How It Works

How a swap works

Once you have registered with Swapaholic and added some items that you want to get rid of you are ready to start swapping! Just search for an item you would like, ask the owner for the item, they pick something of yours and then you make the swap.

Step 1 - Search for a specific item or browse the online catalogue of items until you find something you want. Put in a swap request.

Step 2 - The owner of this item is informed of your interest in making a swap. If he is interested in any of your items he will accept the swap.

Step 3 - You will be informed whether or not the other user has accepted the swap. If you are happy with everything you can now accept the swap.

Step 4 - You will be given the postal or e-mail address of the other user so you can complete the swap.

Post or Meet?

What makes Swapaholic different from other swap websites is that you have the option either to post the items or meet up to make the exchange.

The advantage of being able to meet in person is that you won't have to pay any postage when swapping items, which makes the swap completely free for both of you! You will also have the guarantee of receiving the item promised to you as you can make sure the other user has it before giving away yours.

A unique feature of our search facility is the option to search by location of users. This means that as well as searching for a specific item, you can also search for a user that lives near you that owns that item.

Of course, if you are not happy meeting up for swaps you don't have to. When you register with us you are asked whether you will be willing to meet up for swaps and whether you are willing to post items. You can select one of these options or both. So if you are happier just sending swap items out in the post, Swapaholic allows you to do just this.

Multiple Swaps

Another good feature of Swapaholic is the ability to swap multiple items with one person. If you are browsing through a user's items and see a few things you would like you can request all of these items.

You will be asked to put these items in priority order in case the other user doesn't want as many of your items. For example, if you want three books belonging to Joe Bloggs but he only wants two of your books, Swapaholic will just take the books you ordered 1 and 2 for the swap.

Multiple swaps are particularly useful if you are meeting up for the swap. You may not want to bother arranging to meet with someone just to swap a single book, but if you are swapping a few items it makes it more worthwhile! It will also be cheaper posting many items together rather than separately.

All Items Are Worth The Same

Unlike some swap sites, Swapaholic doesn't have a points system for swapping, all swaps are direct. This means that you don't have to try and value your items. The idea is that all items are worth roughly the same so one item can be swapped with any other.

Of course, you may have a brand new DVD which will be more expensive than a second hand paperback book, but in these cases you have the option to leave notes in the item's Additional Information section or mention when you start swapping that you will only swap for items of similar value.

Feedback

Whenever you complete a swap, we ask you to leave feedback on the user you swapped with. You are asked to rate the user Good, Bad or Average and to leave a short feedback comment.

It is important to leave feedback so that other people will know in the future whether the user you swapped with is trustworthy or not. If the user doesn't post you their item or fails to meet up with you for an arranged swap, you can leave bad feedback so that other users won't have the same problem. If possible, you should contact the other user first to check whether they had a valid reason for not completing the swap.