Very Interesting! Gently Used Gift Exchange
 

Welcome to this very interesting thread. Hopefully the title convinced you to peek. :D

I was thinking that most of us probably have a box full of clothes and toys our yorkies don't wear / play with. Wouldn't it be nice if another yorkie got to enjoy them?

Here's the proposal: We start with two YT boxes, one for clothes, one for toys. You sign up for either or both boxes. You receive the box with other people's gently used toys / clothes. You take what you like, add your own things, and send the box onto the next person on the list.

Would you sign up for something like this??

I'm thinking we have a rule that you can only put clothing in Excellent or Like New condition into the box, and maybe Very Good quality for toys. It might be nice to do something like this for treats or larger items like outgrown crates, but toys and clothes seem like the easiest place to start.

We would have some basic rules, like:

- the box must have at least five items in it when you send it on.
- the box can't weight more than ten pounds (or whatever is a reasonable shipping weight).
- You must send the box on within 10 days of receiving it.
- You must meet basic qualifications like those for entering the official Gift Exchange.

We are still working out where the sign ups would be, maybe in the "Wanted" forum. We would also need to figure out how to prevent the box from getting "stuck" somewhere.

What do you think? Something you'd love to do? Never do? You would do if the idea got tweaked in this or that way? I'd love your feedback!

Sounds like a great idea. We all have clothes and toys that our kids have outgrown and don't play with anymore. Count me in...:D

I think it's a great idea! :)

I think it is a great idea as well :)

sounds very interesting...:)

That is a great idea! I have a bunch of clothes but none wear them... I would love to do this!

sounds like a good idea

A Yorkietalk Treasure Box:D(we have something like this in the UK on Freecycle) Sounds great although obviously we would'nt be able to participate-far too much postage cost! But we hope you all enjoy it:D Maybe a cute idea for each person who gets the box to write a small message on the box or maybe a pawprint and the name of the town its in and the doggy its come from!:D

What a cute idea!!!:D

Please count us in as well! I really love the idea. In fact, I'm trying to plan a small New England YT (Boston) meet-up and was thinking of bringing some of Willow & Jake's things to share but I like this idea better...sounds like a lot of fun! We have Free-cycle here too and I really love it when people can use something that we don't need anymore (and the other way around too of course!:D)

:animal-paAwesome idea!... Count us in!!

~Kathy

I like the idea. We would be in.:thumbup:

We are in :thumbup: Sounds cool !!

:D What a fabulous idea! Me & Lucy are in!! :thumbup:

Great idea! We want in, too!!

This sounds great and more financially manageable for us right now. The Gift Exchange seems like it can become VERY expensive and so I think this is a great compromise/alternative for us! I love the Treasure Box idea. :D We definitely have a few items to throw in there! :)

althoughi dont meet the minimum requirements for the gift exchange, i think that it is a wonderful idea. i have had cleo only a few months but i still have several things that she has outgrown and doesnt use....

Great, I'm so glad to see so many positive responses!

I'm not familiar with FreeCyle. How does that work? Could we do something like this for carriers?

Good one. I'm in- let me know when and how. Yay, can't wait!

love it !! count us in:thumbup:

How about this: whenever you get the box, you post a picture to a public album with the box and your dog. This way we get to see its travels. :)

Before proceeding with this idea...you may want to consider shipping is not cheap. I've paid upwards of 20 dollars shipping packages out and I mean packages which weigh under 5 pounds.

I guess I responded too soon. I don't meet all the original requirements either, so maybe next time. Rats....:(

It sounds like a wonderful idea. Would you have to be a donating member???? If so I won't qualify, but I have several hoodies, and sweaters, and a jacket that Baxter has outgrown, that I would love to add to the box for anyone who could use them. Sorry, no toys, as he seems to be the kind that destroys them lol.

I'm open to what people think the best qualifying rules will be. I think we need to have something, to prevent box bandits. :cool: So a minimum amount of time on the boards and a minimum number of posts makes sense to me.

Since we would be running this on the YT boards most likely, I feel like it would be reasonable to require people to donate to participate. If $25 is tough for a lot of people who would like to participate, maybe we can reduce the amount.

I'll check UPS rates for ground shipping to get some idea on costs. I'm thinking a box of clothes can't weigh all that much, and Thor only has stuffed toys. What do you guys think, do you doggies have (relatively) heavy toys?

Sounds like fun! count me in!:p

I think that is fair. Yea, I wouldnt think it would weigh too much. We could make it a rule, not to make the box heavier (feeling) than when you got it?! That way if someone has a big toy but took a big toy, it may work?!:p

Even though I can't participate this time, I think the idea of rules is a good one. I'm looking forward to joining in, maybe after a little while longer on the boards.

I'm sure we will have to run ALL of this by YT ADMIN for permission first???? I certainly agree with min # of posts and some type of donation/committment to YT to participate as a guideline...

I've seen very reasonable shipping rates being tossed out in the "for sale" threads...I don't think Yorkie clothing can weigh/cost that much-even sent via Priority mail?

This sounds like a good idea, but, does this have to be approved by Admin?

How are you going to get & protect mailing addresses?