that reason everything taken away is weighed.
How to get started?
Book your venue
Your Village Hall, Community Centre, school hall or church hall will be suitable. A car park is almost essential since many people will bring (and take away) more items than they can easily carry. The hall should have the usual facilities including those to produce refreshments.
Timing
The Swap Shop itself should be scheduled for at least 1½ hours; probably 2 hours is best. For booking the venue allow 1 hour set-up and ½ hour clear-up time.
Suitable items
Make sure that people realise that Swap Shops are not a way for people to avoid having to take their rubbish to the tip! Monitor what people bring in on the day. Items should be reusable, clean and non hazardous. The test to offer participants can be, “Is what you are bringing to the Swap Shop in such condition that if you were someone else, you might want to take it away?”
For example they can bring:
toys books tools and DIY materials
CDs & DVDs small items of furniture household items & furnishings
games garden equipment small Bicycles
You will actually find that after a couple of Swap Shops, people have got the idea and mostly bring appropriate items.
Things to tell people NOT to Bring
knives food/drink baby/child car seats
paint/chemicals previously opened toiletries
Items that require special consideration
Clothes:
Some groups say no to clothing, mostly because there are many Charity Shops that deal with this type of item, and those brought to swap shops tend to be inferior quality – although these can be recycled into textile banks. It is your decision. (But note that curtains and other soft furnishing materials are very popular so you should accept those).
Mains powered electrical items:
Under EU law, electrical items can only be swapped if they have been tested by someone who is Portable Appliance Test (PAT) trained. Luckily, in West Berkshire, the Community Furniture Project will normally support your event by sending qualified PAT testers. This is hugely valuable – you will tend to get many electrical items. Note that items failing a PAT test are automatically retained, and are taken away for recycling.
Very heavy items:
A good rule is “You should be able to carry an item in – so someone else can carry it out.
So for larger items such as tables, beds etc. have a display board and tell people in your publicity that they can bring a photo/description and contact details on a card instead and pin it to the board.
Publicity
Extensive publicity is essential. Apart from the usual posters etc. around your locality you are strongly advised to deliver a leaflet to every household. Make sure the publicity clearly states what you will / won’t accept at your Swap Shop. See some sample publicity material attached below.
| Swap Shop Poster |
| April 2012 Poster |
Ensure that any publicity lets people know what they can and can’t bring – and that Swapping is free. Make large posters or a banner saying “Swap shop this Saturday” with times and venue and put them around the community and at the venue. In addition to this you may want to:
You have done all your publicity, booked the venue and now you are ready to go.
You will have many items left over at the end of the Swap Shop. This is unavoidable. Luckily, in West Berkshire, the Community Furniture Project not only provides PAT Testers but also takes away anything left over, for possible reuse or otherwise correct recycling. This is hugely helpful. So be sure to be in touch with the CFP when planning the date for your event.
People – your volunteers
You will need well informed volunteers for the following tasks:
- Advance publicity
- Set up the venue
- Make and put up signage
- Greeting / counting attendees
- Manning the tables
- Make and sell refreshments
- Weighing out goods
- Take photographs (for reporting event and future publicity)
- Help clear up
- Take signs down
The old saying ‘many hands make light work’ really does apply to Swap Shops, so recruit as many volunteers for the day as you can (10 would be an absolute minimum).
Funding
Your main costs are likely to be Hire of the hall and Publicity. If you don’t already have funding for your first event then West Berkshire Green Exchange will almost certainly be able to help. Contact us to discuss.
But use the opportunity of any Swap Shop to generate funds to run the next one by
1. Sales of refreshments - should show at least a small profit
2. Asking for Donations - have a large notice by the weighing station/exit asking for donations and have a suitable container. Particularly point out to those taking many items away. This usually generates appreciable funds
3. Raffle – another option
Risk Assessment and looking at potential problems
- Find out whether your event event is covered by the hall’s insurance or, if not, consider taking out suitable insurance for the event.
- Most insurance policies make it a condition that a risk assessment is undertaken for each event so that any potential problems are reduced. Your venue may actually have a risk assessment form they can give you to use.
- Fire exits from the venue should be noted.
- Volunteers should be briefed prior to the event, explaining what is expected of them and pointing out such things as fire exits.
Finally, Swap Shops are great fun! Everyone enjoys getting something for nothing, as well as doing their bit to combat climate change and it is absolutely great to see children going away with ‘new’ toys or adults having some thing they consider a real bargain. Enjoy the day and let as many people as possible know why you are doing it!
Acknowledgement
This article is an abridged version of an article from The Greening Campaign, modified specifically for groups within West Berkshire. But is also worth reading the full article on The Greening Campaign’s web site (see Phase 2 – Projects).
- Put up posters in local libraries, doctor and dentist’s surgeries, schools and shops, pubs
- Submit the information to the Newbury Weekly News – they will normally mention it
- Advertise in your local news website
You have done all your publicity, booked the venue and now you are ready to go.
- Get your volunteers to the venue an hour before the published start and be prepared for people arriving before the start time to drop off items (even if you have told them they can’t!). Put up tables for the different items as listed above and make sure you have signs (A4 size is good) for each. You’ll probably want an extra (large) table labelled ‘Bric-a-brac’ for all those miscellaneous items that don’t fall into a category.
- Assign a volunteer ( or even two if you have enough !) to each table just to arrange items and answer peoples questions about what they can take, or which table things they are bringing should go on.
- Assign two (for the first hour, maybe just one after) volunteers to the entrance door. They should have sticky labels, which they put on each arrival, so you can monitor how many people have attended. (or a clicker if that’s what you decide.) Your labels can say something like “I’ve just been to the Swap Shop” – this gives you extra publicity as they wander round the local shops etc afterwards! If you know it already, it’s also useful to put the date of the next Swap Shop on the label. You will be able to gauge from the number of labels used how many people have attended.
- Set up a ‘weighing out table’ by the exit. Make sure everyone attending the Swap Shop knows that they have to have whatever they take away weighed. Sometimes this leads to queues, as people wait for their ‘stuff’ to be weighed, but since it is free, people very seldom mind waiting a few minutes or so. The ‘weighing out’ volunteers ( at least two) should weigh the goods taken, using kitchen scales and larger hanging scales for bigger items (luggage scales are particularly useful) and write all the weights in a notebook. This will monitor how much the event has diverted from landfill and you will need to report this back to your local community.
- It is good to offer refreshments for sale. Not only does it generate some revenue but you also certainly need to be taking cups of tea etc. to your volunteers – they will be having a very busy time!
- You may want to have a display table at each Swap Shop to promote the work of your group and sign up new people to get involved. You may find that some people are happy to just volunteer to help at future Swap Shops.
You will have many items left over at the end of the Swap Shop. This is unavoidable. Luckily, in West Berkshire, the Community Furniture Project not only provides PAT Testers but also takes away anything left over, for possible reuse or otherwise correct recycling. This is hugely helpful. So be sure to be in touch with the CFP when planning the date for your event.
People – your volunteers
You will need well informed volunteers for the following tasks:
- Advance publicity
- Set up the venue
- Make and put up signage
- Greeting / counting attendees
- Manning the tables
- Make and sell refreshments
- Weighing out goods
- Take photographs (for reporting event and future publicity)
- Help clear up
- Take signs down
The old saying ‘many hands make light work’ really does apply to Swap Shops, so recruit as many volunteers for the day as you can (10 would be an absolute minimum).
Funding
Your main costs are likely to be Hire of the hall and Publicity. If you don’t already have funding for your first event then West Berkshire Green Exchange will almost certainly be able to help. Contact us to discuss.
But use the opportunity of any Swap Shop to generate funds to run the next one by
1. Sales of refreshments - should show at least a small profit
2. Asking for Donations - have a large notice by the weighing station/exit asking for donations and have a suitable container. Particularly point out to those taking many items away. This usually generates appreciable funds
3. Raffle – another option
Risk Assessment and looking at potential problems
- Find out whether your event event is covered by the hall’s insurance or, if not, consider taking out suitable insurance for the event.
- Most insurance policies make it a condition that a risk assessment is undertaken for each event so that any potential problems are reduced. Your venue may actually have a risk assessment form they can give you to use.
- Fire exits from the venue should be noted.
- Volunteers should be briefed prior to the event, explaining what is expected of them and pointing out such things as fire exits.
Finally, Swap Shops are great fun! Everyone enjoys getting something for nothing, as well as doing their bit to combat climate change and it is absolutely great to see children going away with ‘new’ toys or adults having some thing they consider a real bargain. Enjoy the day and let as many people as possible know why you are doing it!
Acknowledgement
This article is an abridged version of an article from The Greening Campaign, modified specifically for groups within West Berkshire. But is also worth reading the full article on The Greening Campaign’s web site (see Phase 2 – Projects).
