thredUP Fan of the Week!

Each week thredUP will be recognizing one of our fabulous Facebook fans and featuring them in our cover photo along with a short interview on our blog!  Our Fan of the Week will also be awarded a $20 credit to be used in our store.  

Posted by Carly Fauth  

Meet the ThredUP Team: Say Hello to Michelle!

Hello, everyone!  Nice to meet you.  I’m Michelle – one of three at thredUP, but the only one with two “L”s in my name and the only one who is regularly present in our San Francisco office.  To celebrate that distinction, here’s a photo of my desk – note, it’s not cluttered, it’s “creative.”

Since joining thredUP in August of 2011, I’ve had the pleasure of managing Product, interacting with just about everyone in the company to keep our backlog humming.  I also enjoy learning from our customers (you!) to continuously add to our project list – things to improve as well as brand new, exciting ideas! As thoughts begin to surface, I like to get them on paper as soon as possible and love sketching out concepts before taking them to the screen.  There is still room for pen and paper in a digital world!

A typical day can include fleshing out marketing stories with Karen, understanding customer needs from our support team, planning new ops with Sara, diving into user experience flows with Oly, strategizing the next big thing with James or working with Chris and Dan to boil projects down into actionable stories that the design and development teams can tackle in a systematic way.  We track a lot of our work using fancy web tools, as well as through giant Post-its stuck to the wall.  (I don’t want to spoil all the surprises to come, so I’m purposely keeping this photo on the abstract side.)

My path to thredUP and life at an Internet startup has been a winding one.  I’ve engineered satellite mechanisms, developed kids’ toys, worked at a design consultancy on projects ranging from reinventing early childhood education to laundry in developing countries, taught design to college undergrads and helped launch a web company focused on assisting individuals with finding the best foods for their dietary needs and preferences (check out ShopWell.com!).  And, now, alongside working at thredUP, I have the most important and rewarding job of all: being Mommy to the most adorable little girl ever (only slightly biased!).  She helps keep thredUP very real for me, as she cycles quickly from one size to the next.

Other than a short stint in Chicago, when I realized that I don’t do well in temperatures outside of a 20 degree range, I’ve called the City by the Bay my home and enjoy residing in San Francisco with my husband and little girl.  What do I love about this place?  Part of it is the diverse culture, part of it is the great food and part of it is seeing views like this on my daily walk to the bus and BART:

Thanks for reading!   Now that you know a bit about me, I’d love to hear about you.  Feel free to drop me a line at michelle@thredup.com.  Don’t forget – that’s Michelle with two “L”s!  

Posted by Carly Fauth  

Meet the ThredUP Team: Say Hello to Sara!

Get woken up by the kids in the dark, speed through breakfast, toss lunches in bags, streak through carpool in the minivan, speed to your desk to work, pick up the kids, try to serve healthy food, prod kid through homework, PLAY!!, walk Toby Dog, baths/books/bedtime, try to fit in grocery shopping/laundry/cleaning/social life? HA!/glance past your husband while you fall into bed, ready to repeat tomorrow … Sound familiar?  Is this your life?!  Mine too!  These are my alarm clocks:

Two years ago my friend sent me a link to this new company called thredUP; she thought I might like it – she was right!  As a Navy wife (see flyboy below!), when I joined thredUP in the seed phase in April 2010 I immediately saw the opportunity for thredUP to fill a need for military families around the globe who were looking for a taste of home.  I dusted off my professional brain after having been full-time at home with kids for nearly 4 years and dropped James an email – I let him know what I could do, told him I only needed enough money to cover the coffee and babysitting I’d need to work 10 hours/week and BOOM.  A few emails and one Skype conversation later I started on my thredUP adventure.   

It’s been a wild ride every day ever since!  Now working 25 hrs/wk (great mom mix!) I’m sort of a Swiss Army knife at TU … the team cooks up crazy ideas (not just military ones!) and I figure out how to make them work for parents just like us.  Logistics, operations, marketing, relationship building, piloting programs, emailing with LOTS of thredUP moms, writing, editing, testing, no two days are ever the same.  I’ve been a high school English teacher, college administrator, corporate international law ops streamliner, start-up girl, MOM, and camp goddess: every single experience has prepared me to do my best for you at thredUP. 

I have a corner office at our pad in Annapolis, MD, comes complete with foot-warmer (Toby’s bed is under my feet)!  As you can tell, I can’t stand paper … a girl, her laptop (with mongo monitor) and her dog – Toby was too shy to take a picture under the desk, here he is frolicking -

When I’m not tap tapping away on my Mac I’m kickin’ it at CrossFit Annapolis, darting to soccer games with Ryan (7), catching David (5) practicing funny faces in the bathroom mirror, or routing Lexi (3), wild child and future Naval Aviator, out of EVERYTHING.  Our little Navy family has moved 5 times in the last 9 years before finding our way back to Maryland last summer.  We’ll be here for another 6 years (gasp!) while hubbs teaches Ethics and Leadership at the Naval Academy.  It’s my distinct pleasure to serve the parents of thredUP – got an idea for a new program?  Email it to me at sara@thredUP.com, I’m listening J  

Posted by Carly Fauth  

Meet the thredUP Team: Say Hello to Dan!

Hi everyone! I'm Dan - one of the developers here at thredUP. I was born and raised in Michigan, but I moved to California after graduating from Michigan State University and I've really enjoyed my time in California so far. I joined thredUP in September of 2010 when the team moved from Boston to San Francisco. Anyways, I'd like to share with you what a typical day for me is like.

People at thredUP know that I love coffee so it's probably no surprise to anyone that the first thing I do every morning is make a fresh cup. When I say first, I mean it. I get up, turn off my alarm, walk over to my Keurig coffee maker and pop in a Starbucks K-cup (see picture).

While I let the caffeine slowly slip into my system, I grab my phone and start checking my emails (I know, very lame). I first check to see if there is a big bug on the website (i.e. emails with 'URGENT' in the subject title). If I don't see any of those, then I look for any emails from Airbrake that might have come in during the night. Airbrake is a service that emails us every time something breaks on the website. If you've seen our 'pockets page', then you've created an Airbrake :) Checking my email is kind of like my personal go-no-go countdown procedure to starting the day. Bugs or Airbrakes? Open my laptop and investigate. Inbox is green and good-to-go? I put on some music and start getting ready for the day.

I'm very fortunate to live close to work. Two miles separate the distance from my apartment door to the thredUP HQ office door so on most days I like to listen to an audiobook and walk to work. San Francisco is a really enjoyable city to walk in - there's a lot history in the buildings and the views of the ocean atop Nob Hill are a great way to start your day. One of the things that is so unique to San Francisco is the weather. The exact details of why San Francisco's weather is so unique can be read here, but in practical terms what it means is that it can be sunny and warm where I live and by the time I walk into the office it can be cold and rainy. Even when it's raining, San Francisco is still beautiful. Here's a picture I took a couple weeks ago during my walk in:

As much fun as it is to work at thredUP, we do work very hard. After I get into the office and I put on a pot of coffee (shocker!), it's time to get to work until 'scrum' starts. At 9am every morning, the development team gathers around in a tight circle for scrum. Scrum (an agile development term) is a chance for all of the developers to talk about what they accomplished yesterday, what they hope to accomplish today, and talk about anything that they might be stuck on. The development team's process has evolved quite a bit since I've joined, but scrum has remained an anchor to our daily workflow. When scrum is over, I put my headphones on and really try to focus hard on my objectives for the day. Here's my desk:

One of the perks we have at thredUP (other than ginormous Apple monitors) is Work From Home Wednesdays (WFHW). All of the developers dial into Skype for scrum and then afterwards we're able to crush away on our work uninterrupted. For some people, WFHW is a chance to code all day in pajamas and for some it's a chance to go work at your favorite coffee shop. One of the secrets about WFHW (and I hope I'm not spoiling it for the others) is to come into the office on these days. You're probably thinking "doesn't that defeat the purpose?". Au contraire my friend! The office is like a library on Wednesdays and as a result you're able to stay heads down and be very productive. Very few people come in, but for those that do there are two unspoken rules to sneaking into the office on WFHW. The first rule is to remember the phrase 'silence is golden'. The second rule is to hide your food from Andre. This is Andre:

Since my job is web development, the vast majority of my day is spent at my computer coding. It can become quite tiresome to work at a computer every day so after my day is finished I like to get away from my computer and go out with some friends. San Francisco has a lot to offer in terms of activities such as hiking, golfing, soccer, indoor trampoline parks, and if all else fails there are plenty of fine establishments with a jukebox, a pool table, and refreshing beverages on tap.

Lastly, I forgot to post a picture of myself! Here I am with some of the familiar faces of thredUP (I'm the one on the far right).

Posted by Dan DeMeyere 

Meet the ThredUP Team: Say Hello to Jenny!

Hello!  I’m Jenny! 

I’ve been working for thredUP for 2 years. I started at thredUP as an intern back when we were doing thredUP for adults. Then, we traded just adult shirts (and one at a time!) Here’s a photo of the first thredUP shirt I ever received. (It was a red Banana Republic short sleeved sweater.)

After we switched to thredUP kids, I became the full time customer service specialist. I moved with the company from Boston, MA to San Francisco, CA! Now I am the office manager of our office and a part time manager of our new warehouse. Here’s a photo of one of the warehouse employees Krystal and I packing some orders at the warehouse.

During my free time I like to hang out with my boyfriend, Hector, and take “glamour” shots of my new cat, Honey Badger. (The name is a long story…) Both are pictured below.

I am originally from Mesquite, Texas. I am one of six kids. Here’s a photo of most of my family (minus my sister Ashley.)

And here’s another photo of a few of my siblings and I when we were younger (just for fun!) My brother is going to kill me for this one…. I am the 2^nd one from the right.

If you ever want to chat, feel free to shoot me an email at jenny@thredup.com! 

Posted by Carly Fauth  

San Francisco, CA

Meet the ThredUP Team: Say Hello to Hao!

Hello, all.  My name is Hao, and I'm a developer at thredUP.  I've been with thredUP for about a year, and I moved back to California (I grew up in this area) from the Seattle area to come work with the amazing team of people we have assembled.  I come from a decent size family, being the only boy among four sisters.  My interests are pretty diverse, ranging from sports to cooking to video games.  One of my most avid interests, though, is the automobile.  I love all makes and models, and could probably identify just about any car going down the street.  As for myself, I drive a 2006 Mazdaspeed6, a hopped-up version of the Mazda6 sedan.  It has a turbocharged, direct-injected four cylinder engine, with the power going to an all-wheel-drive system via a 6-speed manual transmission.  I love the practicality of an all-wheel drive, four-door sedan, but also love the feeling of launching hard from a stop and being thrust into my seat back.  I guess the feeling of liberation that I got the first time I drove somewhere on my own left a lasting impression :)

My car!

So what's it like to be a developer at thredUP?  Well, it's still work, in the sense that there are a lot of tasks to do and tight deadlines are the rule, not the exception.  However, the team that we have really makes it a joy to work here.  We all get along very well, work hard knowing that everyone else is working just as hard and everyone is always willing to answer questions or lend a helping hand. For our projects, we work in two week cycles and the project is broken down into smaller pieces that developers then work on individually and merge together at the end.  We then work together to fix anything that breaks as a result of this merge and prepare things to be deployed to the live site.  It's almost always fast-paced and focused, but that's also part of the fun and challenge.  At the end of the project, we usually get together as a team and reflect on the things that we got done and what we can improve for the next project cycle.  This kind of approach helps us constantly strive for improvement and efficiency!

My desk

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this sneak peak into the life of a thredUP developer.  Not as glamorous as you imagined, huh?  :)  That's ok, we all continue to work hard for one another and to solve the great problem of how to help moms clothe their kids without breaking the bank.  

Hao - Developer @ thredUP

Posted by Carly Fauth  

Modern Slow Cooker Meals

Slow Cooker meals have been around since the 1970s. The reason these recipes are still popular is because the food tastes delicious, the recipes are easy to prepare (food cooks in a single pot all day on a low temp), the meals are affordable and provide leftovers.

Did you know that a slow cooker is also known as a Crock-Pot? The recipes for these appliances are designed primarily for convenience and the use of a few ingredients. Today, we’re sharing our favorite updated family classic recipes that are all cooked in one pot.

Beef Stronganoff originated in Russia and has become an American family favorite. This recipes combines short ribs and many, complex flavors. Kids love this meal too because the beef is served with noodles.

Mexican Food is probably one of the most flavorful cuisines. We found this pork carnitas recipe, which features Mexican flair all cooked in a crock pot.

Braise savory chicken in a slow cooker -- add mushrooms and other vegetables. Top with herb-flecked biscuits and bake in the oven until golden brown. Our mouths are watering....

Fettucine Bolognese is always a meal you can count on the entire family loving. Did you know you can cook this pasta favorite in a slow cooker? You can…here’s how to prepare this dish.

Chili Verde is yummy served with rice or fill inside a tortilla to make a burrito. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and lettuce, then drizzle with sour cream. 

Lasagna can be a lot of work. Next time, prepare Pesto Lasagna with Spinach and Mushrooms in a slow cooker. You won't believe how much time you'll save.

Meal preparation can be overwhelming. This website features many great tips for preparing slow cooker meals in advance. All you need to do is prep, freeze and cook.

Every good meal should end with a declious dessert. A triple-berry cobbler is a great choice because it’s lighter in flavor and very refreshing!

Have you checked out thredUP's Certified Boutique yet? Gently loved items hand selected by us! Today, we're giving away a $20 thredUP credit so you can get a jumpstart on buying your kids spring clothing. Join the conversation on the Daily thred chat tray to enter to win. The winner will be announced at 6:00 PM PST.

Posted by James Reinhart 

What's Good Enough for Bruce is Good Enough for Me!

I went to a high school with a pretty rough reputation. Growing up, I would hear constant rumors about how dangerous it was because it pulled from the “other side of the tracks”. According to the gossip, there were gangs, drug deals taking place around every corner…oh, and you could never use the restroom because there were people in there waiting to rob you. I’ll admit, coming from a white picket fence elementary and middle school, the subject of the chatter was extremely out of my element. But, my parents and I knew that what really fueled all the fear was that the high school was extremely diverse and that made people from my “side of town” feel very uncomfortable. That type of fear never sat well with my mom and dad (or me for that matter). Plus, how could I pass up going to the high school where Bruce Springsteen went? ☺ So off I went to face the gangs, drugs and robbers.

What all those gossips failed to mention is the fact that the high school had some of the highest test scores in the district and was home to one of the top math and science specialized programs in the country. It was also a place where I met people of different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds, and we all managed to find common ground and get along. I learned about really tough family situations that I never imagined existed. And I met some awesome people that I would have otherwise never come in to contact with. I’m happy to report I was never approached by a gang, forced to take drugs or robbed at any point during my high school career. As far as I’m concerned, my high school prepared me for the real world and that is an invaluable lesson.

It’s ironic that we moved to a town very similar to the diverse town I grew up in. We definitely have the “other side of the tracks” and I’m already starting to hear the buzz about the high school (apparently there are gangs here too). People don’t really want to admit the real reason for their fear, but it’s just as obvious now as it was back when I was in high school. As for us, we plan to send Ryker off to face those same gangs, drugs and robbers that I had to face. With any luck, he’ll learn the same invaluable lessons that I was so fortunate to learn.

- Carly, Chief Mom, Jersey Girl

Posted by James Reinhart 

Funny things kids do!

Posted by James Reinhart 

An Exciting New Future for thredUP

We've made the difficult decision to shut down our swapping service, and focus exclusively on our concierge experience and new consignment shop. Starting March 21, you will no longer be able to swap on thredUP. We are sad to see swapping go, but we are excited about the future of thredUP as the nation’s largest online kids’ consignment platform.   

A look back…

Back in April 2010, with just a few folks in a room, we launched the original thredUP.com. We were focused on solving a key problem for families: clothes don’t grow and kids do.  We wanted to help moms save time and money by replacing outgrown clothes with new clothes that fit.  We believed the best solution was a clothes-swapping platform – so we built one. It was, as many of you know, the first robust swapping platform for kids clothing on the Internet. 

It’s been a humbling experience serving the nearly 300,000 moms who have helped make thredUP great. But over the last few months we’ve come to feel that our original offering was just not good enough. Sure, we had hundreds of moms joining each day, but the engagement wasn’t high enough for long-term success. Swapping is a great solution, but it became clear that it wasn't the most convenient solution for moms. So we started innovating again…

As you know, we recently launched two incredible services: our shop and concierge recycling program  – together, a comprehensive kids consignment platform. We initially launched these features to complement our swapping service; we believed thredUP would be in a better business position if we had more to offer than just swapping. But it’s turned out that the excitement over the new shop and concierge recycling has trumped the swapping business.  With limited team resources, we feel compelled to move in the direction that will solve this kids clothing problem better than ever.  

Our future.

Our online kids consignment service kick-off has been phenomenal.  2,000 like-new items purchased in the first week, 6,000 in the first month, 40,000 items recycled during a pre-launch beta period.  It's become clear that a fresh, sleek online kids consignment experience is something families need and have been waiting for. We believe this is the future of thredUP and we think it's going to be big. 

The re-vamped thredUP takes all the legwork out of traditional peer-to-peer swapping, and makes sharing and accessing used kids clothing easier than ever. Here’s how it works:

• Order a bag and send us your outgrown clothes for free. thredUP’s team of moms will inspect clothing and pay you per item based on brand, season and quality. No more waiting for someone to purchase your box and review it – just clean out and cash in whenever you’re ready. A 100% transparent consignment process will launch soon and you'll be able earn commission as your items sell - with full view into our pricing methods and the money you can expect to earn.  Learn more about cleaning out →

• Purchase like-new kids clothes starting at $2.49 (free shipping at $30). Since thredUP takes professional photos and certifies quality, you'll get all the advantages of shopping consignment, thrift, eBay or craigslist, but with peace of mind knowing the items are inspected and hand selected by thredUP. Hundreds of new items are listed each day; soon there will be thousands, giving you a much bigger clothing selection and more opportunities to save. Learn more about shopping single items →

The site evolution is all about convenience and savings, as we’ve learned that’s what moms care about most.  We’ve made recycling children’s clothing as easy as recycling cans or paper. We’ve made buying “used” just as fun as buying “new." For those of you who have shopped for like-new items, you can feel the difference. The refreshed thredUP platform is being built to deliver the world's best online consignment experience ever. Period. 

Some Logistics.

• You’ll have two weeks to swap like crazy! During this time, thredUP will continue to devote customer service resources to the swap-site.

• On March 21, we will turn off swapping. You will no longer be able to build or buy boxes on thredUP.

• Any senders who have a box in transit on or after March 21 will receive full cash-back.

• All members who have unused picks and positive swap balances will receive coupons on March 21 to use in our shop.  As you know, "picks" traditionally allowed you to keep swapping and buying more boxes. We think they have real value, so we're converting them into deep discounts towards like-new items. Coupon amounts and number of coupons will be determined by the number of picks accumulated.  For example, if you have a positive swap balance and 1 pick remaining, you'll receive a 20% off coupon code.  If you have 40 picks, you'll receive several 50% off coupon codes.  All codes will be valid for a full year. 

Final Thoughts.

This decision wasn’t easy. We love swapping. We love the thredUP community and the connections you’ve made. We wish we could keep swapping around forever. However, our team needs to stay focused on building the best possible solution for moms everywhere, so we have to keep moving. 

I want to take a moment to thank you all.  Thank you for being a part of our journey. Thanks for making any and all of this possible.  We are so appreciative of your support and loyalty and really hope you’ll continue on with us through this evolution. 

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to email support@thredup.com. If you'd like to reach me personally, you can email me at james@thredup.com. 

Thank you again,

James Reinhart
CEO & Co-Founder

FAQ

WHY ARE YOU SHUTTING DOWN SWAPPING? We are shutting down swapping so we can focus on our online kids consignment model (the shop and concierge). Based on initial excitement around the shop, customer feedback and market research, we believe the refreshed model makes it even easier to replace outgrown kids clothes with like-new ones. We believe we can help more moms this way. 

 WHY CAN’T YOU BUILD THE NEW SITE AND LET US KEEP SWAPPING? As you know, to keep a website up and running, especially one as robust as our swap-site, a company must devote significant resources.  It’s important that our team stay focused on solving one common problem and work towards the best possible solution.

 WHY SHOULD I STAY ON THE THREDUP FACEBOOK PAGE? Just like always, Facebook fans will enjoy exclusive thredUP promotions, like free credits to use towards single items in our new shop. We have fun contests planned with great prizes such as outfit giveaways, gift certificates and more.  We'll continue running our live chats and we hope you'll remain a part of this great community where you can share advice and stories with other moms.

WHAT ABOUT HELPING OTHER MOMS? When you send a bag of outgrown clothes to thredUP (via concierge) we’ll find new homes for each of your items. Not only are you recycling, but you can also feel great about sharing your stuff with other families. Yes, we’re changing the way those clothes get into the hands of another family, but the destination remains the same. 

ARE YOU GOING TO ALLOW BOOKS AND TOYS? For now, we’re focused only on soft items, as that’s what the concierge packaging supports.  Currently, you can used thredUP to recycle and buy children’s clothing.  We plan to expand to maternity and junior clothing in the near future.

WHAT ABOUT MY STYLIES? CAN I GET A COUPON FOR THOSE TOO? We will be rewarding you based on swap balance and picks as we believe those are closest to thredUP currency and best represent your contribution to the swap community.

WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY CURRENTLY LISTED BOXES? All boxes will be delisted on March 21. You can can continue listing, picking and reviewing boxes until that date. If your boxes have not been picked by March 21, we encourage you to try out concierge to clean out and cash in. Learn more.

I WANT TO SWAP! WHAT ARE SOME ALTERNATIVES TO THREDUP? We know many of you love swapping! If the new thredUP isn’t for you (but we hope it is!) here are some swapping and renting alternatives:

• Swap Mamas: http://www.swapmamas.com/welcome
• Outgrowin In: http://www.outgrowingin.com/
• Wookybaby: http://www.wookybaby.com/
• Swap Baby Goods: http://www.swapbabygoods.com/index.asp
• Zwaggle: http://www.zwaggle.com/
• Peace.Love.Swap: http://peaceloveswap.com/
• Swap.com: http://swap.com

Posted by James Reinhart