Title Trader

I finally settled on Title Trader as my CD/DVD swap site of choice. Although I had some initial difficulty figuring out how to list my items, once I did, I was good to go, and was able to successfully trade the bulk of my items there. Also, Title Trader does not limit you to trading only CDs or DVDs. You can list all kinds of other stuff such as books, magazines, audio-cassettes, even household items ala Freecycle.

Here's how Title Trader stacked up against my criteria:

1. Shipping

   Alas, while you can print a shipping label, inexplicably, it is not paid postage!?! nor at this time, are you able to pay for it online via credit card. . .
   

2. Avoiding the Post-office

   . . .therefore you still have to go to the post-office, stand on line and deal with the quirks of the postal staff. Bummer!

   For example, I do not trust the postal service not to manhandle my CDs/DVD packages as they wend their way through the system. So, to decrease the chances of any damage during shipping, I err on the side of caution and try to pad the envelope really well. One postal clerk eyed my package suspiciously and asked what was inside. When I told him, he asked why was it so thick, was anything else in there . . .? But, after processing it he just carelessly tossed (more like hurled) it into the mail bin behind him, which is EXACTLY why I padded it to the hilt. I'm thinking to myself, "My package has hardly even gotten into the post office good, before it getting roughed up! Thankfully, so far the CDs/DVDs I've shipped seem to have arrived intact.

3. Liner notes, artwork & case

   At Title Trader you have the option to send as much or as little of the accompanying material as you want. Some traders will note this type of information in their listing, which I found helpful in choosing with whom to trade.

4. Simplicity

   It's very easy to set up an account. The site also loads quickly on my dial-up connection.

   Each book, CD, and DVD is worth one Request Point and can be used to request a book, CD, or DVD from Title Trader's collection once you have received positive feedback. An email notification is sent when one of your items has been requested and you can print a shipping label at that time. I listed several items, and got requests right away, but again, how quickly or how many of your items are requested will be dependent on what you have to offer.

   Although, at first I found Title Trader a little tricky to navigate (I couldn't figure out how to list my items) once I did, things went more smoothly. Searching by UPC or ISBN can also be a little tricky. Sometimes those number don't work, but then, plugging in the title or artist will yield the item. Just be forewarned that you may have to fiddle around with your search queries a bit.

   Also, in one case, I had a problem printing a shipping label because the recipient's address could not be verified in the USPS database. Although, I emailed the site for assistance on several occasions, as far as I can tell, I never received a response unlike the speedy one obtained from SwapSimple's customer service department. (see my post on that here) However, since shipping labels are not postage paid, you can manually create your own shipping label without losing anything, which is what I ultimately ended up doing.

All in all, even though the need to go to the post office is somewhat of a hassle, the site's overall ease of use and laid back feel is what won me over in the end.

One More Thing: Premium Features

Title Trader premium access costs $19.95/year. However, when you first sign up, they will give you a 30 day trial that includes a few of the site's premium features, most notably a daily, customizable, email listing newly added items

Other premium features include:

• Wishlist Notification - email alerts when items appearing on your wish list have been added to the Title Trader inventory
  
• Saved Searches - allows you to maintain a list of your most frequent searches. When an item is added to the site
• Buddy List - allows you to bookmark your favorite users so you can keep an eye on what they have listed.
  
• Safe Swap Premium Member - enhances you status as a reliable trading partner.

Again, please note that this reflects my particular experience ONLY! You're mileage may vary.

SwapaCD

SwapaCD is a popular music CD swap site. I actually discovered this site while checking out Paperback Swap, with whom they're affiliated (I also see they've added a DVD swap site to their offerings. I'll have to check that out!).

I have not, as of yet, used SwapaCD for reasons initially outlined in My CD/DVD Cup Runneth Over and which I will discuss in further detail below.

1. Shipping

   While not necessarily a complete deal breaker, ideally, a swap site would allow me to generate a postage paid shipping label (either free of charge or for which the costs can at least be prepaid by credit card). SwapaCD members must pay the shipping costs when responding to requests, as well as a charge of 0.49 per trade, plus 1 CD credit. SwapaCD provides a downloadable template for a paper envelope mailer, which pulls the recipient's address information, however at this time, it does not also include the postage.

2. Avoiding the Post-office

   In terms of ease and convenience, I would prefer to avoid a trip to the post office or waiting on a long line there. If you just send the CD in their special mailer as recommended, SwapaCD estimates that postage costs will probably be little more than a first-class stamp, give or take, and you can just drop it in the mailbox. However, if you add the goodies (jewel case, liner notes, artwork) it will probably be more. Depending on what you decide to ship, unless you have a scale at home or are comfortable guestimating the charges, a post office visit could be in your future. Which brings me to my next point.
   

3. Liner notes, artwork & case

   Not so much with DVDs, but for music CDs I like having the artwork and liner notes, which can often include song lyrics or information about the artist and other musicians. A jewel case makes it easier to store, but those are otherwise easy enough to get elsewhere, if you want them.

   While SwapaCD members are certainly free to ship as much of a CDs accompanying materials as they like, in order to keep mailing costs to a minimum, SwapaCD recommends that they only ship the CD itself, using the aforementioned envelope mailer. However, they also provide tips and information about the approximate costs for various other shipping options and configurations.

   Incidentally, I have to say that at the particular time that I was considering SwapaCD, I was skeptical that a mere paper envelope would allow a CD to be delivered through the mail unscathed, while shipping them in their protective, plastic jewel cases might actually increase the likelihood of their being damaged (this in spite of proper padding which adds to the shipping costs). But, that was before I discovered and joined a popular DVD rental club and have since come to experience the efficacy of the paper envelope mailer, as paradoxical as it may seem! So far, in about a year's time, I have only had one DVD to arrive damaged.

4. Simplicity

   Finally, a swap site should be as simple as possible to use, not only in terms of listing and tracking items for trade, but in comprehending the point scheme. Of primary concern would be

   • How is value assigned to the items being traded?
   • How do you accrue the necessary value to make requests?

   In all fairness, since I did not end up joining SwapaCD, I can't really speak to how easy or not, it is to use the site, but based on the information I was able to read there, it seemed easy enough. Of course, you'll need to take my comments here with the necessary grain of salt.

   The point system in use seems quite straightforward. As previously mentioned, each CD trades for one SwapaCD credit along with the 0.49/trade charge. You can earn one free credit after posting your first ten CDs. If you want to request CDs before you have accumulated enough points you will need to purchase SwapaCD credits available in increments of $5.00.

   Now, depending on your reasons for trading, the point scheme may be less important to you. Perhaps you have a glut of CDs you just want to get rid of and don't care so much about acquiring others. On the other hand, you may get into swapping as a way to acquire and enjoy new content, while avoiding the accumulation of stuff that you don't like so much. As I explained in Something for the Bibliophile, swap sites allow you to hold onto an item for as long as you want (forever, if that's the case), or trade it back once your finished with it.

   So again, logistical matters such as these are something to be aware of and keep in mind when considering a swap site.

Obligatory disclaimer: These are the criteria that are important to me and how they played out in evaluating this particualr site, however your needs may be quite different.

Next up: My experience using SwapSimple, another media swap site.

My CD/DVD Cup Runneth Over

One of my decluttering projects from August (Wow! That was awhile ago already!) involved weeding. I think of weeding as a complimentary strategy to decluttering. The way I see it, decluttering has more to do with identifying objects for eventual removal OR allowing you to reorganize what you have so that it is neater. Weeding, on the other hand, involves reviewing a category of things you have, such as books or clothing, selecting particular items to get rid of, while keeping certain other items. This is what I did with various music CDs, DVDs and audio cassettes.

There are a number of options for dealing with CDs or DVDs. You could give them away to friends or relatives, or via The Freecycle Network™ or craigslist, or donate them to a non-profit organization, which they in turn sell to raise money. Again, be aware that the criteria of accepted items can be very specific, which may or may not coincide with what you want/need to get rid of at any given time. So, you'll need so keep that in mind should you go that route. Here are a couple of organizations I came across that accept such donations, however I have not tried myself:

• Eco Encore
• Housing Works Used Book Cafe (also accepts records and CDs)
• Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter's Amazon.com Shop, Emporium Online

As with my books, I decided to go the swap route again and checked out the following three sites:

• SwapaCD
• Swap Simple
• Title Trader

Creating an account at each of these sites is free and fairly simple to do. However, on SwapaCD you will be charged 0.49/trade plus one SwapaCD credit.

I'm sure at this point, with the growth of the Internet, there are hundreds of swap sites to choose from, so you may be aware of others that you prefer. In fact let me offer this disclaimer right now:

My upcoming reviews of these sites strictly reflect my particular experience ONLY! (as does everything else discussed on twigghugger!) You're mileage may vary, so the sites described here (and elsewhere on twigghugger) may or may not end up being your cup of tea.

Having by now accumulated a bit of swapping experience under my belt, my ideal swapping situation

• allows me to generate a shipping label (free, or the allowing the postage to be prepaid by credit card)
  
• allows me to drop the item in the mailbox, thus avoiding the lines at the post-office or dealing with cranky postal clerks
  
• allows the option of sending/receiving all materials (jewel or DVD case, liner notes, artwork, etc)
  
• is as simple as possible to use in terms of listing and tracking items for trade

None of the three CD swap sites that I considered had all three qualities together. So far the only swap site that I have used that meets all these criteria is Bookins (see Something for the Bibliophile), but alas at this time you can only swap books through them.

Be that as it may, for my purposes, one CD/DVD swap site did emerge as my preferred site. Here is a quick and dirty chart summing up my overall opinions.

but I will discuss them all in more detail in separate, upcoming posts. Stay tuned!