Swap.com

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Swap.com is a consumer trading service for pre-owned items operated by Netcycler Inc., a company based in Addison, Illinois. The Swap.com Valet Service was introduced in October 2012. The Valet Service lets users trade (buy, sell or swap) kids' items like sports equipment, clothing, toys, and kids' accessories. Swap.com charges a small service fee for processing and listing items that are sent to its logistics center, as well as a sales commission.

The Valet service works differently compared to many online marketplaces. In the Valet service the users ship all the items they wish to trade to a central logistics center operated by the company. The company then sorts, photographs, lists, and stores the items on the user's behalf. In addition to using money to pay for purchases Swap.com also lets users pay for purchases with items they own. The company takes care of shipping out items that have been purchased by a user or acquired through a swap transaction. The company is also responsible for forwarding the sales proceeds to the seller.

Netcycler has been developing item swapping services since 2008, and in addition the Swap.com service it operates swapping sites in Finland, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

To increase the probability of successfully matching different user's wants and items, Swap.com's trade algorithms allows users to trade items between several people at one time. On the Valet service trade rings are automatically built, and the amount of participants in one trade is not limited. Users then create 'want lists' of items they'd like to receive. A trade, or swap, is initiated when at least two users agree to swap items they have. Three-way trades are created when at least one user has something to trade, but wants something other than what their trade partner has to give.[1][2]

References

  1. ↑ Vantz, Ashlee (2006-05-24). "Six startups from the Web 2.0 swamp". The Register. Retrieved May 20, 2009. 
  2. ↑ Copeland, Michael V. (2006-05-11). "The eBay of swap, but better". CNN. Retrieved May 20, 2009. 

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