Today, I’ll be writing my first website review for the SwitchPlanet.com which is a very useful site where people can trade their old DVDs, CDs and books with each other for free.
Registration is quite a simple process and you need not give all your details for becoming a member. And also for the sake of convenience, registration is not mandatory for viewing the listings. You can view the listings at your own leisure and register only when you spot something that you like. After logging in, you will be taken your own page where you can view your Account history, friends, switchbucs (I’ll come to this later) and many such details.
Currently, there are 4 categories of items, namely , but they promise to include more soon. You can create your own catalogue of your current items by using the handy search available. You can select a category and search for items which you own. Once you find the relevant item, you’ll be able to add it to your catalogue by selecting ‘Have It’. Once you do that, you’ll be able to mention how much Switchbucks (Read the next para for more information on this) it’s worth, whether you would like to make it available for trading or not, and what’s included in the box. You can also click the ‘Have It’ link on any item you view to add it to your catalogue.
Now, coming to the currency of the SwitchPlanet - SwitchBucs. The whole point of introducing SwitchBucs is so that you and a person need not have an item that each other wants. For example, if you have a DVD of ‘Seinfeld’ and you want a DVD of ‘Heroes’, you will have have to find a person with a DVD of Heroes who also wants a DVD of Seinfeld and is willing to trade it. This type of coincidence is very rare and therefore, the usage the SwitchBucs. With SwitchBucs, you can sell your Seinfeld DVD to a person in exchange for a specified amount of SwitchBucs. You can later use the SwitchBucs that you’ve earned to trade for something you want. Incase you do not have enough Switchbucs to trade for an item, you can buy Switchbucs for dollars, the exchange rate being 1 USD for 1 Switchbuc. Personally, I think this is a very innovative idea which makes the whole process of trading easy and simple.
You can also maintain a ‘Wishlist’ and when the items in your wishlist are available, you will automatically be notified about it via email. You can view a organised catalogue of all the products available, the most wanted products and similar lists. The profile of the members are also available and you can add members as your friends and expand your network. Various groups and forums are also available to help out new users and to meet like minded people.
When someone requests an item you own, you have the option of either declining or accepting the request. On accepting a request, you will have to mail the item within 5 days. You will have to pay for the shipping by yourself but this is also an advantage when you are requesting an item the sender will have to pay for the shipping. Once the receiver confirms that he has received the item you have shipped, you will be credited with the necessary amount of Switchbucs.
Both the sender and receiver are protected by the aptly named ‘Switch Guarantee’ which ensures your safety. You will be credited with the amount of Switchbucs if the item is reported lost in mail, damaged, etc. This is made to ensure that everybody is a winner and I feel that this is a good move by SwitchPlanet.
The best part of the whole process is that it is completely free, except for the postage charges. The donations made by the users of the website is once again donated to charity organisations. Overall, I think it’s an excellent way to reuse and recycle old items and their mission statement denotes this -
“Use more…waste less.”
You can register for the website here and view thier list of items here.
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