Friday Find – Swaptree.com Review

I’m a big fan of public libraries, but there are sometimes you just want to keep that book longer than two weeks, or three in our former library system. I love books, but don’t have that much disposable income to build a huge library of crafty goodness. I used to be a big fan of eBay, but that just became too much work. I’ve found a new love that solves my problems – swaptree.com. What makes Swaptree really excellent is that their system generates trades for you, sometimes they are 2 way (you send a user an item, they send you the item you want), but most of my trades have been 3 way trades – I send an item to user B, they send an item to user C, user C sends me what I requested.

Another bonus of Swaptree is their software will automatically generate the postage for you to print from your home computer – SCORE! All I had to do was dig around my house to find some old bubble wrap envelopes or brown paper envelopes, shipping tape, scissors and I was ready to go. If you choose to use the Swaptree shipping system, they will charge you $2-4 for shipping (depending on item type & weight). They calculate charges a month at a time and bill your credit card on the 7th day of each month. You do have the choice to send ship you item on your own. I personally find the convenience of it well worth the small price difference. Who wants to drag four children into the post office every few days? Swaptree also recommends reusing packing materials whenever possible, how very green of them! Lazy me is not going to complain one bit… lol

The system for listing your items couldn’t be easier, simply key in the UPC or ISBN code and it does the rest. You select the condition of the item, and there is an optional field for fine details. I should note that users are happier and will leave positive feedback if you leave as many details about the condition as you can.

You can then initiate trades with a couple of short clicks, the other user(s) then have 48 hours to respond. This is kind of an important thing to know, it’s best for people who check their e-mail at the very least daily. If you’re not that person, Swaptree is probably not for you. They do allow you to put your account on hold for a period of time, say for vacations or travel.

Swaptree does allow you to reject trades initiated by other users. It gives you a line about it negatively affecting your account if you reject too many, but don’t let the stern wording discourage you. I’ve rejected several trades and have a positive user rating. I suspect you’d have to reject quite a few with little to no reason to have your account suspended. It does allow you to state your reason for rejecting the trade, and says that all rejected trades are reviewed. I rejected one that wanted me to send a “high value” Wii game for a paperback novel in the first week of trading, haven’t received another similar request since.

To date, my family has traded several Wii games, books and DVDs. If your a mom, it’s fantastic for when you children grow tired of a DVD or video game and want a new one.  For crafters, it’s a great way to trade that book you bought for a single pattern for a new one you are interested in! We’ve participated in 18 trades in the last month receiving items like Tinker Bell, Brain Age 2, Wii Music, Mario Party 8, The Creative Family, 2-at-a-Time Socks and more! According to Swaptree we’ve saved $141 and decreased our carbon footprint by 71 pounds!

If you have a stack of DVDs you haven’t watched in years, craft books you wish you hadn’t purchased on impulse, or video games that are collecting dust, check out Swaptree.com!