Swaptree is a site where you can trade books, music, movies and video games that you don't want, for the books, CDs, DVDs, video games that you do want, for free.

Unlike auction sites or other used item sites where you can sell or purchase items, on swaptree your items will only cost you the price of shipping.  So if you don't really see the point in selling a book online for $3, just so you can then go out and buy a new book for $15, then swaptree is for you!

The best part is that once you get an item from someone and you finish reading, listening or viewing it, you can just list it on swaptree and get something else for it!
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Swaptree is free. You only pay for shipping.

So that means you can get any CD or DVD or video game for about $2.20.  And with Media Mail, most books cost only around $2.50!
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You list the books, CDs, DVDs, and video games that you want to get rid of and the books, CDs, DVDs and video games that you want and swaptree does the rest.

Swaptree will show you all of the items that you can receive for your items.  Clicking on a "GET NOW" link next to an item will show more information about both the item and the trader you will be receiving the item from.

If you decide that you want to initiate a trade for an item, then an e-mail will automatically be sent to the other parties in the transaction.  If the other traders accept, the trade is completed and you will then be provided the shipping address where you need to ship your item.
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First, tell us what items you have by entering the UPC codes or ISBNs for the items you are trading.  You can do this on the left menu - look for the headline "add to your have list".

The next thing you need to do is tell us what you want.  The ONLY way that other users can initiate trades with you is if you have items on your want list.  The easiest way to get things on your want list is to do search for the item that you want in the search field in the upper-right corner of your screen.  Once you find the item you want, just click "want it" and that item will be placed onto your want list.
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You are responsible of paying shipping for the item that you are trading.  If you use our automatic shipping label feature, you will have to provide us with your credit card so that we can bill your account accordingly for the postage that you print.

If you don't want to use our label printing feature, then we recommend that you ship all of your CDs, DVDs and video games first class (regular mail rates) since that will be the fastest way to have your item delivered.  However, because books are significantly heavier, we recommend that you ship all books using Media Mail, which is a special class of service the USPS provides which is significantly less expensive than first class.

When you are ready to ship your item, swaptree will automatically provide you with the shipping amounts and class information based on the particular item that you are shipping.
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Yes, that's one of the best things about swaptree.  You can take the CDs that you never listen to and trade them for a slug of movies you have been dying to see.  Or take the book that you read in three days during your last vacation and turn it into a video game that you can tackle next weekend.
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All trades on swaptree are one-for-one, meaning that you will trade one item and receive one item in return, and therefore all items have the same value.  Therefore, make sure when you list the items on your "have list" that you are willing to trade any one of those items for any item on your "want list".

Swaptree does NOT facilitate two-for-one trades where a user trades multiple items for a single item.
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A three-way trade is when user A sends an item to user B, User B sends their item to User C, and User C sends their item to User A.

Swaptree's ability to automatically calculate and create three-way trades is what enables you to receive so many items in trade.  Therefore, in a particular trade, don't be surprised if you are shipping your item to one user and receiving your item from a different user.  Of course in three-way trades, you are still shown the user rating of the user that is sending you your item, so you can still feel confident that you will receive your item.
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Completely.  Using swaptree is no different then selling your used CD on eBay, or taking that book you just finished and selling it to the used bookstore in your neighborhood.  However on swaptree, instead of receiving a dollar or two, you get another great book, CD, DVD or video game that you want instead.
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No, never.  To read the full privacy policy, please click here.
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We use U.S. Eastern Standard Time (-0400 GMT).
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At this time swaptree is only available to residents of the United States.  However, everyone else, please stay tuned!  We are growing quickly and we'll probably be coming to your country soon!
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To add an item your "have list", just enter the UPC code or ISBN of the item you have to trade, in the "add to your have list" section of the left menu.  We will show you an image of the item you are adding so you can verify that the correct item will be added.  Then just simply choose the condition of the item and if you want you can also provide a brief description of the item's condition.  Click on the "add item to my have list" button and swaptree will add the item to your have list and show all of the items that you can receive in trade for that item.
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The easiest way to add an item your want list is by searching for the item that you want in the search box in the upper-right corner of the screen.  Once you have found the right item, click on the "want it" link next to the item, and it will be added to your want list.

If you don't see "want it" next to an item, simply click on the title or image of the item, and on the following page, you will see a "want it" link that will add that item to your want list.
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Think of the swaptree as your own personal shopper that is always trying to get you the items you want.  If swaptree doesn't know what items that you want, how are we supposed to find any trades for you?  So make sure you have items on your want list as well as your have list.
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A Universal Product Code (UPC code) is the unique number underneath the barcode found on the back of CDs, DVDs and video games.

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number.  These numbers are usually printed on the back of a book above the barcode, and they also appear on the back of the book's title page.

Swaptree requires that the UPC code be entered for when you are adding CDs, DVDs, or video games to your want list, and that the ISBN be entered when adding books to your have list.
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Entering a UPC code or ISBN, helps tell us exactly what item you own.  Because we require a UPC code or ISBN, we do not have to ask you whether the item is a hardcover or paperback book, whether it is a widescreen DVD, an import CD, etc.  The ISBN/UPC tells us all of this information so you don't have to.  Furthermore entering the UPC/ISBN helps assure us that you physically have the item in your possession.
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Unfortunately, at this time you cannot, although we are currently working on supporting the non-standard UPC codes that club items have.  In the meantime, if you can find the standard UPC code of the item on another e-commerce site, you could enter that code into swaptree instead.  BUT PLEASE MAKE SURE that the code that you enter is for the IDENTICAL version of your item (same number of discs, same format, etc.).  Also, to help the user who receives that item to eventually relist the item for trade, we recommend also putting that UPC code into the description of the item.
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While our professionally managed database has listings for over 5 million items and it is updated weekly, there are still numerous reasons why we might not be able to recognize the UPC/ISBN for your item: the item was a foreign release, part of a multi-item set, was obtained through a CD/DVD/book club, was published by a tiny publisher/record label, or it might just be new and not in the database yet etc.  We are always trying to add these types of items to our database, but as you can imagine, it is a lot of work and does take some time.

You can definitely help us with the process.  If you have an item which you are unable to add to your have list, please send us the ISBN/UPC code, the title of the item, the author/artist/publisher, whether the items is a book, CD, DVD or video game.  We will then do some research on the item and try to get it added to our database.  Please include ISBN-UPC code in the subject line of your email.
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You should describe the condition of the item there as best you can.  Add details like "There is a small stain on cover" since the more people know EXACTLY what they are getting the greater the chance they will be satisfied with the transaction and give you a positive rating for the transaction.  Make sure you let other users know what they are getting and not getting.  Is there a dust jacket on the book?  Is there an original jewel case for the CD?  Is there an instruction booklet with the video game?
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For now, you are allowed to list CDs where you only have the disc and not the cover or artwork. (However in this situation, you MUST list the items as only being in "acceptable" condition.)

However, for movies and video games, you can ONLY list items which INCLUDE THE CASE AND ALL ART WORK.  We find that many of our users want to re-trade movies and video games after they are finished with them, so it is essential that you only list movies and video games which are "complete" with case and all artwork.
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If the condition of your item is below "acceptable", then you cannot list it on swaptree.  We know you don't want to receive any items which are not in "acceptable" condition, so that means you shouldn't be shipping any items in poor condition either!  Remember, your trader rating is at stake, so be accurate in your descriptions!
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Unfortunately, swaptree will not support the trading of VHS video tapes.  However, we are excited about the idea of allowing users to trade audio books and we hope to have that feature added soon.
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Swaptree also allows you to add items to your have list that you don't want to currently trade.  Think of this as your "own list" in that it's a list of items that you own that you don't want to trade.

There are two ways that items get onto your "own list".  The first is when you are adding an item to your have list, there is a checkbox that says "i am offering this item for trade".  If you uncheck this box, that item will be placed on your "own list".

The second way items get placed on your "own list" is after you receive an item in trade, the item that you received will automatically be placed on your "own list" after you rate the user that sent the item to you.
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When a trade is rejected on Swaptree because the other user was not satisfied with the condition of the item that they were receiving, that item is temporarily "frozen" so that the condition of the item can be reviewed by Swaptree.  This way we can make sure that the condition of the item meets our item condition guidelines.  This allows us to quickly remove items in poor condition from the system and prevent them from being involved in future trades.
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You don't.  Swaptree does all of that for you.  You simply tell us what books, CDs, DVDs and video games you want and what items you are willing to trade, and we go out and find matching trades for you.  When we find you a trade, we will send you an e-mail which allows you to accept or reject the trade.
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There are two ways to get involved in a trade.

The first happens when you have added items to your have list that other users want.  At that time, in the upper-left corner of the screen you will see counts of all the items that you can currently receive in trade.  To browse through all of those items, simply click on the count numbers.

You will then notice that all of the items you are seeing have a "GET NOW" link next to them.  To initiate a trade for any of those items, simply click on the "GET NOW" link and you will then be shown the condition of the item as well as information about the user who has the item.  A couple clicks later and the item will be on its way to you.

The other way to get involved in a trade, is to make sure that you have both items on your have list AND your want list.  Now as other users initiate trades, swaptree will see if it can include you in those trades so that you get an item on your want list in trade for something on your trade list.  When this happens, we will notify you via an email that a trade is available and you can then login to review and accept that trade.
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To increase the number of trades that you are involved in, again put lots of items on BOTH your have and want lists.  With lots of items, swaptree can match you up with a large number of other users and therefore include you in many more trades.

Also, if you have recent items or items that you know are popular, adding those your have list can often allow you to choose from thousands of items in return.  Buying a best-selling book or a recent CD, DVD or game release is a lot easier knowing that after you are finished with the item, you'll be able to trade it for other best-sellers or recently released items on swaptree!

Finally, if you are looking for items that you might be interested, you might start your search by browsing through items that other users have recently added to their have list.  Anything you see on those pages are items which someone is trading, so if you add any of those items to your want list by clicking on "want it", there's a good chance that you'll be able to get that item soon.
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That's fine.  Simply enter the items that you are willing to trade, and swaptree will show you all the items that you can receive in trade for those items.  At that point you can decide if any of the items interest you.

Because swaptree is a dynamic community, people are constantly adding items, so the number and variety of items that you can receive will change every day!
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Sure.  Swaptree will show you all of the books, CDs, DVDs, and video games that your can receive, regardless of whether or not it is on your want list.  Then if you see an item you want, simply initiate a trade for it by clicking on the "GET NOW" link.
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Trade requests will be e-mailed directly to you.  You can also visit swaptree, where we will notify you of any pending trades in the upper-right part of the screen, and if you click on that message, we'll immediately show you those trades to review.
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Pick the item that you think looks best based the condition and description of the item, the user ratings of the traders, as well as how close the items are to you geographically, so you can minimize shipping time.
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While you don't HAVE to accept a trade, you really SHOULD accept a trades offered to you, unless there is an unavoidable reason not to.

Because trades are only presented to you when you will be receiving an item on your want list in return for an item on your have list, rejecting a trade should be rare occurrence.

Minimizing the number of rejected trades is important to swaptree, because when you reject a trade, that trade may be cancelled for multiple users.  Because of this, ALL rejected trades are automatically reviewed by swaptree, and users who reject trades may have their account flagged so they will not receive future trades.
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After a trade is initiated, you have 48 hours to accept the trade.  If you do not accept an offer within that timeframe, the trade will expire and be cancelled so that the other members can initiate other trades with their items.

Like rejecting trades, letting trades expire also has a negative impact on other users.  Therefore, if you let a trade expire, we will automatically pause your account so that you will not receive any more trades.  In order to start receiving trades again, you simply need to login and un-pause your account on the "My Swaptree" page.
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Your trade limit is the number of concurrent trades that you can participate in at one time.  Each user's trade limit is based on a number of factors including the number of total trades that user has participated in and the number of positive user ratings that user has received.
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Each user involved in a trade should send their item by the end of the next business day.  Failure to ship your items in a timely manner will have a negative affect your user rating and may result in you receiving fewer trades than other users.
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Because swaptree sets up multi-way trades, it is highly likely that you may be shipping your item to a different person than you are receiving your item from.  Therefore, you should ALWAYS send your item to the address that swaptree provides to you in your email and on your "My Trades" page.  You should NEVER ask another user for their address, since if you have to ask for their address, then we guarantee you are about to send your items to the wrong user.  Instead, sit back, relax, and use the name and address that we give you!
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First of all, we recommend that you use our postage label system which will allow you to quickly print out a mailing label that includes the proper amount of postage on your regular printer using regular paper!  If you haven't tried it yet, you really should - you'll never go back to licking and sticking stamps again!

If you don't want to use our label printing feature, then we recommend that you ship all of your CDs, DVDs and video games first class (regular mail rates) since that will be the fastest way to have your item delivered.  However, because books are significantly heavier, we recommend that you ship them using Media Mail, which is a special class of service the USPS provides which is significantly less expensive than first class for books.

When you are ready to ship your item, swaptree will automatically provide you with the shipping amounts and postage class information based on the particular item that you are shipping.
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You are allowed to ship ALL books directly from a blue USPS Collection Box IF you use a Swaptree prepaid postage label.  If you use your own stamps, you are NOT allowed to put items in a blue USPS Collection Box if they weigh over 13 ounces.  Because packages containing CDs, DVDs and video games are generally only six or seven ounces and below the 13 ounce limit, you can always place them in Collection Boxes regardless of whether you use a Swaptree prepaid postage label or your own stamps.

This information comes directly from the USPS Website: Preparing Packagestop

Certainly, bubble envelopes offer a lot of protection for items, but we can also recommend that you ship items using large manila envelopes.  At Staples or OfficeMax, you can get 100 of the 9x12" envelopes for around $6.  The large size is great, because you can put any item inside of the envelope and then fold the envelope around the item a couple of times. It makes a really sturdy package and the doubled up envelope material cushions the item nicely.

Also we HIGHLY recommend that EVERYONE recycle their packaging material.  If you receive a DVD in a bubble envelope from another trader, you know that in a week you may be sending out that DVD again, so therefore, be careful opening the envelope so that you can reuse it.  Since swaptree is all about reusing and recycling, let's make sure that we apply those same guidelines to packaging!
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Yes that's true!  We allow you to print accurate postage and perfect mailing labels directly from swaptree.com.  So don't worry about going to the post office or even calculating the weight, or entering the correct shipping or return address – we do that all for you.

When you are done with a trade, you will see a link that says "print shipping label" - click on it and we will create a perfect mailing label for you.  You don't need a special printer or special paper which makes it really easy!

Obviously to use this optional feature you will have to provide us with your credit card, so that we can bill your account for the amount of postage at the end of the month.
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No, no and no.  You can use your regular printer and your regular paper, and no software is required.  It doesn't get any easier that that!
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If you printed a mailing label that includes postage from swaptree, then that means that the item should be shipped using the good 'ol U.S. Postal Service (USPS).  Your printed label cannot be used with any other delivery service (i.e. UPS or FedEx), and will result in your item not being delivered.
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Yes.  Once you have printed a shipping label for a trade, you will NOT be charged if you need to print that label again.  Just go to the "My Trades" page and under that trade click on "reprint mailing label".
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Yes they did.

We were recently contacted by the USPS and informed that they had not only increased their rates, but they had changed the requirements for what they would allow to be shipped First Class Flat and First Class Parcel.  In addition, they informed us that as of November 9th, 2007 they would no longer provide delivery confirmation for items that were shipped First Class Regular or First Class Flat.  For more information, vist the USPS site:

http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm300/ratesandfees.htm
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Similar to eBay and other used item selling sites, after every transaction the users involved provide feedback on each other.  Factors that are considered when rating another member include how fast they shipped the item, the quality of the item shipped and whether the condition of the item was as they described.

When we notify you that a trade is available, we show you the other user's rating before you accept the trade.  If a user has a lot of trades under their belt and has lots of good feedback, that's a good sign.

If you ever don't receive an item that you were promised, swaptree provides the ability to report the missing item, and we will follow up with the other user to figure out what happened.
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Each time a transaction is complete, you will give the user that sent their item to you either a positive, neutral, or negative rating.  We also encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to leave a short written comment about the transaction as well.
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Basically, that's up to you, but if the transaction went smoothly, everything was shipped on time and the other person responded to any questions that you had, that sounds like a positive transaction.  However, if the item came, but was a little late that might be a neutral.  If it was very late, or wasn't even close to being in the condition the other person said it was, that might deserve a negative rating.  It's up to you, but if you give a neutral or negative rating, make sure that provide a comment explaining why you gave the rating you did.
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Please give that user a negative rating and contact us at support@swaptree.com with more information.  We will look into the matter and take the necessary action including immediately suspending that user's account.

We have a zero tolerance policy for users who trade pirated copies of ANY item.
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If you don't feel comfortable with a user's rating then you certainly can decline a trade.  Please remember, however, that all rejected trades are automatically reviewed by swaptree.
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First of all, make sure that you simply aren't being impatient.  Although 95% of the time Media Mail is only slightly slower than regular first class mail - most items arrive in four or five days - the post office suggests that you always allow at least 10-14 days for an item to arrive.

If you still haven't received your item after 14 days, you should first contact the other trader to see what happened.  Simply go to "My Trades" page and click on the "contact the user shipping this item to you" link under the item that you are receiving.  Just ask the other user "I was wondering when you sent the item?" and usually they'll let you know that your item is en route.

If you have already contacted the other user, and the issue still could not be resolved, you should then report the missing item to Swaptree.  To do this, go to "My Trades" and click on "contact user" link again.  On the contact user page, you will now see a link that says "formally report this missing item to swaptree".  Simply follow the quick steps, and we will research the issue and contact the other user to see what happened.
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We will charge your credit card at the end of the month for all of the postage that you printed during the month.  At that time, we will also charge your card a $1.00 fee which covers all of the additional label and tracking fees we get charged by our third party vendor.  Don't worry, you will only be charged a total of $1.00 regardless if you mailed one item or a hundred items that month.  And if you didn't use the postage label printing service at all during the month - there will be no charge at all.
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Included in your postage amount is the small charge that our third-party postage provider charges us for creating the label, as well as the additional charge that the United States Postal Service charges us for the ability to track items when they are delivered.
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If you printed any labels during a month, we will include in your credit card charge at the end of the month, a $1.00 fee which covers all of the additional label and tracking fees we get charged by our third party vendor.   Don't worry, the processing fee is only a $1.00 regardless if you mailed one item or a hundred items that month.  And if you didn't use the postage label printing service at all during the month - there will be no charge at all.
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If you don't print any labels in a given month, then your credit card will NOT be charged.
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For some trades Swaptree requires that users use our mailing label system, which allow us to better track the shipping and delivery of your item. To use our labels you must first enter a valid credit card.
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To change your email address, log on to the site.  Once logged in click here to change your email address.   Enter your new email address and click on "change email" button and follow the instructions from there.

We will then send you an email confirming the change.
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Yes, you may select which Swaptree emails you receive.

To do this log on to the site.  Once logged in, click here to set your email preferences.  Towards the bottom of this page, you will see "my email preferences".  You can uncheck the emails that you don't want to receive. Note that you cannot opt out of "I wish to receive emails from Swaptree letting me know when I have trades available" since those are trade-related emails that require your action.
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If you are going to be unavailable to accept trades, you can pause your account so that Swaptree will not find or propose any trades for you until you are available for trading again.

Once logged into Swaptree, click here to pause your account.  On this page, you will then be able to choose when the site will send you an email reminder to unpause your account.

When you are ready to resume trading, simply follow the same steps and you will see the link to un-pause your account.
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The discussion forum is not really a good way to contact us, since we do not monitor it every day.  You may email us at support@swaptree.com or use the Contact Us feature.  Be sure to include your Swaptree user name and if it is a question about a trade do include the trade number.  If you email us, the subject line is a good place for this information.

We take customer support very seriously and do try to respond immediatley to all customer support issues.  However, depening on the volume, we can not always gauruntee such a response.  If you do not hear from us after a few days, feel free to contact us again.  We assure you, we will respond to all emails.
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