Alyice on December 15th, 2009

My Experience With Swap-Bot

I’ve been on Swap-Bot.com a few weeks now: browsing old swaps and reading comments, reading forum posts, and of course, partaking in a few swaps of my own. My feelings are now mixed.

On the one hand, I think it’s a great way to have a little fun, to create with purpose, to enjoy the thrill of receiving a traditional package in the mail—and of course, obtaining positive reinforcement from those who actually take the time to appreciate your part in the swap. On the other hand, it’s not easy to build camaraderie amongst those you’ve swapped with—which can make one feel more like a number than an actual human being.

Some leave nice comments about what you’ve sent, and even thank you when you rate and comment on what you’ve received but that seems to be as far as it goes, then there are those who don’t say a word to you. They don’t acknowledge the item being received until you contact them a few times to ask if it arrived, then when they finally rate your swap, they simply use the number system and offer no personal feedback—which of course makes you feel like they didn’t like what you sent.

From what I’ve read online, there are swappers who give their best, swappers who do the bare minimums, and swappers who really shouldn’t be swapping at all. They are the ones who flake on completing their part in the swap or they forget that there are actual human beings behind a swap; people with different skill levels, different tastes, and different styles. They are the ones who think not rating another swapper (or rating too low) is okay simply because the item swapped didn’t live up to their personal expectations—never mind the fact that the item received met the swap’s obligations. Then there are those who’ve forgotten that swaps are supposed to be fun and create a huge list of “do nots” on their profile page making it near impossible for someone to create something likeable, or they become disgusted with this or that then hop over to the forums to throw a hissy fit.

And yet, it’s hard to not want to continue swapping when you receive a comment like this: “Wow! So pretty and I love the card! Your ornament is gorgeous!” Or you receive a swap like this!

So for now, I’ll be selective in the swaps I partake in. I’ll be appreciative of what I receive, I’ll do my best to meet the swap’s obligations, I’ll let my partner’s know when an item goes out and when one is received, and I’ll avoid all the drama by avoiding the forums.

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Comments (3)

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Rachel says:
Thank you for writing about Swap-bot! I am glad you are enjoying it. I would just caution you not to get too caught up in the forum complaints. There are way more awesome swappers, than bad, (the average rating for all users on Swap-bot is over a 4.8) but usually the complaints are all that are written about….

I have been running Swap-bot for four years and I am still having a lot of fun with it. I hope you stick around!
Posted at 11:58 am December 15th, 2009
julie HaymakerThomspon says:
Wow I did not know that swaps were judged by numbers. I have not swapped in a long time I guess.
Posted at 1:06 am December 21st, 2009
Alyice says:
Rachel, as I mentioned in the post, I do plan to stick around–just being a little picky on what I swap.

Julie, how long go was it that you swapped there? They have 3 choices: 5 for meeting the requirements, 3 for receiving the swap but it not meeting the swap’s requirements, and 1 for never getting anything. They also have a choice to not rate the swap partner and a choice to add a star to the 5 if it’s worth more than a five or something extra was included. I was told it is to help weed out the flakes, but even those with 5s can end up flaking so it’s not full proof.
Posted at 10:16 am December 21st, 2009

AlyiceEdrich.com
I'm a freelance writer, mixed media artist, SMVA, and the owner of The Dabbling Mum.

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