📢 LS Trade Protection & Shipping Policy News

Lucky Sweater is run by a tiny but wildly dedicated team. It’s been Tanya full-time since Day One, Jenica handling every support request big or small, and Molly (who technically signed on for a few hours a week on the side) pouring in way more because she knows how special this community is and wants to help it thrive. Anthony lends a hand with coding when he can, and ALL of us are driven by the same belief in what we’re building together, with you.

Also a shoutout to our incredible volunteer mods who have been with us since the start – keeping this space curated, safe, and welcoming, all because they believe in the power of our community.

When you support LS, you’re supporting all of us– real people putting in time, energy, and love to keep this space going because we believe in building a new way to think about community, closets, and consumption.

Trading and the circular economy are new paradigms of consumption for most folks. Trading requires more trust and communication than a traditional currency-for-goods commercial transaction, and we believe that’s what makes it so special and unique. Because LS is a trading platform, not a retailer, we’re unable to offer refunds for items that get lost or damaged in transit. But what we can offer is our time, energy, and advocacy to help make things right when insured items are lost or damaged in transit, or in the rare case that an item is misrepresented by your Trade Partner.

Lucky Sweater is the only community platform that facilitates 1:1 trading at scale, and we’re learning as we build this space together. That’s part of the magic — but it also means we have to be real about what’s possible at this stage of our business.

High-Level Changes

👉🏼 We’re renaming Item Protection to Trade Protection — to clarify the ethos of the policy and establish fair trading practices, built on trust.

👉🏼 Starting June 30th, 2025 Trade Protection will only be available for trades shipped with an in-app label. In-app shipping is how we track your trade, verify shipping details, and have the necessary info to step in and help if needed.

👉🏼 Sustainers still get Trade Protection included for free on every trade shipped in-app.
Not a Sustainer yet? You can add Trade Protection for $2.99 per trade when you create and purchase your label in-app.

👉🏼 We’ve made Trade Protection benefits clearer:

• We handle all claims related to your lost or damaged item, from start to finish. This means we contact the shipping carrier, file the necessary claims including item price comps, and manage the insurance claim process end-to-end until you are reimbursed for the insured value of your traded item. 
• If for some reason the insurance claim filed by LS for your item is denied by the shipping carrier, we will compensate you for the insured value of your traded item, up to $250.
• Priority support and mediation for trading issues within the app.
• Facilitating trade-backs in the rare case that an item is significantly misrepresented. 
• We’ll mediate communication and cover the return shipping both ways if a “trade back” is required, so both parties get their original items back.

👉🏼 All in-app shipping labels now include $100 of carrier insurance at no extra cost, both international and domestic! 

👉🏼 You can now purchase additional insurance in-app if your item’s secondhand retail value is higher than the included insurance amount for all labels, including international.

👉🏼 We’ve stopped offering customs declaration advice — every country is different, so senders should always communicate with their trade partner about shipping preferences and declared value.

📢 FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK 

Trade Protection is not a return policy. If you’re looking for full monetary compensation in the case of an item that is lost or damaged in transit, we recommend insuring the full secondhand retail value of your trade via carrier insurance. Our in-app shipping labels include up to $100 of insurance per item, and if your item’s secondhand retail value exceeds $100, you can purchase additional coverage — without leaving LS.

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👋 What This Means for You

Trading isn’t like buying something off the shelf — it requires a little more trust and communication, which is what makes it so special. But we know it can also feel stressful when things don’t go as planned.

That’s why we’ve clarified:

• You are responsible for your item until your Trade Partner receives it
• Your Trade Partner is responsible for their item until you receive it
• Trade Protection is an extra layer of priority support, but it’s not a return policy
• If you use your own shipping label, we cannot cover your trade with Trade Protection
• Shipping in-app is easier and safer because it’s the only way we can step in if something goes wrong in transit.
  
  

🌎 We’ve also updated international shipping to better align insurance coverage with item value — though we know shipping globally isn’t always one-size-fits-all, so we’ll keep offering the flexibility to use your own label if needed (just know Trade Protection only applies to in-app labels). We wish we could wave a wand and solve the wild bureaucratic rat’s nest that is international shipping law, but sadly no such wand has been found…yet. 

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🪄 We wish we could wave a wand and solve the wild bureaucratic rat’s nest that is international shipping law, but sadly no such wand has been found…yet. 

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💡 Why We’re Making These Updates

We’re a small, community-powered platform — not big tech, not a retailer. We can’t offer refunds or instant replacements, but we can show up for our community with time, energy, and advocacy if things go sideways. 

When we launched Item Protection we wanted to guarantee every trade, no matter what. But we’ve realized that paying out of pocket to cover for factors outside of our control, like a shipping provider dropping the ball or a package getting stolen, is simply unsustainable.

The truth is, a lot of us have grown used to Amazon-style guarantees and big box return policies. But those companies operate on scale, ads, selling your personal data, and hidden costs. That’s not who we are. We’ll never run ads, and we’ll always keep Lucky Sweater free to use — because access to circular fashion should belong to everyone.

Thanks for being part of this wild and wonderful space where we share ourselves and our closets with each other, and for helping us grow it with care.

🛠️ FAQs

What happens to Item Protection on trades initiated before June 30th?
We’ll honor those under the old policy. View details →

How does this affect my Sustainer membership?
It doesn’t change your perks — in fact, things should feel easier and clearer with these updates, since we can now offer better insurance and support for in-app labels.

Will in-app shipping cost more?
Nope! We’ve made insurance coverage more transparent. You’ll see exactly what’s included, and you can opt in to add more coverage if your item’s value exceeds $100.

Why can’t LS offer Trade Protection for out-of-app shipping anymore?
‍The short answer is: we simply have no way to track, verify, or support trades shipped with labels purchased outside the app 😳

When you use in-app shipping, we can see all the details: tracking numbers, carrier info, delivery status — everything we need to step in if something goes wrong. But with out-of-app shipping, we’re in the dark. We can’t verify if a label has insurance, confirm where the package is, or advocate on your behalf with the carrier — which makes it nearly impossible for our tiny team to offer meaningful support.

We know sometimes you need to use your own label (especially internationally), and that’s totally fine — we just want to be transparent that Trade Protection only applies when we have the tools and info to actually help.

Will anything change for U.S. → Canada or Canada → U.S. trades?
‍Yes — we’ve updated in-app shipping to only offer USPS and Canada Post for trades between the U.S. and Canada. These carriers tend to have fewer surprise duties or high brokerage fees compared to other options.

If you use your own shipping label, you’re welcome to choose your carrier, but always communicate with your trade partner about their shipping and customs preferences — they’ll likely be the one dealing with any surprise fees on their end.

We’re no longer advising on customs declaration advice — every country is different, please communicate with your Trade Partner to see what their preferences are.

Are there any changes to other international shipping options?
‍We’re still working to expand and improve in-app international shipping rates and insurance options. The big change is that you can now purchase additional insurance for higher-value international trades using in-app labels.

We’ve also stopped offering customs declaration advice — every country is different, so always connect with your trade partner to confirm the declared value and shipping details before sending.

If you use your own label internationally, we’ll be adding reminders in the app to help guide those conversations.

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Have questions? Need help with a current trade? Reach out to our team →

Thank you for helping us build a better, more intentional trading community. We couldn’t do this without you. 💫

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