Tips

The tips section is general tips to help you on SwapitShop! They include tips such as advertising your swaps, and even posting your swaps! Read them all below!


Selling tips:

* When advertising your swaps, make sure you write a good description. This increases your chances of bidders. Make sure you include important details about the item such as: condition, product details (make etc), what the item is good for, and even how old it is! (Ie: How long you've had it for).

* Make sure you always advertise your swaps correctly. Do not false advertise or mis-lead people into bidding on your item. For example, 'Nintendo wii' in the title, and 'Picture' in the description. Some swappers do not always read the details fully, so it is unfair to take advantage of it. Always advertise something correctly, and send the correct items. Make sure you send an item how you would be happy to receive it, do not let down other swappers, it only backfires on yourself in the long term.

* When listing a swap, make sure you list it at a reasonable time. If you are off school/college/work for a day, don't list it in the middle of a day - a high majority of SwapitShop users are under 18, and will be out during the day, so you will not get many people looking at your item when it is on the 'ending soon' list. It is also not recommended to list your item late in the evening, as this is also a time when there will not be many people online. Best times to list your item are any time on the weekends, between 10am to 10pm , and between 4pm to 9pm on week days. This will hopefully increase your chance of selling an item / getting a better price for your item.



Packaging/posting tips:

* Package your swap up before you list the item. This can be risky, because if your item does not sell, you have wasted an envelope, however if you open it up carefully again, you can always re-use it. By packaging up the item before it ends, you can get it sent out quicker, which will get you a higher rating, and even some bonus swapits!

* When you receive packages in the post, keep the envelopes/jiffy bags. It might make the post office miss out on a few pence, but there is no need to buy new packaging materials if you have some already! Simply stick a piece of paper over the address that is already on there, or use adhesive labels. Then use sellotape to seal it shut. Simply write the new address on the top. Alternatively you could just scribble out the address that is already on there, and write the new one next to it. (If there is space!). This wll save your money and you are also recycling! :).

* Buy your stamps in advance for the post office, don't rely on queuing up when you get there. There may be a long queue and you could miss out on your items being collected that day. Buy your stamps in advance so you can package your items before you go to the post office. Then when you get to the post office, simply put them in the allocated bag (if there is one), or hand them to the person behind the counter. This saves an extremely large amount of time.

* If you are unsure on how much stamps to add to your package, grab the kitchen scales and weigh your envelope/parcel. You can then use this easy online guide with Royal Mail to help you find out the cost of your package. This saves time instead of heaving to weigh your packages at the post office! Royal mail price finder site is here:

http://sg.royalmail.com/portal/rm/PriceFinder?catId=23500532&gear=pricingcalc
(If you cannot click the link above, copy and paste this url into a new internet window)

* If you have several swaps to send, send them together! This saves money! For information on how to do this, visit the 'Guides' section, there's a guide explaining step by step how you do it!



Buying:

* Always fully-read the description of a swap. You could get tricked into buying something you don't want to buy! Make sure you read it carefully before placing your bids, as bids cannot be removed!

* When buying an item, if you are unsure of a swappers reliability, Check their rating. You can do this by clicking on their rating score. (The digits next to their name). A swapper could have a +20 rating overall, however they may have lots of minus ratings in the current month, which may make you think twice about bidding!

* When bidding on items, dont bid really high days before the item ends, wait until the last day before you put in your 'high' bid. If you put in your highest bid to early, another swapper has a much better chance of outbidding you. If you wait until the last few seconds of the auction, and then put your bid in, it doesn't give other swappers as much time to bid, so your chances of winning that item will increase. For an extended version of this tips, check out the guides section, there is a guide about 'Key tips to winning an auction'.


Contacting SwapitShop:

* When you contact SwapitShop, either by email or phone, always be polite. If on the phone, speak clearly and calmly so SwapitShop can understand your problem/question. If you are not polite, they will not be as keen on helping you, and you might not even get a reply to your email at all! If phoning, make sure you have any transaction numbers at hand before you call, as they will need to know these to help with your problem.

* When emailing SwapitShop, clearly state your SwapitShop name, your member number, and any transaction numbers, (for swaps sold or bought). If you do not provide this information, SwapitShop will be unable to help with your problem.

* If you are writing an email, make sure you try to use as much correct spelling and punctuation as possible. This will make it easier for SwapitShop to read, and will help them understand what you are saying. Make sure you double check any member numbers/transaction numbers you include to make sure you have spelt them right. If you miss a number or enter a wrong number, this will confuse SwapitShop, and delay them in trying to solve the problem.

More tips coming soon! If you have any you think should be added, use the Contact page and let us know!