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So I have done quite a few swaps and exchanges and everything has been great. Of course there have been a couple of flakers here and there but nothing horrendous.
So a couple of months ago I was part of a Goodie Box exchange done by another lady. A box full of goodies made it's way around the country to a list of ladies and you traded out stuff that you had for stuff in the box that you wanted. It was a hoot and lots of fun. So I thought I would try my own.
It took less than two hours to have 10 ladies signed up for this, when I posted it! It was fabulous! People were totally excited about joining, they loved the idea of the surprise etc. So I laid out all the rules in the original posting with the idea that it would have SU stuff, other stuff and a bit of dollar store stuff. The rules were simple, you traded SU stuff for SU stuff and you just traded evenly. If you took something out worth $25, you put in something worth $25 and you could trade as many things as you wanted. You just had to have to box in the mail to the next person in two days.
Anyway, it has been through 4 people at this point and the person who has it now has emailed me complaining that the box was full of junk and she only got a couple of things out of it!! Then she emailed again asking if she could send it to somewhere closer than the person who is next on the list because it will cost her over $20 to mail it and she doesn't think that's fair because she hardly took anything out of it!!
Firstly the box was FULL of great stuff when I sent it out and ALL of it was my stuff and stuff that I went out and specifically bought to put in the box, included SU stamp sets, stamp pads, markers etc. plus other stuff. There was at least $100 worth of stuff. So it looks like people did not trade evenly when they took items out.
Secondly, am I wrong to assume that people made this commitment and whatever was in the box when they got it was the chance they took?? And part of the commitment was mailing the box out, no matter where it is headed?? I mean I did this as a fun thing for everyone and I didn't do it to get anything out of it!! So I guess I will just have to take the loss.
Anyway, I have decided to call the whole thing quits and chalk it up to experience. I've asked her to mail the thing back to me. I will email the other girls and explain. Do you think I made the right decision? What else could I have done??
I would possibly contact the previous senders and question them about what was re-entered in the box because it has come into question. Don't lay blame on anyone but question it. And then maybe specifically ask this person what was in the box.
2nd she accepted the swap originally on her own, this is the chance you take when swapping and I think everyone should know this!
As far as the postage, how big is the box? Why can it not be put in a flat rate postal box and sent for 8.10 or whatever it is now. You'd be surprised at what can fit in those boxes.
I just don't think it would be fair to the others to just quit. There is a difference in junk and just not wanting something! $20 to send just junk sounds a little odd to me. To have that type of cost at the post office there must be an awful lot of stuff in it.
Sorry for all the babbling this just sounds very odd. I personally would have to question it all.
That's the chance you take when you sign up for these things. (I mean the participants, not the hostess) Even if everyone traded fairly and there was still "Good" stuff in the box doesn't mean there'd be anything in there to everyone's taste. If you sign up for a swap, you agree to the terms. One of the terms is that you mail it on to the next person on the list.
It is a shame that some people are dishonest and it's stressful on the hostess when you start a swap...always checking to see if it's still moving forward, always wondering if the next person on the list will be disappointed.
I think that the person who emailed you was wrong to ask if they could send it somewhere else. They agreed to participate and they agreed to mail it to the next person on the list. You are the organizer of the swap but you are not responsible for the actions of everyone else in the swap.
8.10 is the right price for the box and they come in two sizes and here's the link
I've never done a swap and have no desire to do so because of what you are going through now. I hope it all works out and maybe the box info will help. I just pick them up at the post for free and pay when you ship. Regardless of what is in the box the price is the same up to seventy pounds I think but it's on the web site.
Good Luck!
Thanks so much for your thoughts. I had the same thoughts. I'm going to get the box back, see what is currently in it and what this lady considers 'junk' and then maybe send it back out to the others.
Unfortunately I live in Canada, so the flat rate box does not apply here. You pay depending on the weight and the destination. Regardless, my feeling is that that was the commitment she made, no matter where the box is headed.
Thanks for your support. I knew I could get some feedback from you great ladies!!
Sorry the box info won't help, I did look at your location and didn't know for sure where people 'getting dazzling diamonds all over myself!!' were located. LOL!
I agree with Cyndi and Kelly. I haven't joined any swaps because I'm afraid I don't like to commit to something and end up not fulfilling it. It's too bad this is happening to you. What's junk to one person may be a treasure to another. I would hate for you to stop this on account of one person. I think what you are planning on doing by having her send the box back to you is a good idea, but do contact the other ladies and let them know about the delay. Good Luck!
Its too bad that a few people can spoil a good idea. Firstly, she may be calling it "junk" when there just isn't anything that she particularly wants. On the other hand, you can usually count on someone using a box like that as an opportunity to "scoop" and replace with things they haven't particularly taken care of, were poor quality to begin with, or just plain ugly. However, you spin the wheel & take your chances!
__________________ Darci "Awww, you guys made me Ink!"
"Creativity is a continual surprise" (Ray Bradbury)
I agree that she took her chances signing up for the swap, and she should just suck it up and do her part. Still, her agreement was based on all the participants playing fair, and if that didn't happen.....
I'd say you're on the right course by having her return it to you. It's just very unfortunate that the extra cost of being in Canada compounds the expense (and TIME) to do that. Maybe you could ask the other participants if they could help defray that additional cost?
Check it out and decide for yourself if it's junk or not. I'm in Nova Scotia and when I did my swap just before Xmas it cost me about $11 to mail it to Ontario, so $20 seems like a lot. Perhaps she didn't specify the least expensive parcel post? Don't give up...just don't let her in again
I think you did the right thing having her send it to you. If the others were not playing fair, it's no good to send the box all over the country if everyone else will be disappointed. If when it arrives, her idea of junk is not junk at all, I'd continue it on but rethink the whole experience for the next time. Usually I'm reluctant to participate in a swap like that because you take the chance of not getting anything out of it. If I did though, as I live on the east coast, I would still be prepared to mail the box to BC. Hopefully it wouldn't be that way, but that is the risk you run when signing. It's too bad that it all turned out to be a bad experience.
By the way, thanks for the RAK
Taryn
__________________ Taryn
"Forget regret or life is yours to miss." - Jonathan Larson
Oh, Kimmie! I am sorry that your Box Swap was such a stressful experience. Granny H started these up and I almost planned one myself...I inquired about the details with her and another gal that did one right after Granny...But finally in the end I decided it may not be worth the hassle...I think these kind of swaps might work best between friends or people you already know on SCS...
I would definitely get the box back and then decide what to do once you check it out for yourself. Possibly see what the other gals would like to do. Or if you feel totally burnt then cancel it. HUGS and best wishes for solving the problems of the swap!
What a bummer for you Kimmie - I'm from Alberta and I know Canada Post has different size envelopes that go out at a straight price - no matter how much you stuff into them. You may want to try something like that. They are quite sturdy. I know there's a small one that costs $6/$7 and there is a larger one...maybe $11 or so. I'm not sure. Check it out.
I have never been in this kind of swap before but one suggestion I would give is to have an inventory sheet of what is in the box and when someone takes something off the inventory list, they must write down what they're sending (maybe even put their intials by it). That way someone would be less inclined to totally scam the rest of the group by taking good stuff and putting in dollar store stuff. You could possibly "sell" it to the group by saying that everyone's always curious about what "got away" or what else they just missed - and you're just interested in seeing what everyone traded/contributed to ensure it's fair for everyone involved.
I have never been in this kind of swap before but one suggestion I would give is to have an inventory sheet of what is in the box and when someone takes something off the inventory list, they must write down what they're sending (maybe even put their intials by it). That way someone would be less inclined to totally scam the rest of the group by taking good stuff and putting in dollar store stuff. You could possibly "sell" it to the group by saying that everyone's always curious about what "got away" or what else they just missed - and you're just interested in seeing what everyone traded/contributed to ensure it's fair for everyone involved.
That's my $0.02 - hope it helps.
I think this is a good idea!! Holds everyone a little more accountable!
I'm sorry to hear this has been less than smooth and pleasant. :( I was very interested in the two Canadian goodie box projects, but Canada Post's terrible parcel postage rates were part of what scared me off. I'm not sure I think it was wrong for the participant to ask if she could send the box to someone else instead (I mean, you never know unless you ask, right? and you don't ask something without knowing the answer could go one of two ways), and I definitely don't think it was wrong for you to tell her no. Hopefully the box comes back full of cool stuff, and you can do a regional ExpressPost (which iirc is a flat rate based on box size) and get it back on track.
I was in a swap similar to this but it was any products from any vendor .The problem I had was I never got the box.the person who had it before me got it and supposedely sent it too me.which I never recieved.So the hostess contacts me complaing to me saying where is the box.Well as you know now she is mad at me thinking I have it and just saying I never got it.which iritates me.so who do you believe in all of this the last person who had it or the next person on the list who was suppose to get the box and never does.
The thing of all this is it doesn't always make it to the right address all the time and more than likely went to wrong address .Noone ever knows it just a chance everyone takes.
I did swaps like this but just cards where everyone took out some cards and replaced with cards.I can't belive the cards I got back from the swap.I have to say that I ended up throwing the majority of them away.I t was a waste of my time doing the swap.people just throw in junk.and I mean a sticker in the center of a card.and nothing else or a dye cut. just to say I put something in when others go out of thier way to give them something they will keep and use to give to someone else.never again for me.
So for the woman who claims she had nothing to chose from.I can also speak of experiance by saying I would not want to pay $20.00 to send out a box with junk in it if I didn't get it myself.
I realize that you do sign up for swaps like this not knowing what you are getting but that's a bit like a slap in the face.people take out all the good stuff and throw in stickers paper that noone else can even use.diecuts to me if you are hostess doing a swap like this.yopu need to specify and I mean specify what you want and don't want to be put in the box.so this doesn't happen again.
Or have everyone send it to you.and you can see for yourself what everyone is sending and then when exchanging the items exchange them according to what people are giving.this makes things a lot more even when exchanging.plus you have the chance to find something you like.
before they send thier items ask them questions like what they might want for items and what they don't want for items and tell them you can do your best to give them what they want with what you have.
Say you do something like it must be brand new items.then say something like .what is your favorite brand or products.do you have kids.what kind of album are you working on.
this gets a little more specific on what people are looking for.and maybe you can work the items out around thier answers.
Just trying to help for the next time anyone else tries a swap like this.
__________________ WHAT IS A STAMPPIN ADDICT!
It's someone who buys stamps they didn't normally like at first,only to see it in Split Coast Stampers gallery in a different perspective.
I did some scrap swaps on another board and they were fun at first. When I sent out a package I listed what I gave to each person and others followed. After the first round, it seemed like some were just "re-gifting" the items that they didn't want, not caring that it was not of interest to someone. One person had only boys and was receiving pink, girlie things! I ended up dropping out of them when I became a SU Demo, but they were getting BAD. It is nice when people play honestly, but I have found that they just don't work. Sorry this has happened to you!
I'm bummed....mind if I share??
