I came across this post on Free Range Parenting about a website that helps parents to swap outgrown sports equipment. Not only is the website a really great idea, but some of the comments on the Free Range Kids post have some great tips about doing this in your own area.

It’s just a southern California site, not nationwide, but that makes sense. Kind of hard to do this long distance without losing a lot of money to shipping costs.

I really liked the comments about doing this through schools, though. I could even see it as a fundraiser if parents were willing to donate equipment. Keep the prices low and the school could probably make some pretty nice money without selling wrapping paper.

And as another person noted, Craigslist and Freecycle in your local area are good choices too.

So often kids outgrow things before they’re really worn out. It’s also a nice way to let your kids try out a sport they don’t know if they’re going to like with a smaller investment in the necessary equipment.