Swap-online.com FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) 

What is Swap-online.com? 

It is an online community of members who wish to swap items or services they own for items or services they want without having to purchase them.  It is a true trade and barter site where dollar amounts aren’t even listed. 

How do I become a member? 

To become a member you can sign up from any page by clicking Registration or Join Now.  This will take you to our online registration page.  Please complete all the information on the membership form.  

  Once you have completed your registration you will be taken to My Swaptracker and can begin listing items and swapping immediately!! 

What is My Swaptracker? 

My Swaptracker is your personal page where you keep track of all your Swap-online.com activities.  Only you have access to My Swap-tracker and you do this by logging in with your user name and password.  This is also the link to your profile, feedbacks and account with Swap-online.com. 

Why do I need a profile? 

Your profile makes you a real person to the other members of Swap-online.com’s community.  It gives you a place to put a picture and to list information about your hobbies and interests which lets other members know the kinds of things you may be interested in swapping for. 

How do I list items in My Swaptracker? 

To list items in My Swaptracker click on List Item under Listed Items on the left tool bar.  Next choose a category by clicking on the blue icon to the right or the category box.  The category tree will pop up and you can select the category in which you want your item listed.  If there isn’t a category that suits your item, please contact us and we can add it. 

Then you need to type in your item title, remember there are only 55 characters and you want to keep it brief and searchable.  Under that you type in the item(s) that you want for your item.  Sometimes this is difficult but it is important to let others know what your interests are because who knows what treasures they may have to trade.  The text box below allows for a customized description of your listed item and an opportunity to give more detail about what you are looking for as well, you may customize the colour, font and size of your listing.   

Now you need to add pictures by clicking add picture at the bottom of the text box.  The screen will refresh and you will need to scroll to the bottom where it you will find add/remove pictures.  Select the blue icon underneath and a window will pop up giving you the option to browse pictures in your computer of your items.  Once you have selected a picture to upload, left click on the picture and select open to upload your picture to your listing.  Depending on your membership level you may be limited in the amount of pictures and listings you may have at one time.   

Next you need to choose a gallery picture, this is the picture that others will see when searching, and it is the most important picture and if you have the option of more than one picture for your listing…make this one the best one.  To select a gallery picture you need to click on the arrow on the right side of the bar beside Gallery Pictures and select which picture you want.  Note * If your picture takes more than 2 minutes to load (you will see the spinner beside the picture space just spinning) just select to add the picture again to redo it (you may have accidentally dragged your mouse over the picture box which will stop the load process)…it will load up quickly.  Then select Save Item and your listing will be uploaded to the site. 

How do I find what I am looking for? 

There are two options to search items…first you may use the basic Search (available on almost all the site pages) which searches keywords based on the item’s title.  Secondly you may use the Advanced Search by selecting the search button on the green toolbar near the top of the page.  The Advanced Search allows you to search items based on the title, description, location, posted since, items wanted or category.  If you want to search items by category, using the category tree is most efficient.  On the category tree there are many subcategories as well, to access subcategories you need to click on the tiny + sign.  If there is only a – sign then there are no subcategories for that category.  Note * the category tree will not find items that do not have pictures. 

I found an item I am interested, what do I do next? 

When you find an item you are interested in, click on View Details to the right of the picture to find out more information about the item and the member.  This screen will give you more information about the item and what the member is interested in trading for it.  Don’t be concerned if you don’t have exactly what they want…first contact them and let the negotiations begin.  There is an option to contact the member from this screen if you have questions about the item or how far they are from you.  You can add this item to your Items of Interest in My Swaptracker to make it easier to find when you are ready to make an offer. 

How do I make an offer on an item? 

First you need to be logged in to make an offer.  When you select view details there will be a red button Swap Now.  Click on the button to make your offer.  You will see on the right hand side of the screen Swap History and above it a text box with a Go button underneath.  You may send instant messages throughout the swap to the member you are swapping with in this text box and then by clicking Go and they will appear in this column along with the details of the swap.   On the left is the item you are interested in, on the right you need to put the item(s) you are offering. 

If you scroll down the page you will see all your listed items available to put on the table for trade.  To the right of your item is a blue swap icon, click on it to add your item to the table.  You may add or delete items at any time during the process, depending on how the negotiations are going. 

Note * Items must be listed in order to be swapped.  Once you are satisfied with your offer select Save Swap and the other member will be notified the next time they log onto the site.  Offers Made are kept track of in My Swaptracker on the left hand toolbar. 

How will I know if I have received an offer on any of my listed items? 

Each day when you log in you should check My Swaptracker.  On the left hand tool bar under Offers & Negotiating there is an Offers Received option, all the offers you have received will be in brackets behind the title, if you have received a new offer there will be a red exclamation mark beside the bracketed number.  When you click on Offers Received the next screen will show all the offers you have received but have yet to accept and the new one will have the red exclamation mark beside it.  Click on View Details to see what you have been offered. 

I am interested in an offer but not ready to accept, what do I do now? 

If you are interested but feel more needs to be added to the table select Still Interested and use the message option text box with the red Go button to the right of the negotiations to send a message to the other member indicating what more you are interested in, you may also use the Contact this Member option if you feel you need more space to describe what you want.  Either you will be able to come to an agreement and accept the swap or you will not and the end result will be to decline the swap. 

How do I accept an offer? 

Once you are satisfied that the negotiations are complete all you need to do is select Accept Swap from either the Offers Made or Offers Received option in My Swaptracker.  Once the swap has been accepted by both members an email will be sent to each person’s email that was used when they joined the site.  This email will confirm that the offer has been accepted and will give you a link to send Swapmail back and forth to make arrangements for swapping your items. 

You will be notified when you have new Swapmail by a black and red mailbox on top of the green tool bar once you are logged in.  There is also an option to Leave Feedback for the other member once the trade has been completed.  Feedback is an important part of the Swap-online.com community; it lets users know who is trading and how it went.  This builds a sense of security and honesty among members. 

How do I contact other members?

Once you have joined as a member you will be able to communicate with other Swap-online.com members via the sites internal email system.  You may ask them about items they are interested in or items they have to swap.  You may also send instant messages through the site while engaged in the swap process.  You will see them in the Swap History in your Item Details. 

Swap-online.com is new and constantly improving and updating our FAQs.  Please send us your feedback and questions.  We will do our best to respond within 24 hours.Happy Trading and Thank you from Swap.online.com