The Wonder of Swapping and Searching for New Hobbies

In 2003, Sean and I read an article in the Monterey County Weekly (I think it was called something different then) about a neat sport called Geocaching. We got a GPS and got involved...I’m definitely going to do it a lot more when I get back from Iraq. I’ve promised myself that I’m going to have a whole bunch of cool hobbies when I get back, actually…Anyway, I was recently looking at the Geocaching website. There are numerous variations on the basic geocache, and I was looking at these different variations and I found the website, Bookcrossing.com.

Bookcrossing is defined as the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise. On Bookcrossing.com, you assign tracking numbers to your books and then leave them somewhere for someone else to find and read. The person who finds the book logs it on the website and then places it somewhere else…neat, huh? Kind of like a Travel Bug, if you’re familiar with Geocaching…

Just the other day, I was reading about this Bookcrossing when I came across several sites that offer various swapping services where you can get rid of your old books, CDs, DVDs and Video Games in exchange for some other things that you want. I was surprised by the amount of websites I found.

There are three main steps that all these websites have in common: 1. You must list things you have to trade and things you want to have 2. You send other members the things that they want, and 3. You get things that you want. The biggest rule on most of them is that you must give things to get things. Membership is usually free, and the sender is usually the one who gets stuck with the postage costs, but it usually works out in the end because whoever you requested from has to pay postage to send to you. Once you have the item you ordered, you can keep it forever or you can re-list it on the website so somebody else can get it.

Below are the swapping websites that I found. I read through each website and picked out the differences.

 

Service	Type of  Media	Cost	Shipping info
La La (Beta)	CDs	CDs received cost $1 plus $.75 for shipping	You are provided with shipping envelopes…kit sent after you agree to send your first CD
Switch Discs	CDs, DVDs and Video Games	One SwitchBuc is equal to $1. Members set a value to their discs, and you use these SwitchBucs like money.	Shipping envelopes are not provided. You get SwitchBucs in exchange for sending discs to cover postage.
Frugal Reader	Books (Hardback, Paperback, CD and Cassette Audiobooks)	You use credits to get books. Typically 1 credit for paperback and 2 credits for hardback. You get credits by listing books, sending books and referring people. (There is a premium membership for a yearly fee)	Printable Shipping Labels.
Title Trader	Books, DVDs, VHS, CDs, Video Games and Magazines	"Request Points"…you earn these by sending out stuff, referrals or you can even purchase them if you find something you want and don't have enough points for it. (There are Premium features for $19.95/year)	They provide USPS delivery confirmation labels, sender is responsible for shipping costs.
SwapSimple	Books, DVDs, Video Games and Audiobooks	Because they do not have ads on their website, they request $2.00 each titme you order an item…you can avoid the fee by referring a friend. You swap items using Trade Credits.	You can print out a pre-paid/pre-addressed shipping label. If you do not send the item requested, SwapSimple will send requester a new copy of whatever you had promised to send and then charge you for it.
The Book Cart	Paperback Books	Free except for postage and a handling charge. The site uses mainly Paypal to do their business. When you send a book, you get a $2 credit for postage for sending the book. Receivers get charged $2.50 for shipping and handling.	Shipping is "Free"
PaperBackSwap (PBS)	Books (Hardback, Paperback, CD and Cassette Audiobooks)	Free with a credit system	You pay for shipping, and you can print out a wrapper for your book that can wrap most regular-sized books.
Bookins Book Exchange	Books (Hardback, Paperback, CD and Cassette Audiobooks)	$3.99 flat rate for each book you receive. You earn points for books that you send which are used automatically to get books sent to you from your Wish list.	Print out pre-paid postage label.
Peerflix	DVDs	Free membership, you pay $.99 per DVD plus postage for DVDs you receive.	Print out a plain paper, postage-paid wrapper to send your DVD in.
BookMooch	Books	Free, you get points by adding books to your library, sending books and giving books to people's wishlist. You use points by getting requesting books and giving to charities. You must keep a ratio of getting one book for every five books sent.	Sender is responsible for all shipping costs and packaging

 I think this is a really neat idea. I have a bunch of DVDs, CDs and books that I would like to get rid of, and I usually end up just giving stuff away without getting anything in return. This way, you get stuff you want for things you already have and pretty much all you have to pay is minimal postage costs. I'm definitely going to get into this when I get back.

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