The Swap Shop

The

SWAP SHOP A R O TAT I O N A L B O U T I Q U E

NOTHING TO WEAR

CONTENTS 1. What is Swap Shop? 2. How does it work? 3. What does it look like? 4. Rules and guidelines 5. Research 6. The Survey 7. Feedback 8. How did the feedback influence the design?

AT T E N T I O N A L L F E M A L E S

Introducing a

ROTATIONAL BOUTIQUE

W H AT I S S W A P S H O P ?

“I NEED A NEW OUTFIT AND I H AV E N O MONEY” PROBLEMS.

Here at the Swap Shop we have heard your student cries and have designed a solution to help. We like to think of it as like swapping outfits with a friend; but on mass. We always get bored of our own clothes and the grass always looks greener in their wardrobe.

Swap Shop is very fair and low cost to trade clothing with others at your university, with a label system that ensures a high standard of swapping. Trade clean and good condition second hand clothing that’s lost it’s ‘just bought feeling’. For example, if you contributed a lovely Topshop skirt go ahead and treat yourself to another lovely item in our high end high street label such as an Urban Outfitters pair of shorts.

There’s no loosing out!

What is a ‘Rotational Boutique’? The rhythm of people contributing and receiving lovely clothes on our Swap Shop user friendly app and website. In order for the boutique to rotate effectively there are some easy to grasp user guidelines and rules.

AT T E N T I O N A L L F E M A L E S

DESCRIBE IT & ADD PICTURES Start by simply telling us what you’re swapping. Then, make your listing stand out with great pictures.

ITEM WILL RECEIVE ONE OF FOUR L ABELS Your label will determine what kind of clothing you have contributed. You are free to roam and select an item in the same label to receive in return.

LIST IT! Click “List it” and your item will be visible to lots of swappers.

SU RECEPTION

DROP OFF & PICK UP If someone has selected your item, drop it off at uni at the designated drop off and pick up point. Make sure you put the item in a bag with a piece of paper inside naming the member who will be picking it up.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS Have you got an outfit you like but that you’ve worn already?

Would you like to swap it for one just as nice?

HOW IT WORKS

L ABEL SYSTEM

The

BASICS S E C T I O N

SOPHIE890

Once you have uploaded your item you will be given one of four labels. Your label will determine what kind of clothing you have contributed based on it’s description. You are free to roam and select any item in the same label to receive in return. This is to ensure a high standard of swapping and happy swappers.

MEMBERS Swap Shop operates as a community, and each swap requires member feedback. A member can be rated from 1 to 5 stars based on a range of factors such as the cleanliness of the item, the dropping off time and how accurately it matched the description.

Each member is anonymous; with only a user name to identify them. This is mainly to avoid knowing who previously wore the outfit.

You can only browse and select an item if you contribute an item yourself.

F R E E TO R E C E I V E

EASY DROP OFF SYSTEM Swap Shop asks for a small fee of 50p for putting an item up, this is help to cover the running costs for the website. There are absolutely no other costs! NO sign up fee, and NO postage fee! We have designed a ‘drop off and pick up’ place at each university to ensure an effortless transfer between students. No more faffing around with post offices and being told off for late sending. Unless you take ages ‘dropping it off’ .. then you might get a nudge.. Or a bad feedback.

The

SWAP SHOP A R O TAT I O N A L B O U T I Q U E

NEW IN

B R O W S E C LOT H E S

S W A P C LOT H E S

HO

BACK TO BROWSE CLOTHING

GOLD M

The

DESIGNER

Our Designer Section promises only th and tops to ensure you look amazing Choose from statement evening dres party dresses, sequined shorts, going o

S E C T I O N

REFINE BY: SIZE:

4 6

Clear All

Showing items of 1-20 of 628

View 20 200

#Hastag what you’re looking for

W IT WORKS

HELP

My account

My bag

EMBERS

he most fabulous dresses, accessories, g, feel confident and can truly shine. sses, pretty prom styles, embellished out tops and Cinderella–worthy shoes.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sort by:

Best match

AT T E N T I O N A L L F E M A L E S

THERE ARE RULES?!

Listen up you naughty lot: Designer dresses, one off vintage items, an expensive Topshop top, here at Swap Shop we gotta control the mass of screaming female students all grabbing the best stuff.

Swap Shop has designed a really easy and straight forward way of making sure the swaps are fair and happy.

THE RULES

The

DESIGNER S E C T I O N

1.

S W A P S H O P I S A M E M B E R S O N LY S I T E We ’ v e g ott a kn ow w h a t un i v ers i ty you ’re from s o w e k n ow h ow to s o rt yo u o u t w i t h d rop offs a nd p i ck u ps! Th i s en s u res t h e ‘N O M O N EY NEEDED’ swa p s.

2.

O N LY M E M B E R S W H O C O N T R I B U T E I T E M S C A N S WA P Ge t o u tt a h ere yo u ch eeky l ot ! Contri bu te a n i tem a n d Swa p S h o p i s h a p p y fo r you s el ect one ba ck!

3.

L A B E L S S I G N A L W H AT S E C T I O N Y O U C A N S WA P I N Co nt ri b ut e a l ov el y To p s h o p s ki rt? Fa b, go a hea d a n d t reat yo u rs el f to an ot h er hi gh end hi gh s treet ite m s u ch a s a n U rb an O u t f i tt ers p a i r of s horts. Thi s g u aran t ees a fa i r a n d ha p p y swa p !

AT T E N T I O N A L L F E M A L E S

The

HIGH STREET S E C T I O N

Photography by Mily Tillson

THE RULES

THERE ARE RULES?!

There’s more!

4.

Y O U M AY L I K E T H E I R D R E S S B U T T H E Y D O N ’ T L I K E YO U R T R O U S E R S .

NO PROBLEM! We ’ ll l et yo u o f f. Swa p S h o p d o es n’t op era te on a swa p w i t h o n e p a rt n er ki n d o f t h ang. You m i x w i thi n a l ab el , i t wo rks g rea t!

5.

T H E I T E M YO U S WA P I S N O LO N G E R YO U R S . . B U T !

Yo u get an ot h er l ov el y i t em to re p l a ce i t tha t you h av e c h o s en ! I m ag i n e g i v i n g u p a l ov el y french co n n ect i o n d res s fo r a - j u s t - a s - l ov el y W hi s tl es d res s. Th ere’s n o l o o s i ng ou t!

6.

M E M B E R S G E T R AT E D I s th e ite m yo u r d ro p p i n g o f f cl ean? H av e you d rop p ed it o f f in g o o d t i m e? D o es yo ur d es cri p ti on of i t m a tch u p to th e r ea l l i f e p i ece? M em b er ’s w il l recei v e feed ba ck o n th e ir swap s to en s u re a t ru s t worthy sys tem . Ba d swa ppe rs co ul d recei v e a b an i f n ecess a ry. Mem bers a re we lco me to s en d i n co m p l a i n t s to Swa p Shop i f u nfa i r ite ms a r e reci ev ed t h a t a ren’t as they d es cri bed or u n c le a n . Th es e i t em s w i l l b e retu rn ed ba ck to the ow ner a n d n ot to co m e b ack o n t h e w ebs i te

The

SWAP SHOP A R O TAT I O N A L B O U T I Q U E

NEW IN

B R O W S E C LOT H E S

S W A P C LOT H E S

HO

BACK TO BROWSE CLOTHING

T E L L U S W H AT Y O EXAMPLE: Black Topshop Dress

HERE’S HOW

DESCRIBE IT & ADD PICTURES

ITE ON

Start by simply telling us what you’re swapping. Then, make your listing stand out with great pictures.

Your cloth are f the s

#Hastag what you’re looking for

W IT WORKS

HELP

My account

My bag

OU’RE SWAPPING G E T S TA R T E D

IT WORKS

EM WILL RECEIVE NE OF FOUR L ABELS

r label will determine what kind of hing you have contributed. You free to roam and select an item in same label to receive in return.

LIST IT! That’s it! Click “List it” and your item will be visible to millions of swappers.

AT T E N T I O N A L L F E M A L E S

RESEARCH In order for Swap Shop to exist, there must be a market.

Here are the results of my survey undertaken by female students in Bristol:

H O W O F T E N D O YO U P U R C H A S E A N OUTFIT FOR A NIGHT OUT?

60% 40% Often!

Not very often

D O YO U F E E L YO U S P E N D TO O MUCH MONEY ON CLOTHES?

53% 46% YES!

No

RESEARCH

D O YO U L I K E I T ?

W O U L D YO U U S E I T ?

86% 14% No

YES!

AT T E N T I O N A L L F E M A L E S

RESEARCH

THE SURVEY Here’s the questions to the survey:

1. HOW OFTEN DO YOU PURCHASE AN OUTFIT FOR A NIGHT OUT? 2. WOULD YOU WEAR AN OUTFIT ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION? 3. IF YES, WOULD YOU FEEL CONSCIOUS OF WEARING AN OUTFIT ‘TOO OFTEN’?

4. WHAT HAPPENS TO AN OUTFIT THAT YOU DON’T WEAR ANYMORE? 5. DO YOU FEEL YOU SPEND TOO MUCH MONEY ON CLOTHES? 6. DO YOU EVER SELL YOUR UNWANTED CLOTHES? 7. WHAT DO YOU LIKE/DISLIKE ABOUT SELLING THEM? 8. DO YOU EVER BUY SECOND HAND CLOTHING? MAYBE FROM CHARITY SHOPS/THRIFT STORES?

9. WOULD YOU CONSIDER TRADING YOUR USED/UNWANTED OUTFITS FOR OTHER OUTFITS TRADED IN BY OTHERS? IF: ALL ITEMS WERE CLEANED AND IN GOOD CONDITION BOTH TRADERS WERE ANONYMOUS SO YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHO IT BELONGED TO IT DIDN’T REQUIRE ANY MONEY? This service would be designed as an app that you could find on your apple or android app store. Within the app is the option to select your university. Users would create an account under an anonymous name.

Traders would post a picture up of the item with a description, and if of interest to someone, asked to drop it off into a location at uni (one main place). This ‘manned’ designated place would be for pick ups and drop offs (such as the SU reception opposite the SU shop – just an idea). When retrieving the item you bagged on the app, it would be in a bag with your user name on it, left by the owner.

NO need for postage or involvement of money. Although, postage is available as an option if necessary

10. THIS IDEA IS STILL IN THE PROCESS OF DESIGN. WOULD THERE BE ANY CONCERNS OR REASONS FOR WHY YOU WOULDN’T BE INTERESTED? OR SUGGESTIONS TO BETTER THE SERVICE?

AT T E N T I O N A L L F E M A L E S

FEEDBACK Here at Swap Shop we decided it would be a good idea to survey people face to face giving out a pen and paper survey. This gave us a great opportunity to get more personal feedback; where people felt comfortable asking questions and sharing their thoughts.

Here are some people’s answers:

“Yes, I’d be interested but how would sizes work?”

“Yes, I’d be interested but I’d rather get rid of clothes as opposed to getting more clothes”

“Sounds a bit complicated that maybe that’s just the description? I also don’t o w n /p l a n o n o w n i n g a s m a r t p h o n e ”

“If it’s a nice piece of clothing, maybe a well known brand then maybe?”

“I want this. I wouldn’t want people coming up to me and telling me it was their ’s before”

“I have no suggestions, this idea sounds great. Just as long as advertising didn’t take long! As in advertising your own clothes!”

RESEARCH

“It wouldn’t have to be free I would pay a little - not a lot.

Love it!”

“Yes, I’d be interested.

I have no suggestions it sounds like a good idea, great to have as an app very user friendly” “Such a good idea!”

“No suggestions! I’m interested” “ N o, I o n l y b u y n e w. I m a y use the service if it was of new clothes with tags still on or of a particular designer”

“There would probably be more people taking items than posting them. Maybe a system where only when people have posted an item of theirs they can get one in return”

S O W H AT A R E Y O U S W A P P I N G ? !

EXAMPLE: Black Topshop Dress

G E T S TA R T E D