Personal swaps??

[jungrrl]

i guess i would just like to see a place where people, who are interested in personal swaps, can post "ads" and connect with other like-minded individuals.

Craftster does not support personal swaps, so I'm afraid this will not be something that we would implement. 

[jo_mama]

i apologize, but i am finding this terribly hard to believe.  craftster hosts group craft swaps, but does not support swapping between individuals?  i understand that the way personal swaps are being done currently you have no way to monitor or guarantee the swap, but that is an issue of your own making.  i think that it IS possible to devise a way for personal swaps to be monitored/safe/organized/etc, which is why i originally had this posted in swap ideas - because i think it can work.

i guess i just do not understand why this is such a brick wall, and why it gets shot down so fast.

[sweets4ever]

Invite Your Partner swaps are a great compromise to the situation.  You can invite a person of your choosing and use the awesome swap/feedback/guarantee system we have in place.

[lapoli]

i apologize, but i am finding this terribly hard to believe.  craftster hosts group craft swaps, but does not support swapping between individuals?  i understand that the way personal swaps are being done currently you have no way to monitor or guarantee the swap, but that is an issue of your own making.  i think that it IS possible to devise a way for personal swaps to be monitored/safe/organized/etc, which is why i originally had this posted in swap ideas - because i think it can work.

i guess i just do not understand why this is such a brick wall, and why it gets shot down so fast.

I think there are plenty of ways you can swap directly with people that you'd like to, without breaking the rules. There are always the IYP swaps, which are very popular. The "Make a Friend" swaps, too, work similarly with more guidelines, but it's still easy to "invite" someone you'd like to swap with. Also, most organizers will work with you if you and another swapper are interested in swapping with one another.

You can also post, in your signature, that you're interested in personal swapping.

Personally, I find the current rules pretty open and easy to follow. I guess I don't see why there's a need to change them?

[jungrrl]

I know it might seem like it but I swear we're not just making a snap decision! This has been a topic of conversation for literally years. We've had previous incarnations of similar things and we've had lots of people burned by others with no recourse.  It's very difficult for a non-organized swap not to turn into a she said/she said. 

[hookinmouthcrochet]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post about this, but I have recently had a problem with a personal swap. We set a time frame, and the items were supposed to be mailed by April 30, and I mailed mine, but still have received nothing in return. Originally, the other participant was communicating with me, and now nothing. I wrote a message about a week ago, and still have not received any response. I am still quite upset, as my item took quite a long time to craft and this was my first experience swapping at all, and it was not a positive one. Any advice on what I should do next? I tried sending a message to Craftster, but haven't received a response from them either .

[gotgrey]

I hate to say it, but, you are probably out of luck.  I believe Craftster "frowns" upon personal swaps.  They don't support them, like organized swaps that have an organizer/moderators.  Personal swaps are viewed as, "at your own risk".  Organized swaps have rules, site support,  and moderation, personal swaps don't.  I'm sorry your 1st time swapping went so badly.  You should really try sticking to organized swaps, as you have a level of protection against such things happening.  Good luck, I hope you find some resolution.

[rackycoo]

Yes, sorry, but there is no way we can moderate personal swaps. While we don't frown upon them, we don't step in and try to resolve issues with them, either. There's simply no way for us to track what goes on in personal swaps, and nothing we can do to help resolve any issues. For this reason, we always suggest that you either swap with someone you know and trust, or join organized swaps only.

[jungrrl]

Here's what the Swap FAQ says about personal swaps:

21. Am I allowed to do a personal swap with another Craftster member?

You are allowed to, but just as with Organized Swaps, we have to encourage you to be careful with giving your address out over the internet and please remember that neither Craftster nor the site administrators or moderators are responsible if anything happens to your package or if you do not receive a package.  No feedback is given for personal swaps, and there are no angels in cases where one partner never sends.  Personal swaps are "at your own risk." Do not advertise for personal swaps in a post. If you are available for personal swaps, please note that in your signature or indicate that in your profile. If you're interested in doing a personal swap with someone, contact them through a private message.

We do have quarterly Personal Galleries in the Swap Gallery board. The current gallery will always be found at the top of the gallery board.

[hookinmouthcrochet]

Thanks guys. I will not be participating in any more personal swaps. It just really peeves me because this person has a good swap history with Craftster and is a good contributing member, that is why I thought it would be safe. Learned my lesson.