Computer Tips From A Computer Guy

Trade and swap books, DVD, and games online using SwapTree

Posted: 18 Oct 2009 03:11 AM PDT

Looking for a free way to swap or trade your stuff with other people online? I bought a Xbox 360 about a year ago and now have about 15 games that I don't play anymore. It would be nice to be able to trade my games for games someone else has that I haven't played yet.

SwapTree is a cool online service that lets you trade books, CDs, DVDs, and games online for free with millions of other people.

The site currently has over 100,000 items added online that are ready to be swapped with your stuff. So how does it work exactly?

First, you create an account and then list out all the items you want and all the items you have that you are willing to trade or swap. The way SwapTree works is that it will match items that you have with other people who wants those items and vice versa.

You can quickly add things to your want list by searching, typing in the UPC code or the ISBN code. While browsing through the site you will see "have it" and "want it" links, which you can click at any time to add to your lists.

Note that in order to get anything on your want list, you have to add something to your have list, otherwise there is nothing to trade.

What's also cool about the site is that when you add an item to your have list, they instantly give you a list of all the items you can receive in trade for it.

Using their own proprietary algorithm, a DVD you own will allow you to choose from thousands of other items being listed online. Then simply click the Get Now button and begin the trade.

At any time, you can always quickly see how many items you receive via trade at that moment.

So it is really free? Yes and no. The only thing that you have to pay for is the shipping of your item, which is usually by Media Mail and hence pretty cheap. On average, you will have to pay less than $2.50 for shipping an item.

However, what's really neat is that you can tell SwapTree your address and it will try to find the items that you want that are also physically close to your location. Then you can just go pick it up from the other person rather than shipping! Neat!

Of course, you might be wondering how can you be sure you will receive an item in exchange for sending yours? Well, the site has a rating system for each user, so if you want to be really safe, you can always swap with someone who's already swapped many times. Otherwise, you will just have to have faith!

Overall, it's a pretty cool online trading service and they are quite vigilant about people not sending items, so most likely all your swaps and trades will work out fine. Enjoy!