November + December Hosting, 2024 Plans

Hi!

I'll be hosting very few swaps in November or December 2023. Too many "end of the year" commitments, including November's scouting for Xmas cards + postcards. I mail out cards as Mrs. Claus every year. Thanks to joint problems, I start writing around mid-November and mail out by mid-December. 

You might see me in a few, and in ones I already said I'd host a few weeks ago. I have some ideas for art-based swaps coming for next year. I may come back and compile those ideas here; if anyone sees one they like, message me! 

Proposed Swaps + Changes in 2024 

Changes

I don't think I can mail out international mail in 2024. It's just out of my budget. Please be aware that all of my swaps EXCEPT electronic swaps will be USA only. Also, this year, all 1oz swaps should be weighed. I let swaps for nearly 1oz slide on half what was agreed to this year but in 2024, I will specify requirements more closely and leave it up to swappers to make the call on ratings.

In 2024, all 1oz swaps will need to be WEIGHED close to 1oz. 1oz is the cutoff for 1 stamp, which includes the envelope and a note inside saying what swap this is and who it comes from. As such, the minimum weight of the envelope (and all things inside) must be ~.85oz. 

If you sign up for a swap that specifies an envelope must be close to 1oz, and the envelopes people receive are half an ounce including the envelope, that does not meet swap ratings. And... I get a lot of those. I know other people do, too. So this year I am telling people up-front to weigh them.

I have an electronic scale for this. It came from wal-mart, I think. Takes a couple of batteries that were included. It was maybe $20 and it's lasted about a year. You won't need to go to the post office to weigh anything. I used to use a regular, non-digital scale, but even after adjusting it, it was often off by a bit. I suggest getting a digital scale.

Swaps

What Are You Making in 2024? 6oz supply swap

Postage is ~$7-8 (or for ~$11, use Priority Mail with insurance.) Mail 6oz of craft supplies (inc envelope, weighed) that you aren't using. Nothing broken, dirty, damaged, or smelling of perfume or smoke. Profile-based but ultimately sender's choice, since a person might not have items to fit your profile. 

USA Rainbow Swap #3

Postage is 1 stamp. There will be a group one with LSRUS planned and an "open" one. Send any flat mail within the colour scheme. Items can be glitter, confetti, vellum, papers, die-cuts, stickers, etc. Colours: pink / red / orange / yellow / green / pale or bright blue / royal or dark blue / purple / black + grey / white + cream / browns, tans, etc. / rainbow + metallics.

Ephemera, Photos, + Book Pages

Postage is 1 stamp. There will be a group one with LSRUS planned and an "open" one.

Now here's the part to read carefully:

This includes real ephemera, not printouts. Ephemera are things that are typically transient, like old movie stubs (back when theatres used those,) receipts printed with ink instead of carbon (carbon is the kind that disappears with heat,) tea wrappers, facings of greeting cards, etc. You can send photographs. These must be 4x6" or smaller, and must be on actual photo paper, not printed out. Also included are book pages. This is a specific swap for specific items that may be more difficult to get in an era where we print out everything, and everything is a reproduction of everything else. Book pages are included to give some options specifically because those items can be difficult to come by in quantity. 

Autumn in May

Postage is 1 stamp. There will be a group one with LSRUS planned and an "open" one. In the Southern Hemisphere, Autumn is March-June to begin with. In the US, "Halloween-season" is October. I'd love to do Halloween in May the way we do Xmas in July. Why not just go for Autumn? Not everyone celebrates Halloween, and I'd love a more inclusive swap!

Send 2 Items / 6x Washi Samples / Paper swap

These are repeating Newbie-friendly rates booster swaps that count towards tangible mail ratings. These are useful for ratings + stars, and also for swaps that require a physical Type swap.

Playlist / Fave ______ / Accountability or Goals Checkup E-mail swaps

These are repeating Newbie-friendly rates booster swaps that do NOT count towards tangible items ratings. These are great for increasing ratings and stars, but are not useful for swaps that require a Type minimum. 

Make + Mail (Cards or PCs, 1-5 items)

Make + mail a specified number of cards or postcards. Can follow some prompt ideas or just say hello.

Themed Journal Page swaps

An artistic journal page made to fit in a 5x7" agenda. You can take an 8.5x11" piece of paper and cut it so it's 6.5x10" Fold the 10" side in half, so the paper is 5" wide and 6.5" high. 5x6.5" will fit a 5x7" agenda, like a card. Write whatever, decorate however. At least 3 sections of the item must be covered (no sticker-slapping) leaving a blank side for gluing in, if you like. Optionally, you can decorate all 4 sections and the person could tape an edge in with washi or something.

Make Good Art! Practice a Craft challenges

Make an art thing. The whole point is that none of us are pros. Mistakes are normal and are a part of learning and appreciating accomplishment! Make a Thing and include the title of the tutorial to make the thing, too. This swap encourages us to practice a small craft. Postage is often ~$3-4.

Assorted postcards + flat item in a notecard swaps

These are newbie-friendly ratings boosters and are easy to join. Postcards often have a theme like Top 10 or something, and notecards are introductions or jokes with a profile-based surprise in them. 

"Holiday" + penpal letter swaps

These typically require previous Type 2 or 3 swaps because they require a letter or something more involved or themed. National Cat Day, Intl LGBTQ-related days, and other "holidays" are typical themes. Penpal letters usually have a prompt and can be a page or so. These are usually limited to 1 stamp.

Be an Active Group Member!

Quite a few of us are in groups or will be in groups. Groups are SB users who all have a common goal or theme, such as "Washi Tape Lovers" or CPG (cheap postage group). 

Image: Lovely Swappers-R-Us Group Page

 

On a group page, there is a title (Lovely Swappers-R-Us), a "theme" (what the group is about,) how old the group is, and in blue, the group forum.

In the body text, the group founders can put in whatever. LSRUS tells about the group in the first paragraph and specifies the group requirements. On the right side is an option to leave the group. I have the option to create swaps in LSRUS. Underneath is the list of Group Swaps, which can only be joined by group members.

Groups are a fun way to find swaps with like-minded people who often have specific ratings or requirements! I don't usually have to put any guidelines for ratings on those because the group rules weed out people to begin with.

Problem is... a LOT of people are NOT active group swap joiners! So there's big groups and few or no swaps ever happening, and if they are started, no one joins.

Part of this is limited ability to invite people to create swaps. It's a big responsibility because one poor host can ruin the reputation of the ENTIRE group. Ability to create swaps is often held tightly to a few original founding people for that reason. The other issue is a feature I didn't even realise existed for a few years! It's e-mail preferences for group swaps.

How to set up e-mail reminders on Group swaps:

Go to profile -> Update Profile -> Groups 

The groups you are part of should each be listed.

Click an option to receive an e-mail for each group. I only have e-mail notifications for group swaps being created. Other people have both options or neither option.

Unless the group admin sends out e-mails to remind people to check their group swaps, you won't see them in the general "Find Swaps" search! And many hosts, I have to tell you, have 'real life' stuff. This is not a job. It takes a lot of effort to host, much less to admin a group and remember to send out various reminders and resolve user disputes and all sorts of things.

Other ways to be an active group member:

Check out the Group Forums!

For the LSRUS example, the Group Forum link is right at the top under the Founded date. The group forum has all kinds of topics and people can start their own, too. The admin puts up a monthly sticky-post topic, meaning it stays at the top, for Wish Lists. There's no official swap set for these. If you have something that someone wants, you are free to send it or not. 

What is in YOUR groups' forums?

Go find out! But make sure to check back because there are no notifications for forum comments. 

Please help keep our groups active by joining a swap now and then. <3

E-mail Preferences, User Alerts, + What Doesn't Alert Us

There are optional e-mail alerts and there are things that don't alert hosts/users at all. It's important to know that some things are not always seen by a host and can't be replied to in-line or in a thread. You aren't being ignored!

Image: Swap-bot.com Email Preferences

Swap-Bot E-mail Preferences

Click "edit profile." Go to the "Preferences" section. It will say "Edit Your Preferences."

This is where you can select which e-mail alerts you receive. I already get a LOT of e-mail, which is overwhelming for me. I only selected to be notified when someone responds to my rating and when someone comments on my profile. Otherwise, I would never see either of those!

SB automatically e-mails me to say "It's time to start swappin'!" and to remind me when a swap I'd signed up for is approaching (even though that looks like an e-mail option that I don't have selected? idk.) 

But you'll see that e-mail options only cover FOUR categories. 

There is another that none of us get e-mails or in-SB alerts for:

Comments on swaps. 

Image: a screenshot of a comment on a swap.

lol check that out. that comment on the bottom of the swap, in the Swap Discussion section?

yeah.

NO ONE is ever gonna get an alert for that. Not the winners of this bonus envelope giveaway, not me (the host,) not anyone.

So if you leave a comment on a swap, there's not much chance someone will see it- or see it *in time* before the swap is assigned!

hahahahhaaaa

please just directly message the host.

one thing: 

If you see spam or bots posting a lot of weird messages, especially with links, or a normal-sounding username but with a comment that has nothing to do with the swap topic, MESSAGE THE HOST. We are the only ones who can delete these comments. And it's very important: the more spam is allowed, the more spam is 'ranked' as important and the more people are exposed to malicious spam and bots.

Help us keep swap-bot safe for everyone!

UPDATED 10/5/23 - Tracking + Insurance

TRACKING:

Sometimes post offices have a hard time sending mail accurately. This is more prevalent in smaller towns and more rural areas. They pick up mail more slowly, due to a variety of factors, and seem to lose it more often. This also seems to happen when delivering from large apartment complexes for some reason.

How do you tell the difference between someone who actually DID send their swap, but it never arrived (and they blame the post office) and someone who never sent anything at all, but then blamed the post office? You can't. 

Protect yourself if your PO has a history of losing or misdelivering mail.

First:

 

If you take your mail in person to a USPS location, stand in line, and drop it off with a person at the counter, you can request a receipt. If you just dump it in a drop-box, obviously you won't get one. You *can* do this online but I've found the printed labels to be way too large for a letter.

 

Image: a USPS receipt
dated 10/4/23 with
tracking and no
tracking on mail

USPS does not put tracking numbers on all mail. I have receipts with lists of outbound mail but after ~July, when rates when up and services changed, the only mail with tracking is specific types of ground packages, media mail, and Priority- which is the majority of what I send. Letters and postcards will not qualify for tracking unless you buy trackable options. 

 

The locations and full tracking numbers (which can reveal locations) are covered in blue. The first item has tracking + insurance included. The second does not.

 

A receipt will still show where your mail was sent, so you can't show that you sent it to someone's specific address, but it WILL show the city/state it was mailed to and the estimated delivery date. The second item demonstrates this.

Be aware that a RECEIPT may not mean there is any recourse if a letter goes missing. Realistically, there are millions of pieces of mail in the system at any given time. They can see where it was last scanned and ask local staff to look for it, but... odds are Not Good. Receipts just show that you really did mail it. If you want some kind of recourse, ask your post office what options are right for your package. Anything with insurance is great protection! But please look up what kind of proof you need to make an insurance claim in advance.

If you have a tracking number, use the Tracking service. Here is a FAQ on what statuses mean.

Second:

If you have this problem, even just once or twice, you need to be proactive. File a complaint in person with the local post office. Let them know that this is happening. It's probably rare but sometimes carriers just don't do their jobs or for some weird reason steal mail. idk. Just in case something is going wrong, take it up with the local office.

If it's more than just once, especially if there isn't a legitimate problem like idk, the freaking hurricane in Cape Coral (FL) this year, you need to file complaints with USPS via Contact Us. There is a phone number, e-mail, mail tracking if you have a number, and other options.

INSURANCE:

If you want to ensure there is some kind of insurance to be paid back, read the USPS insurance rules about claiming and evidence of costs. Insurance can be purchased on anything, usually starting at a few dollars. Priority Mail items automatically have insurance on them.

Sometimes the cost of mailing items + insurance is the same or nearly the same as Priority, so I usually just upgrade to that. Standard Mail might take longer than 10 business days, but Priority usually takes 2-3 business days. If the price is very close, my preference is to just upgrade. This can be done most easily in-person, where the computer will bring up all options in one go, vs. using the computer and hoping it's the right dimensions or classification or whatever. 

INFORMED DELIVERY:

USPS has a free service you can sign up for. They send daily scans of your mail that is supposed to arrive that day or quite soon. It's called Informed Delivery.

https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm

You can find out what mail to expect a day or two before it's in your mailbox.

This has come in handy once or twice when my ID e-mail says a card or letter is coming but then it doesn't show up in 48 hours. Sometimes, the scanned side of a postcard will show what's written on it, and I can rate the swapper on it same-day. 

 

COMMUNICATE! 

It is best practice to take a photo of the receipt same-day and message your partner with the tracking info if you have it. Even if you don't, photograph the receipt showing the delivery city. Photographs can only be sent through e-mail. For a number, you can use SB messenger, subject "SwapName Tracking Info." 

Ask your partner about missing items before rating. Ratings can be adjusted/updated.

Read this post about not receiving swaps.

UPDATED 10/5/23 - Late Swaps, No Arrivals, Tracking + Receiving

Receiving mail + CYA Sending

First, sign up for USPS Informed Delivery. This sends a daily email to show you which mail has been scanned in for your address. This mail should be arriving same day or within a day or two. It is FREE.

UPDATED SECTION - USPS does not offer tracking for letters or postcards, only for what they consider First Class Packages via Ground Advantage. Anything small that doesn't qualify as a "letter" basically, Priority Mail, and some international mail. You can BUY tracking on almost any mail.

For showing that you mailed an item, get a receipt. If you are worried about time or labour costs, you can always buy tracking + insurance. This is especially important for anything handmade, 2oz or more, or anything intensive or worth more than a few dollars to reproduce. Read up on the rules for making an insurance claim to ensure you can file.

You need to go in person to a post office for a receipt.

Take your mail in person to a USPS location, stand in line, and drop it off with a person at the counter. You can request a receipt. SOME ITEMS come with tracking IF they meet qualifications. If you just dump it in a drop-box, obviously you won't get one. Tracking can show that you mailed a thing. It does NOT ensure that it arrives. You do NOT have recourse if it arrives damaged or not at all. It just shows that the item was mailed and you didn't flake on anyone.

This is a copy of my receipt from yesterday. The locations and full tracking numbers (which can reveal locations) are covered in blue. The first item has tracking + insurance included. The second does not.

This is the FAQ from USPS on Tracking.

Take a photo of the receipt, even if it doesn't have tracking on it. 

At least it shows that you mailed SOMETHING to that city. That way if the receipt accidentally gets heated (and carbonizes, when receipts turn black) or if it gets damaged, you know the numbers. Message the partner the proof, preferably same-day when it's fresh in your mind.

If it's a valuable item and you feel it's worth it, get insurance.

The USPS site is hardly comprehensive, I think. It takes a lot of digging to figure out how things work for normal people who don't already know the system internally. Oy. If you need answers, write down your questions as you think of them and take notes.

Late swap? No arrival? A few things could be happening.

• Check deadline date to send. For many USA items, 2 weeks is around the current USPS estimate for arrival. Be aware of weather that could delay things (like hurricanes, blizzards, extreme heat.) Somehow stuff from one county to the next is being shipped all over the USA. ::rolls eyes:: Yeah, idk why either. But first I give the benefit of the doubt.

• If it's been 2 weeks, send the partner a message. Keep it simple. "Hey, I'm your partner is Swap Name. I haven't gotten the envelope yet." Set a reasonable deadline to receive it. I've sent these messages and gotten the swap 4 days later- a day after the partner resent it. x.x But if a swap DOESN'T come by the date? The person can re-send it. Yep, even if it's me. :P

  Example:

  "Hi! I am your partner for Forgot to Swap 2, Let's Don't Stop Remembering! The deadline was Jan. 1st. Today is Jan. 31st and the swap hasn't arrived. Are you able to re-send it? Thank you!"

  (the partner responds within 2-3 days, Feb. 3rd. they will re-send. they did not specify a date.)

  "Thanks! Please re-send by Feb. 6th so I can rate."

  Do not rapid/repeat message someone. It puts people off and makes them avoidant and unwilling to answer you.
  

• SB typically sends an email for messages unless the user turned that off. If there is no answer to the message within 3 business days, rate that person accordingly and mention that your message was not responded to. It shows that you did attempt to reach out first. RATINGS CAN BE AMENDED LATER. Do not feel guilty about this. You can comment on that person's profile without rating but I don't think many hosts check *comments,* just ratings. 

  It is important to rate fairly even if the person generally has good ratings. If YOU didn't get your item and have tried communicating, and failed, I bet other people are also not receiving things... and that user maintains their good rating because no one wants to ruin their good score. See the problem?