# Swappingtons - anyone with experience? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689 "2003-01-30T19:45:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/1 "2003-01-30T19:45:04Z")
Found out about [Swappingtons](http://www.swappingtons.com/) in a friend’s LiveJournal … it appears to be a website where you can list media items (books, CD’s, DVD’s, video games) to swap. > [@](#): > > If you have a book, CD or DVD, etc., that you don’t want anymore, you can list it on Swappingtons, and when someone else wants it, they can give you swap points for it. At that point, you mail the item to them, the points are transferred to your account, and now it’s your turn to find items that other members have listed and trade them your swap points for them. Sounds like a pretty good idea, but would like to get some feedback from actual users before I jump in. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/2 "2003-01-30T21:15:13Z")
Hee hee! I just played the animated example. Anyone interested in CDs of sea shanties? A little sailor guy is willing to trade! Cool idea, so I’m interested in some stories as well. Heaven knows I’ve got books and CDs I’d be willing to unload. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/3 "2003-01-30T22:38:31Z")
Wow, this looks interesting. If anybody decides to sign up, you _could_ put Gravity in the referal spot if you wanna be a pal. I’ve just put up a video game. I’ll let you know how (if) it goes. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/4 "2003-01-30T23:50:50Z")
Am I the only one that thought the title of this post was related to wife swapping? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/5 "2003-01-31T00:48:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racer72 \* > \*\*Am I the only one that thought the title of this post was related to wife swapping? \*\* No. My thoughts exactly. Although now reading what it is, I wonder how many points you’d get for her. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/6 "2003-02-03T19:37:40Z")
_bump_ ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/7 "2003-02-03T20:55:01Z")
No _bump_. A thread either lives or dies of it’s own volition. Lockdown. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/8 "2003-02-04T13:43:00Z")
I’ll give this thread a second chance. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/9 "2003-02-04T13:50:25Z")
So it’s like eBay without money? ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/10 "2003-02-04T16:12:17Z")
Like **DeadlyAccurate** said. The drawbacks I see is that “money”/swap points can only be used within the system. So, if you’re looking for some cash from cleaning up the attic, this is not the place. The founder apparently wants to foster a sense of community. If this site, for whatever reason, takes off, that feeling will be lost. eBay already provides the function and has a much bigger audience and repository. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/11 "2003-02-04T17:04:43Z")
Well, I joined on the 30th, and my girlfriend joined the next day. We both listed some stuff, but I haven’t gotten any refferal points even yet. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/12 "2003-02-04T20:52:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gyan9 \* > \*\*Like **DeadlyAccurate** said. > > The drawbacks I see is that “money”/swap points can only be used within the system. So, if you’re looking for some cash from cleaning up the attic, this is not the place. > > The founder apparently wants to foster a sense of community. If this site, for whatever reason, takes off, that feeling will be lost. > > eBay already provides the function and has a much bigger audience and repository. \*\* I liked the idea of swap points vs $$$ - you don’t have to worry about getting money orders or waiting for your check to clear. Also, e-Bay charges X% of sales to the seller - at least they did last I looked. ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/13 "2003-02-04T21:00:02Z")
I’ve unloaded several old DVD’s and games I was tired of via Swappingtons and got some new DVD’s and games. Worked out great for me, and I haven’t had anything go wrong yet. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/14 "2003-02-07T15:48:37Z")
Finally got enough points to get something. I rather like the system, actually. I mean, sure, I have to pay postage to mail out the game that somebody wanted, but with the points from that one rather mediocre PS2 game, I’m getting four PC games that I’ve wanted, provided that everything works out. I tried to sell that game twice on eBay. We’d discussed just tossing it into the package with another PS2 game that somebody actually bought. I’m glad that we didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/15 "2003-02-07T20:24:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Politzania \* > \*\*I liked the idea of swap points vs $$$ - you don’t have to worry about getting money orders or waiting for your check to clear. > > Also, e-Bay charges X% of sales to the seller - at least they did last I looked. \*\* While they do charge fees for the auction, that works out overall to anywhere between 2-10% depending on the final price. Given the possible price a bidding war might drive up, I think it’s worth it in the end. As far as payments go, I pay and recieve paymemts predominantly via PayPal. And that’s instantaneous. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/16 "2003-02-07T20:48:06Z")
Of course, once eBay bought PayPal, they started charging the seller a fee and a percentage if the buyer used a credit card instead of a bank account to pay with. I _think_ it’s $0.25 + 3%, but I’m not sure - my wife handles all of the eBay selling. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swappingtons-anyone-with-experience/151689/17 "2003-02-07T21:25:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gravity \* > \*\*Of course, once eBay bought PayPal, they started charging the seller a fee and a percentage if the buyer used a credit card instead of a bank account to pay with. I _think_ it’s $0.25 + 3%, but I’m not sure - my wife handles all of the eBay selling. \*\* I factored that in my 10% high ceiling.