Do you swap?

Well, if you don't, you totally should. Wanna know why? Then keep reading :)

Do you love having a full mailbox? Receiving letters from your friends or from complete strangers?

Do you like putting together packages? and receiving stuffs from other countries?

Then, swapping is made for you. Lots of people think that swapping demands lots of money and just don't want to get into it. Swapping is actually a very large word. I mean, sending a package to someone doesn't mean the package has to be big. It can actually be just a small envelope. For example, one thing I love to swap is... Tea!

Do you know how many tea bags can actually fit in a standard envelope? Well, I don't know either but A LOT (I sent 11 tea bags + a card in a standard envelope last week and I could have put some more in it).

If you're a crafty person, swapping is also a great thing for you. Handmade envelopes, cards, journals, etc. And if crafts isn't your thing, there are lots of other things that can be swapped, small or big... souvenirs, stationery, jewelry, books, food, magazines, mixed CDs, postcards and tons tons more.

It sounds interesting, right? And to make it even better, an amazing website has been created to make swapping easier :)

This website is Swap-Bot ; they organize group or private swaps for everyone who loves Snail Mail.

Once you've created your profile on there, you can participate to all the swaps that you want. At first, you will be a Newbie and will only be able to participate to 5 swaps at the same time and would usually be accepted in small swaps only like Tea swaps, postcard swaps for example. There are even some swaps created for Newbies only so that you can find your way easily around the swap-bot community.

The swaps are really well organized. When you join a swap, there is a deadline for the Swap coordinator to assign partners. Swap partners are assigned automatically and you'll receive an email when you can check your partner online. You will see the address of the person you have to send the swap to and here you go. You put the swap together for that person and send it before the Swap deadline. When you have send it, you have to mention it on the website by clicking on the "Sent items" button.

The next part is receiving YOUR package. Whenever you receive a package you have to rate your partner on the website. You give a 5 if the swap met the swap requirements. You can also give a "heart" to the person if it's an amazingly great swap.

Unfortunately, swapping isn't always that fun and sometimes you receive crappy stuffs or worst you don't receive anything :s It's always a bad feeling when it happens but you can also rate your partners accordingly and those people can be banned from the website or aren't accepted in swaps anymore. You can give a 3 if you receive the swap but it didn't met the swap requirements and You can also give a 1 if you didn't receive anything at all.

And now, here are pictures of Swaps I have received in the past...

Tea Time, Newbies Welcome

Profile Surprise #11

Make my day nice

Favourite Candy Swap

1 chocolate bar swap #5

You can also visit my profile on there: PinkBubble (want a tip to get more experienced at swaps and be able to participate in all the swaps that you want? you can also organize Private Swaps with people you know (or don't) on the website // You decide of your own requirements and your number of swaps grows faster, plus, if you know the person you're swapping with, you know you can trust her/him).

Do not hesitate to share your swapping experiences in the comment section.