What's in store for the future?
Just prior to this article going to press, I was finally able to make contact with someone at Swaptree; and I learned a few things. For future updates, Swaptree plans to incorporate the availability of Blu-ray movies and audio books into the trading system. Unfortunately for PSP owners like myself, there are no plans to add UMD movies to the system due to the continuing rumor of Sony dropping the format in the next version of the PSP. However, they do support Gameboy, Dreamcast, TurboGrafx, and Gamecube; all formats long obsolete.

My biggest concern, and I'm sure that of many readers as well, is the responsiveness of the support staff. I wish I could say I was told it was an anomaly and would never happen again; I wasn't though. Basically, I was given the same "patent" answer I've received from any number of companies... they're a small company with X-number of employees... it's an ongoing problem they're aware of... and they're working to resolve the issue. I really hate responses like this because it sounds as if the company knows there's a problem and just doesn't care. And I got the impression the staff would like to reduce the number of support inquiries altogether.

Wrapping it up
In general, Swaptree is a great site and service. My overall experience has been positive, and for the most part I've been very satisfied with my trades. There can be some vagueness and ambiguity to some item descriptions, such as the aforementioned Full Screen vs. Widescreen, but this is primarily an issue with user descriptions. It's one that may be addressed in a future system update, I've been told.

I've seen several updates already in the six months I've been a member, and while some made no "noticeable" improvements, most did. Hopefully, further updates will continue to improve the system, enhancing item descriptions with less user interaction, expanding the FAQ information, thus reducing support inquiries, and most important of all, responding to inquiries in a timely fashion.

Considering the current state of our economy, we all need to cut expenses wherever possible. That doesn't necessarily mean our entertainment has to take a heavy hit though. Considering the average shipping charge on a trade is less than three dollars, that dusty copy of Melville could turn into a new copy of the most recent box office blockbuster to hit DVD.

I spent ninety dollars in trade shipping last month. What does that get? Well, I could have bought four brand new DVDs, three or four new hardcover books, or two new PS3 games. Instead, I got a hardcover book I wanted, seventeen movies, and eighteen video games (two PS3, a DS, and the rest PS2); all for things I no longer wanted. Any way you add it up, that's coming out ahead.

It's also environmentally friendly. You're giving new life to an item that may otherwise have ended up in a landfill. And nearly every user I've traded with reuses the shipping materials, as do I; again recycling and environmentally friendly.

So if you have DVDs, CDs, books, or video games sitting around taking up space and gathering dust, head over to Swaptree. You never know what they're worth to someone else; they may just be worth something you want.

David Gewirtz is the author of How To Save Jobs and Where Have All The Emails Gone? For more than 20 years, he has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and is a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He can be reached at david@zatz.com and you can follow him at http://www.twitter.com/DavidGewirtz.