For the most part I've been pretty lucky with my Swap-bot partners and have received some really lovely things. I've had my share of no sends, three I think, at least two of the people I've sent to have had really low ratings (which irks me as I wonder if they sent anything to their partners!!) and I have received several swaps where it seems to me that the person has not even bothered to look at my profile or made any effort whatsoever.
With the recent changes at Swap-bot (coordinators having time to remove low rated people etc) I think the 'No Sends' will hopefully come down. I like the addition of hearts, this helps to identify those people who have gone all out - but what do you do when you receive something that has had no thought whatsoever gone into it but still satisfies the swap requirements - all you can do is give the person a 5. For example, I received a handmade swap yesterday that was an old Christmas card stuck to a piece of cardboard. Now, it satisfies the swap as I guess you could class it as a 'handmade' greeting card, but really it was a little disappointing.
For me, the swaps are more about a brief, and following that brief to send something to my partner that I think they will enjoy - its not just to see what I get in return, but sometimes I find it all a little disheartening.
Now, I'm going to stop whining.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I’m glad you put the post up, I’ve been irked by swapping a bit lately. I enjoy swap-bot, because as you say, it gives me a brief to work to, and challenges me to think of things to make that I wouldn't normally create. I think I enjoy making rather than the getting anyway,and I have been subject to a few no sends.
What really annoys me though is when you put a lot of effort into making something special for someone and they don't even rate you, or let you know they even got it, let alone liked it! I'm behind with my swaps, which is very unfair to my partners, but it's partly because I try and send them a quality thing, that I'm happy with and hopefully suits them. I can't just slap something together and post it off.
So when I receive something that's a bit less than average, I do feel a bit ripped off. And I also feel really bad when I get something, and um, err, it's um, well, crap. What do you do with it? Oh, now I feel ungrateful and guilty! I always worry that people won’t like my efforts either. Ah, the perils of swapping!
I know what you mean by the guilt - I usually try to 're-home' swaps that aren't to my taste - I don't think we should worry though if you receive something that is just plain rubbish though - and I agree it's more about the giving than the receiving.
Post a Comment