Discussion Forums - Questions about SwapaCD

I just posted some WL multiples and noticed that I have only 82 CDs on my own Wishlist.

I am #1 for 46 of them.
I am #2 for 19 of them. 

That means I am #1 or #2 at the club here, for about 80% of my Wishlisted CDs ---- ---yet I have not received a CD since November of 2013 (over a year ago.)

My wishlist really doesn't contain anything out of the ordinary or extremely rare.

Hi Laura,  I recently got a wl cd, it was on my wl for 4 months.  I think it still has 5 wishers. 

Over a year is a long time.  I think we have to send or receive 1 cd every year or they close our account for inactivity.  Not sure how that works. 

Hi Valerie,

I have since read some of the other posts about this subject in other topics------- 

.----.and it appears I'm not the only person who is experiencing the kind of "inactivity" that is happening on this site.  :( 

Laura,

The same here. Very little activity coming or going.  I may get three or four CDs a year and requests from my tower are even more rare.

That is why I don't post many of my CDs any more.  I have too many credits as it is.

In the past four months I've received about 30 CD's from my wishlist. Plus I've ordered additional titles from postings and the bazaar.

@Laura - I took a quick look at your wish list.   The CDs you want range from moderate to very expensive.    If you are looking for more activity - add some titles to your wish list that aren't $10 to $60 range and you should have significantly better luck.   Don't remove any of your wishes - because you never know, someone might actually list one of the box sets you have up there, but it's not likely someone will list an expensive item to obtain a credit he or she could buy for $2 or so in the bazaar.   Don't get me wrong - I have a lot of expensive CDs and box sets on my W/L as well - but I don't honestly expect to receive them (but you never know).   

@Keeradah

It never ocurred to me to look at prices.   

Van Morrison single discs are expensive?  I have PLENTY that have been requested since 2010 that are singles, Van Morrison, Seal, etc. since 2010!!  

It's now almost 2015, and these are not odd balls or arcane CDs, just run of the mill stuff.  4 years to get a Van Morrison CD?

Two of your Van Morrison album requests (Beautiful visions & Astral) are cheapies - so you're right - I guess no one wanted to get rid of their's.   But the others - the Japanese versions, the multi-CD set, and the best of - are not cheap.

BTW - my response wasn't meant to infer that you were only selecting expensive CDs - this happens naturally.  When a person first joins, they put up a gaggle of CDs they want.   Usually the cheapies come in quickly leaving the more expensive wants.   Just the reverse with CDs one lists to trade.   The ones that are worth more typically go first leaving everyone with the Backstreet Boys and other 90s CDs that were popular then but not too much now.

But I stand by my suggestion - adding some more CDs to your wish list should help get you some music.

I had been thinking of buying Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

 I already had some of the songs from iTunes so I hesitated.  Then my daughter also wanted the cd, so I put it on my wl in January. If we did not get it by Summer we would buy a copy.  It took 5 months and yes it's a cheapie title. 

Not sure if it was a cheapie title when you got it in June - but now the cheapest one on Amazon is $5.99 used with no artwork and $10. new.   A lot of members are really neat - and  they will put up their surplus without regard to it's value.  However, some members would rather sell it on eBay or wherever for $6 or so rather than get a credit for it which is valued in the bazaar at $2 - $2.25.    I'm just saying that adding more wants gives people a better chance to snag something they want.   Also one should check the new items coming in every day - you may find something you forgot about or didn't know about and you can snag it.

Steve, the copy I have sells for less than 25¢ used.  I would have bought a new copy for ten bucks. 

Super - it's obvious you have a wonderful place to buy CDs for less than 25 cents - but if you search on Amazon - you will see exactly the prices I stated yesterday - they haven't changed - the cheapest one on Amazon is $5.99 used with no artwork and $10. new.    And if you could buy one for less than 25 cents, how come you waited 5 months for one you paid .47 fee plus a credit for?

Anyway - I am not arguing with you.   I am trying to help you.   If you have limited CDs on your W/L - you're going to wait an awful long time to get something.   If most of your W/L items are expensive CDs ($10 and up on Amazon) - you are going to wait an awful long time to get something.  If you add items, you will increase your chances to get something you want.    Also check the titles on your W/L's.    I didn't look at yours, Valerie - but I took a quick look at Laura's when she first brought this up.   Some of her W/L titles are for the Japanese imports.   If that's truly what she wants - that's fine.   But if she wants any copy, she should see if there's a domestic issue by searching on the title/artist - and W/L'ing that to increase her chances of getting the music.

Steve, I was not arguing with you.  Yes I can find cd's cheap but I have to spend a lot of time rummaging thru stacks at the thriftshop.  It's a dusty/dirty job and hard for me to read the titles. 

Yes, I was refering to used prices on Amazon so I would be paying $3.99 shipping plus cost of the cd. 

Once I did find a bunch of Pink Floyd cd's but alas Dark Side of the Moon was not in that bunch.  

During my 5 month wait I received numerous emails from the site about that title available as disc only.  I did not order those because I could buy a used copy with case and art for less than $5.00 from Amazon.  

I think it's a cool feature that the site tells you availability of a title without art. 

My wl is mainly for stuff I never find in thriftshops or garage sales.  

Happy New Year everybody!

I have both a very large wishlist and tower and I get requests coming in & going out all the time, generally several a month.  I also check recently listed every so often to see if there is anything I had neglected to add to my wishlist, quite frequently I find titles that way as well.  

I've  cut back significantly on requesting cds as I am trying to limit my physical media collection to the essentials, but I have never had a problem with trading traffic here.

As far as closing your account for inactivity, that's a rumor that is not true. 

Awhile back, Len (a PaperbackSwap representative) posted this very helpful comment, pertaining to all of the "SwapA" sites:

We do not remove credits or close accounts on any of the three sites just for being inactive, though we reserve the right to do so. Inactivity is a factor considered when our system points out members that are doing things that harm the club. Here are some things that cause accounts to be reviewed for closure, but these are examples, not an exhaustive list:

Fraud of any kind.

Failing to respond to or declining requests.

Failing to respond to Wish List offers. (Not the same as logging in and declining WL offers)

Not marking books received in a timely manner.

Marking emails as spam. This is due to a legal agreement we have with email providers. Each time a member marks an email as spam (accidentally or otherwise), he or she is telling their email provider that they never signed up for our site. This causes the email provider to contact us requesting that we not send that member any more email. Since email is crucial to the participation in the sites, we are forced to close the member's account.

I never compare the cost of CDs on Amazon, because I can't remember ever buying a CD there......by the time you add postage, it is just not worth it.  

As for a member choosing to "sell" a CD there rather than swap it, $6 and then you pay Amazon, also using (expensive) printer ink, printer paper, gasoline (if driving to a box), and most valuable....time.  

Seems kinda silly to do that when you end up with about $2.99 profit.   LOL

I would just donate to my library........and I'm poor.   But I also am a good business woman and I don't think people add up their actual "costs to do business" sometimes.  

i have about 1500 on my list, which is public.  I notice many traders, use it, because i get sent multiple cds all the time, and some that i wasn't#1 on.  I initally had my WL private, 8 yrs ago, and changed it, and saw a pattern immediately.  You might want to rethink your private wishlist, Laura :)

Look, I search out items I can swap to our fellow colleagues here at thrift stores, bargain bins, and yard sales just to keep this site going.  It's easy to do - just look up a title on sacd.com to see if it is wishlisted and buy it for them and post it.  Yeah, I've been burned a few times by wishlisters declining the CD swap, but to me it's worth it to keep fresh blood flowing around here.  I also have an abundance of credits, but when those 10 CD box sets of singles show up, I snag them.  I probably trade and receive in the neighborhood of 10 discs a month.  That's quite a few and I have very eclectic taste.  I look at this site as a community service - we can all help each other out by finding and listing stuff that other people want - not just the next 200th copy of U2's 'The Joshua Tree' (incidentally great album but oversubscribed here).  Let's be on the lookout for other people, not just in it for ourselves.

Dr Scott

I had a WL show up today. Hooray!  

I have a small WL, so I celebrate when something shows up. 

I ordered an in system CD, it was accepted next day.  So far so good!  

edited by SwapaCD Team