SwapaDVD

I started just about 2 months ago and find this to be an excellent site. When I listed my first 10 DVDs, I got 2 requests. I used my 2 credits to receive 2 DVDs and they came within a few days. The requests for my DVDs has slowed. But I find if I post a new listing, it brings to the forefront and folks might see my old list. By posting every few weeks, I get at least one request. So I suggest spacing out your listing after the initial 10. The cost for sending one DVD is $2.07 or you buy postage from SwapDVD to mail without going to the post office. It's the cheapest way to own a DVD/Blu-ray but sometimes you need patience to wait for the more popular DVDs.

Swap-A-DVD is a great idea, unfortunately, the way it plays out is not good. Simply put - no matter how cheap and readily available a dvd may be in the world of internet retail, you will NEVER get it from Swap-A-DVD. I say this as someone who sent out TWENTY-FIVE dvd's after joining six months ago. Since then, I've received ONE lousy dvd - a public domain version of Bob Hope's Son of Paleface, which I could have bought on Amazon.com or eBay for 3-4 dollars. Granted, most of the dvd I sent out were not especially rare or expensive, but at least half of my list is made up of things that are readily in print and selling at very low prices online. Swap members simply don't post anything even remotely valuable on the site. If you want to waste a lot of money and time - join up, post a bunch of dvds and then ship 'em out. Just don't expect to get anything in return. Think of it as a purely altruistic activity and you'll be a happy camper. Personally, I'd like my dvd's back. Swap-A-DVD blows.

May be an ok site but I won't be using it much because they only allow trading of Region 1 DVDs. So don't look to SwapADVD for titles that never got a Region 1 release or where one of the other region's releases have more features. Their reasoning appears to be "Studies have shown most pirated DVDs are not R1 encoded. Therefore, if we allowed them, we could be sued out of business because lawyers would argue we weren't taking sufficient measures to prevent piracy and were therefore promoting and profiting from piracy." Don't know if the problem is SwapADVD, the laws, or the enforcement of the laws, but here's their nicely worded version:

"SwapaDVD is unable to allow the barter or exchange of any imported DVDs that do not have a verifiable UPC and Region 1 (North America) encoding. Unfortunately, many imported DVDs that lack a UPC are illegal copies rather than legitimately produced titles. Likewise, many illegally produced DVDs have "Region 0" or "Region ALL" encoding allowing them to be played worldwide. If SwapaDVD allows trading of pirated DVDs, we are potentially liable for contributory copyright infringement, a risk we as a company are not willing to take. Because we have no way of verifying the authenticity of individual discs, we must insist that all imported DVDs traded here have both UPCs and Region 1 encoding. Your strict compliance with this policy is required to maintain your account status."

The main problem is not that it's a scam--which I do not think it is--but that in too many instances participants have unrealistic expectations, starting with the notion that there's anything FREE about it: If you already have the credits you can request a posted DVD, but even then there's a 50-cent-per handling fee; if one of yours is requested then you're obligated to pay $1 or more for the postage involved.

I've read complaints that DVDs sent were never received, and the sender was out the cost of postage plus the value of the DVD sent. Did the sender send it by Insured Mail? There's NO recourse from the USPS on ANY package that's lost in the mail if it wasn't insured by the sender--even if an additional dollar is paid for delivery confirmation. (And in the unlikely case that it was sent Insured, the RECIPIENT must file the claim). Since the sender suffers the loss, with no down side to the recipient--except not getting the wanted DVD--there's not much impetus for the recipient to go through the hassle of filing a claim--which is something that USPS regulations won't allow until 45 days have passed since sending--just so the sender (may eventually) get reimbursed.

As for broken DVDs: For garden seed! What can one expect if they follow the SwapaDVD instructions to use one sheet of paper and a piece of cereal-box cardboard as the mailing package just to save a few cents on postage! I ALWAYS send mine in the original DVD case, in a #5 bubble-wrap envelope, and as long as I've been a member I've never had a damaged-DVD report.

In summary, it's an on-line group worth belonging to... but you get what you pay for. If you want total protection from loss or damage in delivery, buy your DVD from eBay (at four or five times the cost)!