Swip Swap
Everyone likes a little extra cash! Garage Sales in Florida are like garage sales in the northern tier of the country. They are seasonal. No one has a garage sale in Michigan in February! Not only would you freeze to death, but, your sale items would be buried under 3 feet of Snow! Here in Florida, it is the reverse reason and season. No one has garage sales in the summer because it is just TOO HOT!
But, you still have the stuff that you would love to get rid! Swip Swap is Your Answer! It is also called “Buy/Sell/Trade”, “SWAP”, “Trader”, “Virtual/Online Yard Sale” and “Flea Market online”. Swip Swap.is like Craigslist, but it is just for your community or, your neighborhood, or people who want to just buy and sell boats, or people who want to just buy and sell Dolls, or anyone who wants to sell anything! It is called “A fun and friendly place to connect” with your neighbors for local and in-person sales. It has been designed for bargain hunters! And all you need is an Administrator to get it started. The best part is that ANYONE can be an Administrator.
So to get started…
You can write Swip Swap in the top of your Facebook search engine and you will probably find many sites already underway. Or you can start one yourself!
On the left side of your Facebook page, there is a title called GROUP. Click on it and it opens a new page.
At the top Right in a green box, it says “Create A Group”
Click on this box and a new box opens where you can now Start a Group — Name the Group — make it Public, Private (closed) or Secret.
Swip Swap is the name that has been used in thousands of locations across the world and is the most understood.
You can invite people to join or you can invite Everyone to be a part of the Swip Swap.
You make yourself the administrator, create the rules and make sure that your rules are met and get rid of anyone who doesn’t follow the rules.
At the moment, I belong to 30 different Swip Swap Groups just in my area! Some of these groups are set up just for Artists and Handmade Items. Other Groups are set up for Antiques and Vintage. And others are for selling everything including clothes, cars and boats and for selling everything Except clothes cars and boats.
I belong to one Swip Swap that is only for Furniture. I know if I buy something on this site, I will need to pick it up so the item needs to fit in my car or I will need to find someone with a truck! Most of the Swip Swap sites I belong to are developed in MY town and when a sale or offer is accepted. The seller and buyer meet at a McDonalds or Target parking lot or at the Library, somewhere comfortable for both parties. The sales are always in cash and the price is agreed upon before meeting.
Some of these sites allow anyone to sell their items. But, most Swip Swap sites require you to be “accepted” by the Administrator. This way, Spam is eliminated and strange groups or people from strange countries can not sell strange things!
Once you have been accepted, then you can post a picture in exactly the same way that you would post a picture on your Facebook page. Add a description and a PRICE before you hit post and you will be ready to go into business!
So, you have an item, a picture, a description and suddenly you have a comment or an offer on your item. By making comments back and forth or through private message, a price is settled upon and a location to meet is agreed upon and…You have cash in your pocket from a SWIP SWAP SALE!!!!
Another scenario (and this happens often), is that you post a picture and description and no one responds. You wait and wait and wait. And notice that your listed item moves DOWN the page as others post their items after you! The Trick to this dilemma is to go to your item and hit “like” and then make a comment on your own item. Your comment can be an additional description or a word such as BUMP, OK, COOL, NICE and *, ^. # are all things that people post in their comments. Then refresh the page and Voila! You are back to the top again! You need to check the rules of the site, though. Some Swip Swaps only let you “Bump” to the top once every 12 hours, whereas others will let you “Bump” constantly!
I’ve been selling on Swip Swaps for almost a year now and even though I was quite active on Craigslist at the same time, I found Swip Swap to be so much easier to watch what was happening to my items and who was actually interested in my stuff!! It is easy to contact an interested party and handle any questions, but as a buyer, it is very easy to just keep scrolling and “shopping”! It’s easier than garage sales if I am looking for something in particular because I can just post on a Swip Swap page that I am looking for something and the next thing I know, I have several sellers posting that they have what I want, a picture and a price! And….being HOT in Florida, this is so much more pleasant than sweating my way through flea markets! I will just wait until October to make my way back to those events!
Remember, as you venture into Swip Swap Land, each site has its own set of rules and regulations and are posted at the top of each group. Read these before participating.