Discussion Forums - Questions about SwapaCD

I know our sister sites PBS and SwapaDVD have a topic titled WL Multiples in the bazaar area.

Does that not exist here?

I have aobut 50 CDs to get rid of and most are probably WLed, but that will cost me about $100 in postage.  Looking for a way to save on shipping.

You could offer a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 deal in the Bazaar.

Hi Laura,

That's a good point.  I've not seen a Wishlisted Multiple list on here.  It would save on postage though.  Most of my Wishlisted items are DVDs - so I do use the Wishlist Multiple thread in SwapaDVD.

Kinda looks like you might have to explain what the Wishlist Multiple thread is all about to folks over here.

dtal,

There would be no point in offering a 2 for 1 on highly Wishlisted CDs. 

I would only do that on CDs that weren't wishlisted.  Wishlisted CDs are CDs that have already been requested in the system and as soon as posted you receive a request for them.

<<<Kinda looks like you might have to explain what the Wishlist Multiple thread is all about to folks over here.<<<

Yes, I see that.

The sister sites offer WL Multiples in the Bazaar.  This means that if you have items that are Wishlisted by other members, you can list them and request that people order more than one at a time, in order for the sender to save postage.

One of the criticisms is that this often allows people to "leapfrog" over others who are waiting for a CD.  While that may be true, if a sender cannot AFFORD to send out CDs one at a time, they won't get posted anyway, so nobody who has it wishlisted will receive it anyway.

IMHO, having WL Multiples gets more CDs out to members, because senders with a tight budget may not have $30-$50 a month to send out 15 or 25 CDs even though they are in demand.  In this economy, it's certainly worth a shot.  

CDs can be posted directly to receving member's tower by the sender.  So, everything still goes *thru the system*.

Truth is that there are a lot of people on SwapaCD, SwapaDVD, and PBS who have to turn their bookshelves/towers OFF for a good part of the month because they can't afford to send stuff out.  For instance, if I have a heavy hardcover, the postage comes to more than a credit would cost me, so if the book is Wishlisted, and I can offer it in WL Multiples, I can also send out another 1 or 2 Wishlisted books at the same time to the same receiver.  Combined postage would be covered by those 2 or 3 credits, whereas sending out 1 book would not.

Something to think about in this economy.  If a member here has 10, 20, 30, or 50 Wishlisted CDs, there is the chance that although they are requested, the member cannot afford the postage to send out so many CDs at once.  So, they don't go anywhere.

I quote your original post:

"Subject:  WL Mulitples?

I know our sister sites PBS and SwapaDVD have a topic titled WL Multiples in the bazaar area.

Does that not exist here?

I have aobut 50 CDs to get rid of and most are probably WLed, but that will cost me about $100 in postage.  Looking for a way to save on shipping."

Since I didn't know what "WL" stood for, I just saw multiples.  Sorry.

so is there any comment from a forum moderator on this feature being introduced?

You could just set one up yourself.  Just title it "September Wishlist Multiples thread" or something same as on swapadvd.  If people have stuff they can add they will.

Hi Tim,

No, can't do this. This is something The Team needs to institute, since it *may* sometimes involve bypassing FIFO.

It's  way to allow people to save on mailing in a tough economy, if they have lots of CDs to send out that are WLed.

I guess i'll just forward this to them and see what they say.

BTW, IS there a moderator for the forums here?

Yes, we do have a moderator, and yes, we will look into the WL Multiples topic in more detail and get back to you guys here in this thread soon.

Thanks Team!  

I just realized that it might be harder to do since there is the 0.49 charge here, which is something to grapple with with the WL Mutliples scenario.

Nevertheless, thank you so much for reviewing this topic. 

Actually, the 0.49 charge will not be by-passed, since the sending member would post Wishlisted CD's directly to the receiving member's Wishlist.

That way, no transactions will occur "outside of the system". 

I do believe that allowing members to send out multiples would really help a lot of us out in this economy, and at least CDs would be *going out*.  I'm sure there are members who have CDs that other's want, but simply cannot afford to mail out 10-50 CDs in a month separately.

Hopefully, everyone will be on their *best behavior* so that this thing will work, as it does on Paperbackswap and SwapaDVD.  The best way to have this happen is that of course,  CDs sent out in this manner should be primo postable condition, etc.

For all of those interested--- be on the look out for the start of the SwapaCD WL Multiples thread Nov 1!!!

I've been trying to understand this WL Multiples idea.  I even started reading the Rules and Instructions in the other thread, but I quickly got bogged down in the minute details.  I'm missing the basic concept.  Prior to the discussion of WL Multiples, we already had the ability to order more discs directly from a traders CD Tower before finalizing an initial order.  That allowed the sending trader to send multiples to the receiver and consolidate mailing costs.  How is this different?  We also already have many people posting offers for 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 deals.  That would also save on postage.  The difference there is that the site only gets one transaction fee for the 2 or 3 discs in the deal.  Is it possible to outline just exactly what this new feature is, without all the little details and rules?

I think the biggest problem with my failure to understand this concept is that the description of the idea seems to start in the middle, assuming that we all already have some idea of the basic concept.  Please start with the basics.  Do not assume that I already know anything.  For instance, I did not previously know that WL stands for Wish Listed.

In Laura's post describing WL Multiples, she says:  "CDs can be posted directly to receving member's tower by the sender."  I have no idea what that means.  I understand that you can request a title directly from my tower.  But if I have the disc and I post it to your tower, then that would indicate that you now have the disc available for trade, not me.  That makes no sense to me.

I think I figured out a piece of the puzzle.  I went to the new WL Multiples thread in the Bazaar and found this in the rules:

Instructions for posting directly to a member's Wish List is here:
http://www.swapacd.com/help/search.php?terms=Can+I+post+a+CD+directly+to+someone%27s+Wish+List

They are talking about posting directly to another trader's WISH LIST, not to their Tower.  So this way, I can send a disc to the trader of my choice, thereby bypassing the requirement that I send to the first requestor?  Is that right?

djtal

>>>>Prior to the discussion of WL Multiples, we already had the ability to order more discs directly from a traders CD Tower before finalizing an initial order.<<<<

Except that  Wishlisted CDs are not sitting on anyone's  tower un-ordered....WLed CDs  tend to go out through FIFO very quickly as soon as they are posted.......because there are already requests for them before they are posted .

WL Multiples gives senders an opportunity to send out more than one Wishlisted item at a time to save postage. 

yes, it does allow some leapfrogging in some cases, however, it serves the greater good, i.e., more CDs are getting sent out .....if somebody has 20 WLed CDs, as soon as they are posted into the system they can't pick who they will go to.  Those 20 CDs may end up going to 20 different people thru FIFO.

That means that the sender may end up having to spend $40 or more in postage.

This is a reason why some members hold back CDs and post them into FIFO slowly........they don't have the postage budget to send out

>>>>>So this way, I can send a disc to the trader of my choice, thereby bypassing the requirement that I send to the first requestor?  Is that right?<<<<

No.  It is not the trader of YOUR choice.  

You must list your Wishlisted CDs in the Wishlisted Multiples topic, and wait for other members to order them in that topic, i.e., commit to meeting your sending requirements.

Then, you may post those multiple CDs to that member's Wish List.

Please go over to SwapDVD and see how people are doing it.  It may make more sense if you can see it in action, rather than as a concept.  :)

WL MUTLPLES as it says in the rules, is the ONLY place where you can list and have multiple Wishlisted CDs requested by members. 

This does NOT give anyone the ability to go postiing to member's Wishlists willy nilly.   YOu must actually list your multiples in that topic, and other members must specifically come to that topic and commit to an order there.

In Laura's post describing WL Multiples, she says:  "CDs can be posted directly to receving member's tower by the sender."

It says Sender must post all Wishlisted Mulitple CDs directly to the Receiving member's Wish List, which will trigger a "transaction" in the system.

Did I write something else in another part of the document?  Sorry, flying out to dental appointment now, I'll have to go back and see where you found the part about posting to a member's tower.  :) 

Thanks for the help.  I'm more clear about it now.  Although I do still have some questions about the mechanics of getting it done.  I'll stay tuned and try to follow the action.  I'm all for saving a few bucks on shipping.

>>>>>So this way, I can send a disc to the trader of my choice, thereby bypassing the requirement that I send to the first requestor?  Is that right?<<<<

This is from the help topic which is referenced in the other WL Multiples thread:

Yes.  If you have a CD that is on someone's personal Wish List, then all you need to do to offer that CD directly to that member (and NOT to the first person on the Wish List) is to go to the member's Wish List and click the button there.  Be sure the title/artist and track list on your CD ALL match the information on the item on his or her Wish List!

• Your CD will be offered to that member first, no matter where he or she is in the Wish List for that CD.

djtal,

Please feel free to PM me or ask questions.  Anything I don't know, I will either ask about or ask a Team member to clarify.

I offered to introduce the program at SwapaCD and write up the Rules ------ but by no means do I know *everything* about this site.  I'm kinda new at some of this stuff myself.  :)

>>>This is from the help topic which is referenced in the other WL Multiples thread<<<<:

Yes.  If you have a CD that is on someone's personal Wish List, then all you need to do to offer that CD directly to that member (and NOT to the first person on the Wish List) is to go to the member's Wish List and click the button there.  Be sure the title/artist and track list on your CD ALL match the information on the item on his or her Wish List!

• Your CD will be offered to that member first, no matter where he or she is in the Wish List for that CD<<<<
•  

Could you tell me where the "other WL Mutliples thread" is?

 and also link me to where all this is written?  Admittedly, I'm not familiar with it.

I got that quote from the help that you posted in this thread http://www.swapacd.com/forum/topic.php?t=10044 in the CD Bazaar.

In the very first post, you referenced this:  Instructions for posting directly to a member's Wish List is here:
http://www.swapacd.com/help/search.php?terms=Can+I+post+a+CD+directly+to+someone%27s+Wish+List

So I went there and found that text.

Okay Djtal, I see where you mean.

Obviously, that Help document was written before the new Wish List Multiples topic was born, and simply offered instructions for users on exactly how to  post directly to another member's Wish List if they needed to do that in an individual situation.  But even at the bottom of that Help document, it mentioned that it is not encouraging people to bypass the FIFO system and that this should not be done on any kind of regular basis.

 So----"Advertising" your WLed CDs in Wish List Multiples topic is going to yield the best customer response.   Because other members who want more than one of your Wish Listed CDs you're advertising there are going to post there and request those CDs from you. 

In this instance, The Team is giving members express permission to offer a group of CDs in that special topic, and to to send them out in bulk,  so that you can save on postage.  :)   And, you will not have to go looking for receivers, because they will reply to you, right in the topic, and tell you what CDs on your list that they want.  

It's a direct and speedy "match-up".    All in one place.

Obviously, that Help document was written before the new Wish List Multiples topic was born, and simply offered instructions for users on exactly how to  post directly to another member's Wish List if they needed to do that in an individual situation.

I am not sure that help topic existed before the new Wish List Multiples topic was born.  I don't recall ever reading anything to that effect before.  I would not be surprised if the underlying mechanism described there (the addition of the "Post This CD" button on a member's wish list) was actually created to allow "Wish List Multiples".