These are a few (more) of my favorite things

I got flaked on last time too with this swap. I sent a cool package that I put a lot of thought into and got nothing in return. What a huge bummer. This is the third "flake" on a big swap, I'm losing faith, I'm afraid to sign up.

well,as a 'newbie' who's just signed up for 4 swaps~I'd have to say that you weren't partnered with a flake before.You were partnered with an a%*..... Isn't there room for a list of these fools? Terri

If you do start an International swap, I'll join for sure.

ive done alot of swaps and only received 2 back. so i got flaked on alot and the ones i sent to didnt have me so i cant make them send to me.

I hear ya too... I have been nice about not jumping to conclusions on swaps and been slow about giving people bad ratings, but 4 f-ing people have told me in just the past 2 days... the "post office ate it" essentially. they sent they swear.... I think I might sign up for this one, just because the terms are a little harsher...with good reason. Its really a shame that its gotta be like this... I dont even want to host swaps right now... I hosted some last month and I had some people flake in those and I went through the trouble of finding a swap angels for those people and then even sent a few people myself... and I was strict about ratings... and then I guess I shouldnt say this but my partner for the secret pal swap (that I send to) is one of the people who flaked on another one of my swaps and it makes me not want to send anything great just in case I need send to her partner when she flakes again... its irritating.....

sorry I guess i needed to vent!!!!

So, I have a question Ladies (or gents)...would you like me to change the requirements to "must get a certification of sending" or some such? Do you think this would reduce the number of participants? Or do we really care how many people participate as long as we actually get something? lol

FYI, worst part about my "flaker" from last time, is that she contacted me prior and asked to join cause she said she had health probs, etc. So I gave her a chance and I'll be darned if she didn't flake on me! Then her daughter contactd me and said she'd be sending it for her mom and "Please don't give her a bad rating" so I waited, and you know what? Now her profile has been deleted! I'm so tired of people like this.

Leenda77, noone needs to feel badly that you have strict requirements for your swap. If I started a swap, I'd be just as strict, except I might require that the person signing up has to have participated in a higher number than your required 3 swaps. ha ha! I know no other way to weed out the bad swappers except to be strict about requirements. So no apologies necessary. I'm joining this swap just because of how strict your requirements are.

As for your "flaker", I know who you are talking about, I believe. While I am not sure of the girl and her mother's sincerity or if its all a scam, I did catch the daughter's note on her profile before the mother's profile was deleted where she indicated that her mother was now in a coma. I was a bit bothered previously by the fact that the daughter admitted that she used her mother's screenname to do swaps, too, because I never knew who I was sending to, the mother, or the daughter. I sent a great package to her/them and never received an acknowledgement or thank you. Ironically, I never have received for that same swap either. I got shafted on a swap that this mother/daughter duo owed me, but thankfully someone else is stepping in to send to me. I don't know if this is the person who was going to send to the duo or not.

I don't know what to think about it all, but I do have some sympathy if the mother is in a coma. I hate to think it's all a scam. But who knows, right?

So stick to your guns about being strict with your requirements. You'll find better swappers that way and we'll also know who the better swappers are, too. :)

this is a great swap, i love it!

could we ask our partner what they would like? if we dont know what we should send?

ive only had one 'flake' ive only been swaping a few months though, but i think she said, its on its way..adn there was a mixup with the 'send by' date. anyway.

how many things do we send, or what size package..?

ps, i think its good to have harsher rules, why not? its to ensure good swapping!

another sucky thing with swaps, i thought of, is when you dont really get something 'cool'...like a kinda lame atc.

I would prefer that you not ask what your partner would like. When I did this last time, I looked through her profile, to see what kind of things she had listed there. Looking at her past swaps was also another way to see what she likes to do. It was a lot of fun to put together the package. I would like to emphasize, that the majority of things that you send are supposed to be YOUR favorite things, and only one or two are your partners. I have no idea if my partner would have gone about this the same way last time since I never received anything from this swap. But I participated in a "birthday" swap, where we didn't tell what we wanted, and I got one of the best packages ever. I also think the package I am sending my partner for that one is really good and personalized.

So, the basic answer is, "no" don't ask what your partner wants unless you're absolutely stumped about it from their profile.

i really LOVE reading my swap buddy's profile, blogs, myspaces, flickers etc as well as checking what sort of swaps she has done on here before to get my clues on what to send if your profile is detailed enough anyone should be able to figger out great stuff to send you

I also agree that strict guidelines is helpful and i also really check the profiles of everyone who joins not only swaps i host but swaps i am interested in joining

Well I like the high rating requirement. It is, indeed, very frustrating to spend a decent sum of money to put together a well-thought=out package and then get nothing in return. We've all run into that. What I especially found ironic was in one of my swaps you were to send two DIFFERENT patterns to your partner and my partner sent me two of the same and she was the one running the swap! Anyway, I think the high rating will help. And thanks for bieng US only because postage to overseas keeps me out of a lot of the international ones. This sounds like fun. I want to go shopping now!

This is a great idea for a swap! I only signed up here in February '07, but I am sooooo addicted! I love searching out/making cool things for my partners.

As for the "no-sends"... I've had three partners flake on me, but luckily, EACH TIME, someone stepped in to make sure I got a package. It was either the swap coordinator who took it upon her/himself to ensure that I got something, or someone else who had signed up for the swap sent me a package, and definately earned their wings and halo!

I just got invited to join a yahoo group wherein you could list the "bad swappers/no sends/flakes"... hold on, I'll look it up....

swapbotmembercheck-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Good Swappers Unite!

P.S. I just wanted to add... sometimes things happen that are out of our control, and packages go out late (it's happened to me!) but my mom works for the post office, and the "Post Office Lost It" excuse is very, VERY, rarely true.

I love doing this type of swap, cuz I love shopping for other people!!

I'm surprised there's a question that ask you to pick between the quailty or a swap ad how it goes over compared to quantity of people that could be in the swap. I think it's crazy!

It only takes two people to swap! Why does a swap need 105 people to make a swap better? It doesn't .. good swappers are what makes it better, regardless how many there are in the swap!

Just my thoughts. :)

I can't wait for the send date. I picked up a couple of my favorite things already this morning for my partner. I just love getting surprises for other people. Usually it's my out of state friend or my mom. This is more fun because it's a random person. :)

I received a great envelope today from Lynn. Thank you very much. I love everything. I was about to give up on Swap-bot because of other swappers, but you have renewed my faith in my fellow swappers. Thank you for that too!

Poggy123~ Mahalo for your great swap package! I am always late so it's kind of ironic that I got all of your goodies. Your great package is going to challenge me to try out new materials. I can't wait!

P.S.- I get discouraged too by late senders, no-senders and people who don't send quality items. I'm glad you hung in there and participated in this swap. I hope I can repay you in a future swap.

tateva -- cool stuff...family is chomping at the bit for me to make pancakes (for dinner) so they can have that syrup....

Thank you Honey Bee.

YopperHill - your package is on its way to you...let me know when you receive it!! Hope you enjoy!

I absolutely cannot believe this, but even after all the discussion about this, my partner did not send me a package. I have contacted her multiple times, and still have heard nothing from her. I hope the rest of you have received your packages. If not, please let me know if you want me to email you partners. I hope you have better luck than I did. I won't be hosting this swap again, because this is the second time I've done it, and sent out fabulous packages both times, but still didn't receive even one package back. Obviously it's not meant to be