One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure!
I swapped this top and these boots…
…for all of this! Two MAC lipsticks, MAC loose powder, MAC eyeshadow, NARS lip glosses, Smashbox palette, MAC mini cosmetic pouch, and 3 mini perfumes.
We all have stuff lying around that we don’t wear or use anymore and impulse buys that we never ended up using. If you added up the value of all of your unused, unwanted items, you’d probably have a heart attack! Luckily, MakeupAlley.com provides a way for you to put these items up for swap, so we can get rid of our closet rejects and trade them in for things we want!
When my sisters and I were kids, we had “garage sales” where we gathered up all of our unwanted stuff and displayed everything out in the hallway in front of our bedrooms. Then, we bargained with each other and traded our junk for something we wanted.
Now, it’s hard to swap stuff with my sisters because we all live in different places, we’re all different dress sizes, and we wear completely different styles of clothing and makeup. But there are places online where I can still trade in the stuff I don’t want for stuff I do want, like MakeupAlley.com.
Here’s how:
1. Sign up for MUA here.
2. Set up your profile and add a picture or two to make your profile look more established.
3. List your unwanted items. Go to the “Swap” section on the top menu and then hit “Swap Items” Under “My Swap Info” on the vertical menu on the left. Click on “Add a new item” and start putting your stuff up for swap!
4. Make sure to write descriptions of the products and post pictures, if you can. If your item is brand new, write that. If you’re swapping a beauty product that’s only 50% full, write that. You don’t want to rip anybody off because they can leave you negative swap tokens (similar to feedback on Ebay) and you might have trouble swapping in the future.
5. After you list all of your items, you can create a “Wish List” (on the left vertical menu) that tells people what specific products you’re looking to trade for. If you can’t think of specific items you want, skip it and you can always update your wish list later.
6. Now, check out what other people have up for swap. You can search for a specific item by going to “Product Search” under “Swap” on the left vertical menu. You can search for products in a certain category (like Hair, Fragrances, Clothes, etc.) or you can just browse the “Swap” tab for the latest stuff up for trade.
7. If you see something you like, click on it and you’ll see a box to enter and send a message, telling that person that you want to trade. When she sees your message, she’ll take a look at your swap list to see if there’s anything she likes and, if there is, you two can work out a swap. If you decide to trade, you should “Pend” the item that you’re going to swap so that people who view your Swap List know that that item isn’t up for trade anymore. Just write “Pend” or “Pending” in the title of the item.
8. Usually, the member with the least amount of positive swap tokens (which would be you, if you’re new to MUA) will be asked to ship out their stuff first. She may ask you to do “DC”, which means Delivery Confirmation, so that she can track the package. After mailing your package, update the title of the item on your swap list to “Sent” instead of “Pending”. When the other member receives your package, she’ll send hers.
9. After a swap, award the other member with a swap token (you’ll see a link towards the bottom of her profile) and write a comment for other swappers to see. She will do the same, and if she doesn’t, just remind her.
10. After a swap is done, you can delete the item off your swap list.
Happy swapping!
