The Upcycle Exchange {Materials Market} is a social enterprise that aims to benefit the St. Louis area creative community by offering post-consumer materials at pay-as-you-wish pricing and optional purchase credits for in-store material drop-offs. We collect the most frequently requested items from individual crafter wish-lists compiled over the course of the last 3 years. These materials are now available to the public at our shop!

Here’s our Wish-list of things you can bring to(and often find at) Upcycle Exchange:

Wish-list 2013 (click here)

( 4/14/13 – We’re working on a new website! There will be a better version of the new list for mobile viewing. For now, you can view and download it via Google Drive through the link above.)

Dropping Off

Option 1: In-store drop-off for purchasing credit
We accept drop-offs at our shop location anytime during store hours. For in-store drop-offs, we offer a purchasing credit for everything on the wish-list with the exception of  items in the “common disposables” category, any type of containers, wood pieces, artificial flowers, holiday themed materials, plain paper, fabric pieces smaller than a fat quarter, frames, instructional books, or partial (less than 1/2) yarn skeins. After checking your drop-offs, we will offer you a $5 in-store credit for every approximate cart-full of general merchandise (our store carts are Length: 15 ¼”, Width: 15 ¼” Height: 11″). There is a limit of $20 credit per load, per day.

Option 2: Quick drops
We understand that some of you might not be crafters, in a hurry, and just mean to keep whatever you are dropping off out of a landfill. In that case, we don’t require you to stay for us to check what you dropped off. If we find that any of your items were not on our list, or are unsuitable for inventory, we will donate to charity or recycle anything we possible can. You can drop items off at the store, or a drop-off location near you during their normal operating hours. Also, we accept drop-offs at many local craft shows where we offer a coupon to donors that can be redeemed for discounts with participating vendors. These events will be announced through our blog, social networks, and on our shop calender as well.

We reserve the right to refuse drop-offs of items that are soiled or have strong odors of smoke or mildew. However, do not hesitate to drop off vintage materials that just have that faint “attic/basement smell” from being stored for long periods – we usually find that just letting them air out a few days at the shop reduces that odor significantly. We adore aged paper ephemera, old fabric, retro yarns, and those mysteriously messy jars of buttons…we’ll clean them up and lovingly display them in our beautiful, well-organized space!