Comments on: Tuesday Tip: Time-intensive Swaps

By: Rebecca (Naeco)

Rebecca (Naeco) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 15:04:59 +0000

Hey there!
I am doing a swap that has a one year sign up time. I want as many people as possible to join (under my 4.9 rating requirement), and here is what I will do to prevent flakers, or accidental flaking:
• I will check every profile to make sure that their ratings are not based off of one email swap, or anything like that.

• I will check the last time they were online closer to the signup date.

• I specified that I will send out an email/swap-bot message a month before the swap starts, and those who do not reply a few days before the swap will be removed.

By: Nancy/Pedal2u

Nancy/Pedal2u — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:25:31 +0000

I also looked at these tips as great knowledge. I unfortunately learned the hard way before reading these. I did sign up for a journal and was so excited. Time period longbut I did work on it. Things happen and life gets in the way. My computer died and I lost my work, I became ill and now had to start all over. My partner was wonderful and gave me lots of extra time but I finally felt it unfair to her to make her wait any longer or rush threw it and send a poorly done swap. One needs to know themselves when choosing, I will not send if it is not my very best work. I opted to take the 1 rating which in retro spec might have not been the best choice.
My point is an example of your intense swap considerations. Life does happen and that needs to be factored in before doing those swaps. I agree these tips should be required to read on sign up.

By: Emika

Emika — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:31:48 +0000

I would also add, about dates: personally, I don’t think there’s any reason to have a long time between sign up and send by dates in cases where the swap is not profile based. In swaps like this, there’s no reason why the swap can’t be made ahead of time, so there can be a relatively short window.

By: kathyc/bohemianprincess

kathyc/bohemianprincess — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:35:59 +0000

Thank you so much for the tips. I wish this was a requirement for everyone to read. A lot can happen in a month,what started out as a fun idea last month can turn out to be a boring chore now. People dont realize also its cost alot of money to mail heavy items,plus if you have several to mail at one time that makes it worse. I dont mean to be a negative Nellie but thats why I dropped out of that big journal swap before partners were assigned I knew it was heading south,sometimes us oldies do know what we are talking about lol. Thank you for all you and Travis do for us botters,

By: Holly

Holly — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:07:35 +0000

Hello! I’m currently in a Hogwarts House Whimsy Jar swap that I have put a lot of time and effort into and I’m loving it so far! I’ve find it helpful to just talk to the people I’m sending to and from to ask questions and keep them updated. There’s only 6 of us in the swap and it’s a month long, so I think it being small makes it a bit easier too.

By: Sandra Dowkes

Sandra Dowkes — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:51:57 +0000

I wanted to ask her why she hadn’t rated this person, but felt it wasn’t my business. However, as somebody who does host swaps, I definitely agree that I need to know if somebody hasn’t followed through.

By: Sandra Dowkes

Sandra Dowkes — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:50:35 +0000

user6937 here. I noticed that a person said somebody was a flaker but she hadn’t been rated a 1. Is this something that should be forwarded to you, Rachel?

By: rachel

rachel — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:35:08 +0000

Thank you for these awesome tips, Linda!

Another big journal swap went awry and many swappers are disappointed. Unfortunately, the time between the sign up deadline and mail deadline was over two months, which is plenty of time for people to go missing.

Hopefully, a good amount of people will read these tips. I plan to get the entered in a permanent spot on the site asap.

Thanks again for your help.

By: Linda50

Linda50 — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:58:47 +0000

Great list Rachel.

An idea for screening participants for these time intensive swaps, is to require them to have a FLICKR account so that you can see their previous work.

Set up the swap so that people get the majority of the work done before partners are assigned. Then require them to post pictures of what they are making. Drop anyone who has not made anything before assigning partners.

These ideas could be seen as really strict, but worth it for things like Journal swaps that tend to draw a lot of people who cannot complete the swap.

I agree that Round Robins should only be done with trusted friends. I would also suggest that a private group be set up just for the round robin to help keep track of who has who’s journal. The coordinator should make sure each person has no more than max two journals at a time. When people drop make sure that they have sent all journals out before theirs is returned to them. You can set up a series of private one on one swaps for when the journals change hands. No more than 10 people in the round robin. Maybe first time just do 5 people or less. You can delete the group after the swap.