The long-term plan is to create a Swap-bot wiki to which everyone will be able to add helpful info. In the meantime, I am going to be collecting some helpful tips here on the blog. We have lots of new members signing up all of the time and sometimes it can be overwhelming to jump into the land of Swap-bot. Today I want to give some tips to consider when picking and choosing which swaps to join.

There are many things to consider before signing up for a swap. Two of the most obvious things to consider are your own interests and your time restraints. Once you have set your own guidelines for the type of swaps you would enjoy and have time to complete, there are many other criteria which can help you determine which swaps will be most successful. Each swap is created and owned by its individual swap coordinator… and some coordinators are more successful than others. Sometimes coordinators abandon swaps or do not check over swap participants (and weed out problem people) before assigning partners. To avoid those types of situations, be choosey about which swap you join.

These are my suggestions for determining which swaps will be most successful:

  • Good swaps have detailed swap descriptions. Don’t sign up for swaps with one-sentence descriptions. You want to see that the coordinator put some time and care into their swap. A custom swap graphic or a fun and detailed description are usually good signs that the coordinator is invested in hosting a successful swap.
  • Check over the swap coordinator’s profile (by clicking on the coordinator’s username) and swap record. Don’t sign up for swaps hosted by coordinators with poor ratings. Also, make sure that the coordinator has a filled out profile and has participated in a good number of previous swaps. Experienced swappers make good swap coordinators.
  • Once you have signed up for a swap, view the full list of swap participants. If there are many swappers with bad ratings, or if there is a particular swapper you don’t get along with in the swap, drop from the swap. Remember to go back and check the list of participants right before the sign up deadline to make sure you still feel comfortable swapping with the other participants.
  • If you have questions about a swap, feel free to contact the swap coordinator. If they are committed to hosting a successful swap they will not mind answering your questions.
  • Be especially picky when joining high dollar value swaps. Swaps that ask users to go out and buy expensive items for their partners can be suspicious. Make sure to only join swaps which you consider completely affordable. Sometimes (sadly) swappers flake on swaps and you do not want to send a very expensive swap and then not receive anything in return.
  • Only sign up for swaps which you will absolutely love creating and sending. Swapping is about sharing and meeting new people – not making monetary-based deals or trades. There are new swaps being created all of the time, so you don’t need to sign up for anything that seems questionable.

So, those are my suggestions. What else do you think swappers should consider before joining swaps? Please add your suggestions in the comments. Thanks!