Discussion Forums - Questions about SwapaDVD

When it really comes down to it, I suppose, unless you pay extra, the safety of your usage here at this site is dependent upon the honor of the other users. In my current situation, I have sent a two disc Bu Ray to somebody, and they have not marked it received. I have never had an item lost in the mail. As long as this person has their proper address listed on their account they have received their item, yet here it is "Date of system action" day, and I have just been informed that I have to eat the cost of the Blu Ray, the cost of the shipping and lose out on the 4 points that should be applied to my account, because they haven't clicked received yet. I have made a half of a dozen attempts to contact said user through the PM system, to no avail. Any advice? Or do I just have to accept that this isn't as safe of a place to swap discs as I thought it was, without being forced to pay a premium? 

im not sure who informed you that you have to eat the loss, but that is not true. If the receiver is unresponsive, you can contact swapadvd via the feedback link. If the receiver also does not respond to swapadvd, swap will often mark the dvd in for you. This is especially true if you used DC of any kind and it shows delivered. DC is FREE for online first class mail via sites like paypal, so theres not too much reason to send without DC unless you dont have a printer. However, if the sender does respond and says they didnt get it, and you didnt have any proof of delivery, then yes, you would have to eat the cost. I have sent close to 4 thousand dvds on this site and others and have never had someone claim that they didnt get a dvd when they actually did, so I say the probability of someone lying about getting it or not getting it is pretty slim.

I was basing it on the email I received from swapadvd, telling me that because I didn't use any extra services, that they couldn't give me the points. And you are correct, I do not have a printer, so I buy expensive padded envelopes to ship my DVDs in, rather than a printed piece of paper. I did contact swapadvd, so lets hope that it can get worked out. 

Shawn - a couple of tips (if you will) ... for multiple disc orders, it might be in your best interest to find use of a printer at your local library for instance.  The printed label is "proof" of address as well (you can prove you didn't write it incorrectly).  You don't have to worry about shipping a couple days later either.  I've received plenty of orders shipped later .... it's not a big deal. 

Re: padded mailers.  Look for bargains at a dollar store or Big Lots.  You typically get a 2 pack of mailers for $1.00  If you live near a Best Buy, their white poly bubble mailers are 49 cents.  I tape the printed posted to the mailer; I don't like wrapping in paper either.

The "premium" of printing postage here has it's advantages ..... the printed postage rate is cheaper than stamps ...... you get your credits right away...... you can mail packages that weigh more than 13 oz. from a blue box instead of driving to the post office.... and finally, piece of mind.  

Printing out the address doesnt mean you have to mail in paper. I havent send something in paper since I started here. I have ordered a lot of cheap dvds from gohastings and stuff on amazon, and they almost always send in bubble envelopes, so I have not had to buy mailers in forever. But there are definitely cheap ways to obtain them, there are even some members on here that are willing to send you multiple at a time with an order off their tower (I saw someone advertising that before, not sure who it was). You can also purchase bulk lots of like 10 or so off amazon or ebay for pretty cheap as well.

I too, recommend finding somewhere that you can print a label out, if you are worried about things going lost. If you are worried about future transactions and not having a printer, although this is a pain, I recommend checking with the requestor (if it was a wishlisted item that was autorequested) to make sure their account is still active. Clearly the person you are contacting is not an active member, so had you messaged them ahead of time you might have been spared this difficulty.

It had to have been an active member. When I posted the Blu Ray, it was put on a 48 hour hold to see if the user had the credits to cove the discs, and within a few hours, they accepted it, and it was officially requested. If they weren't active at that time, that wouldn't have happened, right? 

If it just straight up got lost in the mail, fine. I can accept that. It's just the fact that they're not responding to any of my PMs that leads me to believe that something else is going on. 

Thanks for all of the tips, though. It's appreciated. I tried buying some bubble mailers at Big Lots, but the quality of them were so poor, that I ended up going back out and getting bubble wrap brand. I couldn't get the package sealed, and the lightest stroke from a felt tip marker pierced the envelopes from big logs when trying to address them. I suppose if I am going to continue at the capacity that I have been so far, I need to buy another printer. I hate printers so much, and I've never had one not turn into a piece of crap within months of purchase, regardless of how much I spent on it. It's always something with them. 

shawn, are you sure it was the same user? Its possible the first requestor CANCELLED or didnt accept the request and then when it moved to the next person, it was on autorequest. You would never know the difference unless you looked at the name when you posted it.

Also, if you are in the market for another more expensive electronic like a computer or laptop, i think ive gotten like 5 free printers over the years with the purchase of electronics of some kind, or even electronic parts when i made my computer from scratch at home.

You've got me there, I had just assumed since it was within hours that they accepted the disc and requested it. . I may order a laptop during the Xmas season, so I'll try to find some kind of deal like that. Thanks. 

Yea, Ive had it happen where the original requestor cancelled and it moved on to an autorequest and that person was inactive so it definitely happens, especially with a 4 credit blu because a lot of people complain about paying 4 credits for 1 movie... Ive posted a lot of 4 credit blus into the system, and Id say my success rate of getting them accepted by the first member is probably around 60%.

I just wanted to respond to the issue of the cost of mail wrappers. For one, I've had no issues using paper as long as there's a plastic cover underneath (a plastic bag works well for this purpose) to prevent water damage. On that note, I try to "reuse" any item I can. Plastic grociery bags and blubble or other wrappers from things I get in the mail, I save and reuse. To that end, I haven't purchased my own mailing sleeves for the past two years. Granted, I'm not shipping a large number of DVDs or books every month (I'm on paperbackswap too), so your situation might be different if you are shipping a large quantity. To that end, I find the mailing sleeves from the dollar store to be pretty afordable. 

I buy the single dvd size bubble envelopes when they are 3 for $1. but mostly I reuse. Something I've discovered that works great for books (I'm on PBS too) is the heavy duty plastic bags that clothing is mailed to me in. I cut it to fit and wrap tightly. It gives the plastic protection and the wrapper in one thing and it's free :O) 

As many who receive from me, I've often used new calendars (horses, dogs, etc.), the big pictorial types, I buy them at end of year when they are expired and very cheap,  for the outside wrapping, after putting in plastic Baggie first. 

White freezer paper works good for outer wrapping,  too, also glossy and pretty water resistant. 

Today, I used bubble wrap to entirely cover the DVDs, and then brown freezer paper bag for outer wrapping because I ran out of padded envelopes.

Shawn, you can go to just about any store and they throw out bubble wrap, etc. by the gobs.  My computer repair guy has an entire room filled with this stuff.  

It does take a little longer to wrap packages though if not using padded mailers.  :)

I bought a box of 100 9x12 paper outside/bubble inside mailers for about $35.00. Sadly, I can't recall where, but if you search, I think it would be easy to find.

A box of 25 8 1/2X12's is under $5 at Sam's Club.

I buy the poly 6x10 mailers on ebay every few months. I usually get 25 but splurged this time and got 100. I am a member of all 3 sites and sometimes I do a lot of mailing, sometimes I don't have any orders for a while. It's a lot cheaper to buy in bulk and I like the poly mailers cause they hold up in rainy weather better. Not 100% but you have less books get wet in these than the regular mailers. I never mail with just the paper wrappings, that is just my personal preference. Get plenty of items sent to me that way and most of them arrive fine if they have plastic on the books especially.

Also I use printable postage on all items. It's easier for me than having to go to the clerk every day when I go to the PO with my kids home, my autistic son does not handle  the time it takes to do my business very well, so been in the habit of using printable postage. You can use the library to print, but they charge a fee per page. In the long run it's cheaper to use a printer. My last one is over a year old and I got it on sale for like $35 or something like that. Yeah it won't last forever but it works better for me to have one. Plus my hubby can just plug the laptop in and print when he needs something for work so it gets used a lot.

I live in Alaska so it takes forever for items to get shipped from here to the lower 48 so I always use the printable postage so I get my credits no matter what.. and it’s a good thing because I have had multiple shipments where the tracking shows received but the receiver didn’t mark the package received. 

I want a movie shipped from Alaska! 

I just mailed one to Juli-Anna  :O)

Responding to op's comment:  I hate printers so much, and I've never had one not turn into a piece of crap within months of purchase, regardless of how much I spent on it. It's always something with them. 

Printers are getting inexpensive.  It's hard to find one that isn't a multifunction machine.  I found a lazer printer on Ebay or Amazon for $39 a few years ago that is still going strong.  I mainly use it for printing lables.  I've only had to buy printer cartidges twice, about every other year.  The cost of the printer cartridge has gone up from the time I originally purchased, but it's still worth the price.