This mom did all of her holiday shopping without spending a penny

App lets you trade old stuff for new.
 By 
Marissa Wenzke
 on 
This mom did all of her holiday shopping without spending a penny
A mom in Toronto said she's done all her holiday shopping for free, thanks to Bunz. Credit: eduardo munoz alvarez/ Getty Images

A woman in Toronto has said she managed to buy all the gifts she needed this holiday season without dropping a single dime.

Diane Simon used an app called Bunz to trade things like old clothing and some kitchenware for gifts like a Michael Kors purse and a pair of sunglasses, CBC News reports.

Bunz is an app and website where you can connect and trade, and no money can exchange hands. It features posts from over 100 cities, from London to New York and LA to Montreal.


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"I'm clearing out unused items, and I'm getting amazing stuff back," Simon told CBC Radio's Metro Morning.

The mom of three wasn't planning on doing all her shopping through Bunz at first, but she said she just kept coming across too much good stuff. "I got some items that I thought, this would make really great presents. So I thought I would just keep going," she said.

Some of the items currently posted to Bunz include a handmade fish serving platter, a Kenneth Cole winter jacket, and an on-air radio appearance.

For each item, there's a thread below of people vying for the item, offering their own goodies in exchange (one person offered bubble bath bombs for the radio appearance).

Bunz actually started out as a private Facebook group for trading the old, used and new. Emily Bitze, a 32-year-old musician, made the group while working part-time at a clothing store in Toronto. She told CBC News she was short on cash and food at the time, making her turn to those around her for what she needed.

"I wasn't able to make ends meet, which meant that I couldn't always buy food," she said."So, I figured that my friends nearby would have something I needed if I could provide what they needed."

Since then, Bunz has grown to more than 40,000 members and got a cash infusion from an angel investor, according to CBC News.

With featured stuff like chocolate banana granola, a bread maker, a "Snugg Life" snuggie, or a copy of Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, it seems like Bunz has a variety of gifts that few department stores could keep up with.

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Marissa Wenzke

Marissa is a real-time news intern at the LA office. She has a bachelor's degree in political science from UC Santa Barbara and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. She's a free spirit.

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