How it works
How the swap works and what it costs
Four steps, one flat fee and no membership: €9 for 15 items back, €6.50 postage, and 10 working days from the day your bag lands.
The four steps
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1
Write to us
Send a note to hello@bartermail.com with your child's age and height, the size you're sending and the size you need. We reply with your swap number and the sorting room's posting details.
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2
Post your bag
At least 10 items, washed, dry and folded, with your swap number on a note inside. You pay the postage to us.
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3
We sort and credit
Every item is opened by hand and goes to keep, mend or rest. Accepted items become credits on your swap number.
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Your bundle is posted
15 items in the next size up, packed to your note. Pay the swap fee and postage by bank transfer, and it goes out the day the money clears.
What a swap costs
No deposit and no membership. The swap fee and postage are paid by bank transfer once your bundle is packed, and it goes in the post on the day the transfer clears.
| Item | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Swap fee† | A bundle of 15 items in the next size up | €9.00 |
| Postage back to you | Flat per bundle, anywhere in the Republic or the North | €6.50 |
| Starter bundle | 12 items for families with nothing to send yet, plus €6.50 postage | €26.00 |
| The Barter Sack | Reusable heavy cotton post sack, 60 × 45 cm. Free with your third swap | €4.00 |
| Communion and Confirmation swap | One outfit in for one outfit out, booked 1 February to 20 April | €12.00 |
| Return of items we can't use | Postage back to you. Or we pass them to a textile recycling bank in the city at no charge | €4.00 |
Coats, snowsuits and rain sets count as three items each, both coming in and going out, at no extra charge. Four coats are enough for a send on their own.
How long a swap takes
Most of the year
10
Working days
From the day your parcel lands in the sorting room to the day your bundle is posted.
Uniform rush
15
Working days, 4 August to 12 September
Every family in the country wants the next size up in the same few weeks. Send plain uniform in July and you miss the queue.
Where we post
We post to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, at the same €6.50 flat rate wherever you are on the island. There is no international postage, because it would cost more than the clothes are worth.
Questions we get in the post
Anything not answered here, put in your first note to hello@bartermail.com.
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The minimum send is 10 items. A coat, snowsuit or rain set counts as three, so seven things and one coat make ten, and four coats are enough on their own. A hand-knit counts as two coming in, so a grandmother's cardigan does double duty. If you're still short, hold the bag until the next growth spurt adds to it.
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18 months from the day they go on your swap number. That's long enough to bank a summer bag in June and draw on it for coats in November, or the November after.
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Yes. Put it in your note and it goes on the packing slip. "No pink" and "no frills" are honoured, and so is anything else your child has firm views on.
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We post them back to you for €4, or pass them to a textile recycling bank in the city at no charge. Say which you'd prefer in your first note and we'll do the same every time.
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Yes, and so can brothers and sisters. One swap number holds all the family's credits. Just say in each note which child the bundle is for and what size they're in now.
Next
Ready to send a bag? Check what we take, then write to us.
Your first note gets your swap number and the sorting room's posting details back within two working days.