I need your advice on this one. I traded with a new member last week. Before I accepted her offer, I asked several questions because her item was worth less (initial retail value) than mine. My item is in excellent condition, and when I write excellent, it’s because it looks new. I asked very specific questions on her item (a cardigan) regarding pilling (I know this happens often). Here is the answer she gave me on general condition:

“I only put it as good because I didnt want to say great and someone disagree. I looked over the sweater to see if there was anything that wouldnâ??t make it â??excellentâ? on the back where the tie is held there is on the left side two pieces holding it and the right side has one but itâ??s thicker so I think it was made that way. Ive only worn this a few times so it really is good condition.”

And here’s her answer on pilling:

“Yah this sweater has no pilling and I would have no problems with sending it to you first thanks so much!”

I got the item today. It has pilling everywhere and it seems it has never been washed… I would send it back but I’m in Canada, it cost her less than $7 to ship to me and it would cost me $15 to ship back. What should I do???? Any thoughts, advice?

Thanks!

Montreal (Qc),

I would say, given that the quality of the item is at a level where you would feel justified in returning it (if you could afford the postage), that you leave this other party negative feedback and move on. Make sure you describe why, for her benefit and people she might trade with in the future.

Have you told her, a part from the forum, that you feel the item she sent you is not as she described it?

Irvine, Ca

Did you talk to her about it? That seems like it would be a good start. Is the sweater unwearable? Or will a once-over with a sweater shaver take care of things?

Germantown, MD

I haven’t written to her yet; that was my next step after getting responses to my post! :-)

It was not my intention to leave a negative karma to her before I’ve tried to sort things out.

A shaver may get rid of most of the pilling, but it would take me at least one hour to get rid of them and it would still not look new… :-(

Thanks for your responses!

Montreal (Qc),

Just a little update. I’ve written to the swapper and she suggested me sending her a lower value item instead of the item I was supposed to send her. I was happy with her offer. If I have the energy, I will try to spend time shaving the pillings and see if I can ultimately wear the item! ;-)

Montreal (Qc),

I’m really glad to hear that you two found such a great solution.

Irvine, Ca

Glad to hear too!

Germantown, MD

That sucks. It’s happened to me before, on a swap on swapstyle.com, but since I didn’t want bad feedback, I just accepted it, and donated it. Sometimes it’s hit or miss with these swaps. Some people are dishonest, and you take a chance when you swap. But sometimes you can score some real gems.

Las Vegas, NV

In this particular case, I don’t think the person was dishonest. I realize we don’t all evaluate our items the same way. I’m really picky… For me, to call condition “excellent”, the item basically has to look new. It seems we do not all see things the same way… I know some people will not like what I’m going to say, but I liked to see a swapper’s age on Swapstyle because I realized with time (and a great number of swaps) that I had my worst experiences with very young swappers. Maybe because they tend to buy lower quality items (it’s understandable) and therefore these items don’t age well. I don’t know…

Montreal (Qc),

If you can’t get the sweater to the condition you want it, you might want to try upcycling it like this designer! Click here to see Katwise’s Etsy shop.

Lomita (near Los Angeles), CA