Save Your Pennies for Change

Much like how the development of Nan Luo Gu Xiang (南锣鼓巷) brought with it the 不拆 project and armfuls of frozen yoghurt, Wu Dao Ying（五道营）is bringing with it The Veggie Table, Brand Nu and the ‘Smarter than Car’ movement. Drawing in trade from outside the An Ding Men (安定门) area and spreading the word about these worthwhile ventures, development is welcomed. There is, however, still a worry that the flow of subsequent money injected into the area leads only to establishing uninspiring businesses, passing up the opportunity for this street to be one of visionaries. Cornered by the newly established tanning salon one business is staying true to Wu Dao Ying’s potential; thinking bigger than big the modest sized CHANGE Swap Shop has a revolution in mind.

Inspired by the American free stores of the 1970s, the swap shop is a one of a kind within Beijing. Preferring to be seen as a ‘tool’ rather than an environmental project, it provides the opportunity to swap items in exchange for in-store credit. Other than the original selection of models from the store’s earlier days, all items have been traded for one thing or another. In this sense, the swap shop is less of a store and more of a ‘waiting area’ for currently unwanted things.

This ‘tool’ is useful in a city such as Beijing where people tend to have a lot of stuff that they often leave behind. Utilised by expats and Chinese alike, the swap shop provides one way of dealing with the issue.

Upon entering the swap shop, it would be easy to label it as a junk store and leave it at that, however the strict rules on what can be exchanged ensures that the items stay of a certain aesthetic quality. Not only this, but it is Robin, the owner of the store and his philosophy that transforms the shop from the simplistic swapping of objects to the romantic concept of exchanging memories. Taking pleasure in the very real idea that what is one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, to Robin the swap shop may as well be a jewellery store - which in part, it actually is.

The content of the shop is constantly changing, in more ways than one. In what Robin likes to explain as a kind of game, the pricing system within the store is yet another one of its unique features. At first every item is assigned a price reflecting its desirability, If the item doesn’t sell within a certain period of time, then the price is revised, lowered and ‘given another chance’. The process continues until the object is sold.

On visiting the store to interview Robin I met a satisfied customer who had witnessed a Spanish version of Monopoly get slashed in price since discovering it half a year ago. Both the discount in price and the obscurity of the product makes this a good example for the average swap shop customer experience.

Robin has no big plans in store for the swap shop on its own. Instead what he reaches for is a network of independently owned stores across Beijing, if not China. Providing details about starting up the store on his blog, he aims to get more people involved in the idea and eventually move towards a swap shop ‘revolution’.

There still remain a few issues in the design of the swap shop network; a primary problem being establishing an appropriate balance between the simplicity of the concept as a whole and the complexity of the logistics to make it happen. It appears that some sacrifices will have to be made in the purity of the store’s utopian design for it to be as easily established and adopted as is hoped. For the time being, it’s worth stopping by to see if anything takes you by surprise and to sample the latest packet of exchanged coffee for three yuan a cup.

Opening Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 12:00 – 20:00
Location: 安定门，五道营
Specials: Every last Sunday of the month, 10 – 70% off traded items, 50% off models

Links
CHANGE Swap Shop Blog

Rules

Unaccepted Items:

Excessively old tape players, VCRs, cameras, watches or phones of any kind
Anything that needs to be evaluated professionally, collectables, commemorative money or hand made products (by artists or otherwise).
Valuable jewellery, precious stones or household utensils
Anything bigger than a microwave
Mass produced items, food & drink, medicine, cigarettes or alcohol
Audio books, second hand clothes, Lint toys, cups, make up or anything else that's used for the body (old or new)
Any products where it is unclear as to if it's a genuine famous brand
Anything that breaks the law, that you cannot vouch for or that appears suspicious
Children wishing to exchange items must be accompanied by a parent or guardian
Products must be cleaned before being exchanged.