Discussion Forums - Questions about SwapaDVD

I just recently joined the site and really love the idea, but I have concerns about the option to buy credits rather than earning them by sending discs. I have noticed that a most of the discs I've looked at have long, slow moving waitlists, which makes it seem like there are more discs being requested that provided. While I absolutely love the idea of sending someone a disc in return for them sharing having shared a disc with someone else, the idea that someone can just pay $4.50 (for a DVD) or $8.50 (for a Blu-ray) to request a disc from me, with me getting none of it and having to pay the shipping to boot, seems decidely… less cool.

Is there anything set up to discourage this kind of behavior? And if not, could there be? Upping the cost of a credit to $8 (so it's not so much cheaper than buing used elsewhere), and giving the user providing the disc at least $4 per purchased credit used, seems like it would a lot to improve the situation.

If you look in the Bazaar, you will see that many site Members sell credits for $3 each. I've seen offers of up to 50 credits for sale from one member. Some Members (I term them Power Users) apparently have sources for extremely cheap movies/books/CDs and are able to move many items at a time so the cost per credit received is low. Credits can be moved between sites for free, so the credits for sale in the Bazaar may have come from books, movies, or CDs. When I joined, it took 2 book earned credits to equal 1 DVD credit, but as the value of DVDs decreased this was changed to 1:1.

At one point, Members were offering credits for less than $2 each, so the site mandated a $3 minimum. As you noted, below this price there was no justification for sending out a DVD when a credit could be purchased for much less than the cost of postage. 

You are also correct in that rare and more recent movies don't get posted to the regular swapping system frequently, so some Wishlists are pretty long and there is little or no hope of ever getting that item from this site. Despite the site rules that state all postable items must be entered into the regular system, the "Wishlist Multiples" rules in the Bazaar allow this rule to be circumvented. If you find you have a movie on someone's Wishlist, you can post it directly to them regardless of where they are in the queue.

Erik - I don't see where there is "abuse" in buying or selling credits.  Credits are selling for $3.00, but that doesn't mean most people are buying. 

I don't think a higher credit price is the answer.  Look at the Bazaar, you will see the same 2 people at the top of the list for credit sales most days of the week.  I think if selling credits at $3.00 were easy, those 2 people would not have to work so hard to sell theirs. 

Some people do have cheap sources of DVDs.  I used to have a cheap source for DVDs, so I currently have credits to spare.  I used to buy a TV series just because it was wishlisted and trade it away.  That was how I earned my abundance of credits.  

Now my DVD  sources are not so cheap, but I still look for DVDs.  Pawn shops, thrift stores, used DVD/book stores, used rentals, garage sales, library sales, swap meets.  I look for DVDs that are of interest to ME ONLY.  If that DVD is not a keeper I trade it away.  

Some people actively look for DVDs and they have sources to find them.  Other people (small towns) do not have these sources.  Some people won't look for DVDs, instead they just wait.

This will never be the best source for the latest/newest movies.  Those movies are going to be pricey for awhile.  An inflated credit price won't change the availablility.  Instead, branch out.  Add lots of different movies/TV series/Blu-Rays to your wish list.  

Check out the DVD Bazaar for deals, wishlist multiples.  Look in the Games sections.  Look at the "sister" sites.  Choose to participate.   

I should clarify: I don't think buying/selling credits on the bazaar is a problem, at any price. Even if the user got them by obtaining and sending super cheap DVDs, they were still DVDs that somebody wanted and that they mailed. If they than want to trade/sell the credits, that's still one DVD sent for each credit available. My concern is about the fact that it's possible to buy credits directly from SwapaDVD, which increases the amount of contention for discs without actually increasing the number that are sent.

Why worry about the site selling credits when you could worry about the site's ability to issue thousands of free credits to anyone they like?
(I don't think that they do [aside from the initial free credit per account], but they could, and how would we know if they did?).

Note that the sites do also accept credits back through the Bargain Books program on PaperbackSwap, which presumably helps balance out the free and site-sold credits. Perhaps a similar program for DVDs will be coming here in the future.

That seems like a weird comparison. I'm sure many people would be upset if it turned out they were giving certain people thousands of free credits, but it seems like a silly thing to worry about without any indication of such. On the other hand, they indisputably sell credits right on the site.

Erik J. If you look back through Questions and Club Members Thoughts, there have been many previous discussion about credits and swapping etc.  I do not know how many people buy credits directly from the site.  The site actually reduced their price of credits 3 1/2 years ago.  I think anyone aware of the DVD Bazaar bought credits from other members at a much lower price.  I have bought credits and sold credits but I have never bought credits directly from the site.  The price was and still is too high for me.  

It has been a long road and I think most of us wish there were titles available that we want to order.  We get on the wishlist line and wait for a happy surprise.  

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May 15, 2014 

The news isn’t all bad, though - In order to simplify the system, we are reducing the price of DVD Credits from $5.45 to $3.95 each! That means that for those of you who transfer credits between your accounts in the different clubs, the credit ratios between SwapaDVD, SwapaCD and PaperBackSwap will be 1:1:1 , instead of 2:3:3.

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I guess in a nutshell, I do not think very many people buy credits directly from the site.   

Erik J.

I'm thinking that your concern is more of the "What if SwapaDVD sold millions of credits and took the money and ran" scenario. 

SwapaDVD is a national 'club' with limited membership. It's not like a regular money making business. The 'Club' enjoys certain Tax benefits because it is a club and not a regular business - not unlike a charity or public service organization. Several years back the PBS site put out a 'monthly letter' explaing why their site and the 'sister' sites had to institute a 50 credit monthly limit to members selling or transfering to other members the credits they had 'acquired'. A part of that explanation dealt with adhering to the IRS's requirements (whatever they were) for the 'club' to stay active as a club and not as a regular 'business'

The 'price' of credits purchased in the KIOSK is held high (I think) more as a disincentive to purchase them. The current price is $3.95 each for one or two credits when purchased in a transaction, and $3.79 each if 3 or more credits are purchased in a transaction. A member could easily receive a credit just by posting a DVD that someone wanted and mailed out at a low cost of  $2.66  (todays price for mailing a single DVD). One could also just buy other members excess credits at $3/each just by visiting the Bazaar. Even there you can only buy a maximum of 50 credits per member per month - but if you wanted to (and had the funds to do so) you could easily buy 500 credits or more from 10 members in just one day. I cannot imangine too many folks buying a lot of credits from the KIOSK.

I've enjoyed being a 'club' member for more than 10 years and hope for perhaps another 10 years to come. 
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As an aside - no one pays $4.50 or $8.50 for a DVD or Blu-Ray - everyone pays the same thing and that is a DVD Credit for a regular DVD and 2 DVD Credits for a Blu-Ray DVD. (Blu-Rays generally cost quite a bit more than a regular DVD - although that may change in the coming years. It is why a Blu-Ray DVD 'costs' 2 Credits vice 1 credit.) 

If you have a DVD 'Set' consisting of say 10 DVDs and posted that "Set" on this site and someone orders it for 10 DVD Credits and you could mail them out for - say - $3.68 Media Mail rate for 3 pounds or less (not over 3 pounds) then your per DVD Credit price would be 37 cents apiece. You could then order any 10 DVDs currently posted at an effective cost of 37 cents (plus the 49 cents per order fee).

Welcome aboard to SwapaDVD and I hope you find the 'benefits' to your liking. It's a Swap place, not a money making place - nothing to buy and nothing to sell - just swaps.