Image from Pixabay with alterations by iri
Swap name: STS (Shop The Swap) Fall Market 2026
LC member organizing this swap: irid3sc3nt
LC member co-organizing this swap: Tapestry
LC moderator for this swap: gozer
Sign-up date range: 9/20 to 10/11
Send outs: on a scheduled basis, see below
Limited to a certain number of people? Not this year!
Restricted to people who all live in the same country? Yes
If so, which country? USA only
Additional Age requirement? Yes. Swappers have to be 18+.
- All swappers MUST be pre-approved for this swap!
- Please read this post in its entirety before signing up for this swap.
- This swap thread is reserved for swap shops only; please use the DISCUSSION THREAD for everything else!
DISCUSSION THREAD: STS (Shop the Swap) 2026 Fall Market Discussion
IMPORTANT DATES
signups start: Sunday, Sept 20
signups close: Sunday, Oct 11
shops need to be open for business by Tuesday, Oct 13
over/under week is: Thursday, Oct 29 - Thursday, Nov 5
last day possible to send after over/under week is: Thursday, Nov 12
send out times for 2026 are fixed dates:
Tuesday, October 6
Tuesday, October 20
Tuesday, November 3
Thursday, November 12, final shipping deadline
Note: Claims made within two days of a fixed send out date can roll over to the next date, unless it is the over/under week.
GENERAL INFO ABOUT THE SWAP
The Shop the Swap (STS) is a different kind of swap in that we start with finished items. The swap is basically set up like a virtual craft fair, where participants buy/sell crafted items (using points). Items are priced between 1 to 5 points. When you have mailed out claimed items, the points become available for spending. Just like the real world, we can’t spend points we don’t have (no overdraft allowed). To keep the economy going, you can’t hoard your points (you must close your shop and go shopping when you have accumulated +21 points). All swappers must promise to maintain excellent communication.
SHOPS
- Once you have been approved, post your shop in this thread with at least FIVE (5) finished, handcrafted items for the other swappers to choose from. THREE (3) of these finished, handcrafted items must be new items to this round and not have been offered before in a prior round of the STS. Let’s keep the market fresh! You can also post a small amount of craft supply items at the bottom of your shop.
- All shops need to be open for business by date listed in the “dates” section above.
- Your shop must be ready and open for business before you can spend your points in other shops.
- Need an example of how to set up your shop? Check out this sample shop .
- Be sure to mark your shop as OPEN or CLOSED (as needed) at the TOP of your shop.
- Make sure every item has a short recognizable title that can be used in claiming.
- Items should be priced between 1 and 5 points. No 1/2 points, full point prices only. Groups of items can be priced at a choice of 2 for 1 point (or 3 for 1 point, and so forth).
- If you are offering multiples of an item, be sure to indicate how many are available.
- When items have been claimed, mark the items as SOLD .
- At the end of your shop please have your claims list and point tally (see sample shop for example). Please use the headings of CLAIMS FROM MY SHOP , CLAIMS MADE BY ME and POINTS (refer to POINTS section for an explanation of how to keep track of your points).
POINTS
- Every participant starts off with 10 points to spend. This is a STS loan and at the end of the swapping period, you must have at least 10 points in your bank for positive feedback.
- Your POINTS tally should reflect your current / pending / total in your bank.
- Current points are your spendable points (a combination of the 10 loaner points you start off with and any points you’ve earned from claims you have sent out).
- Pending points are non-spendable points from claims you have not sent out.
- Total points refers to the combination of current and pending points (when this number is greater than or equal to 21, you must temporarily close your shop by marking it as CLOSED and go shopping with your current points. When you spend down to 13 or less points, you may re-open your shop to accept new claims.
GALLERY
- Instead of a separate gallery, each shop will have their own gallery of sold items. Please clearly mark sold items as SOLD. You can also move your SOLD item photos to the end of your shop so that everyone can view them but they won’t be cluttering up your still for sale items. Please resize these sold item photos to 25%.
CLAIM/SENT/RECEIVED MESSAGES
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All claim/sent/received messages must be sent to the organizer and the person you are claiming/sending/receiving from.
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Please mark the subject line as STS2026 Claim , STS2026 Sent or STS2026 Received with your LC name and the LC name of the person you are swapping with as this immensely helps me keep track in my spreadsheets.
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All messages must be in the proper format to be valid.
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If/when there are numerous claims for the same item, the FIRST properly formatted claim wins the claim (subject to claimant having sufficient spendable points for the claim).
First, the subject line needs to read what kind of message it is, if it is a CLAIM, SENT, RECEIVED and needs to include the two crafters involved.
Second, the text body needs to include the send by date, which has been pre-determind, see Dates section.
Third, write your claim–all in one sentence–with the points at the end in parenthesis.
Last, include your address.
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BASIC EXAMPLE OF A CLAIM MESSAGE
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MULTIPLE ITEMS EXAMPLE OF A CLAIM MESSAGE
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EXAMPLE OF A SENT MESSAGE
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EXAMPLE OF A RECEIVED MESSAGE
Shipping Schedule
Sellers may keep an open box for each buyer and combine purchases made by that buyer until the next scheduled shipping date.
Scheduled shipping dates:
Tuesday, October 6
Tuesday, October 20
Tuesday, November 3
Thursday, November 12, final shipping deadline
Claims made within two days of a fixed send out date can roll over to the next date, unless it is the over/under week.
The final send out date is adjusted to accommodate the end of Over/Under Week. All open boxes must be shipped no later than seven days after Over/Under Week closes.
- All items are to be shipped AFTER an official claim is received; please do not ship custom items before we receive an official STS claim for them. Items shipped before they are claimed will not be honored as official claims.
- Per Lettuce Craft swap rules, tracking numbers (within US) are required on all swap packages (if eligible). If your item has not been received within a reasonable time (3-4 weeks domestic; 4-6 weeks international) an angel can be arranged if you are able to provide proof of shipping.
- If any prior claims go missing you may be required to remake/refund the points/offer something else in your shop if you can’t provide a tracking number for the package or a copy of the shipping receipt.
- Tracking numbers need to be typed.
COMMUNICATION
- It is your responsibility to keep relevant people informed of your shop status (either CLOSED or OPEN) and claims/sends/receives.
- All claim/sent/received messages must be sent to the organizer as well as to the person you are claiming from/sending to. If in doubt, please check your outgoing messages to verify that everyone has received a copy!
- Repeated poor communication may be noted in your feedback. This includes not informing the organizer/other swappers of claim status via the correct claim format, not posting in the discussion thread, etc.
- Please participate in the general chatter in the DISCUSSION THREAD (link is at top of post). It’s where you’ll learn about shop sales, swap announcements, etc. It’s also where you can highlight new items added to your shop, get a feel for what else you can do to generate sales for your shop, etc.
FINISHING THE SWAP
- LAST CALL WEEK (over/under week) takes place after the swap is closed for claims in general. During this time, participants with greater than 10 points (over) will claim items from participants with less than 10 points (under) to even things out. (Send out dates listed above in Dates section.)
- Positive feedback will be given after the swap closing date if you have 10 points and all your claims have been received.
- Negative feedback will be given if you leave this swap with less than 10 points and/or for not sending claims made from your shop.
If you would like to participate, send your information and completed questionnaire to @irid3c3nt via private message (do not reply with it here).
Name of swap: STS Fall Market 2026
Lettuce Craft username:
Email address:
Real name and mailing address (formatted for mailing):
Confirm you are at least eighteen years old:
Do you understand tracking is required for packages?
Have you posted in the discussion thread?
Do you have at least 5 crafted items to start out with?
Are at least 3 of these crafted items brand new to this round of STS?
Have you read through the swap guidelines/rules?
Are items allowed to be priced for partial points?
When must you temporarily close your shop?
How many points do you have to spend down to in order to re-open your shop after having to temporarily close?
What information needs to be kept current at the TOP of your shop?
Lastly, please keep a copy of how to properly format messages. This is key if you want to snag that item before anyone else.
Still have questions about this swap?
Check out the FAQs in the next post below.
If you can’t find answers there, please feel free to post your questions in the
STS (Shop the Swap) 2026 Fall Market Discussion
iri’s items 
Tapestry’s Crafty Creations
CRAFT KITS 
ART 
CARDS 
MISC 
4 point items
it.)
Received 
