Swapit | Parents Guide | UK's No. 1 Swapping site for kids and teens - check it out!

Swapit Parents Page

Many of us at Swapit HQ are parents ourselves, so we understand that parents want their children to be safe online, and any website designed for them has to be a positive environment. As we continue to add features and build on the Swapit experience we make sure that we would be happy with our own children playing on the site, and focus on building a website that is not only great fun, but educational and safe as well.

Parents naturally take an interest in their children’s activities, and we have drawn together these pages so you have all the information you need to understand what Swapit is and how your children might use the site.

Overview

What is Swapit?
Swapit is the UK’s leading swapping site for young people. It is a place where children can swap toys that they have grown out of or grown bored of for a virtual currency called “swapits”. Swappers can save up their swapits and spend them on a wide range of new and used items on the Swapit website. At the same time children learn about trading, business and economics without using real money in a stimulating, and completely safe environment.

Who is Swapit for?
Swapit is designed for kids and teens. The vast majority of our swappers are aged between 8 and 18 years old, though as with the dodgems at the fair, there are always a few parents who get carried away too!

How does it work?
All swaps are conducted through an auction process to ensure that swappers get fair value for the items they are swapping. Swappers write a description of the item they wish to swap, and can add photos if they want so it is clear what the item is. Swappers can also control the start price and duration of the auction, and also set a price they are willing to accept to close the auction immediately (“Win now” price). Once the item is described and auction settings selected, children submit the swap to us for approval. We check that the swap is appropriate for the site and then make the auction live and visible to other swappers.

Any swapper that likes the look of an item in an auction can bid for it using our virtual currency called “swapits”. The auction shows a history of who has bid, and how much, so it is easy to keep track of how things are progressing. Whoever has bid the most when the time runs out on the swap wins the auction. The child swapping the item sends it in to us so we can check that the item is as described and appropriate. Once we have done this we post it on to the winning bidder and transfer the swapits from winner to swapper.

Swappers earn swapits for every item they swap, as well as collecting bonus swapits for other activities (e.g. competitions, quizzes and surveys). They can then spend their swapits on a wide range of new and swapped items on the site.

Does swapping require money?
No. Swappers can access Swapit FREE – no real money is needed. In our shop children over 13 can buy items for a combination of swapits and money, but all items can be bought entirely for swapits.

How does the swapping happen?
There is no person-to-person contact on Swapit. All swap items are posted to the Swapit post-room, where they are checked and approved by a Swapit colleague, before being re-addressed and posted to the winning swapper. This means that we can make sure that no contact details are passed between swappers, nothing inappropriate can be sent and that our swappers are playing fair.

Is it green?
Sure is. Swapit encourages kids to recycle all their toys and learn that there are better options to throwing things away.

Who is Swapit run by?
Swapit is owned by Webswappers LTD, an established company that has been running since 2002. The site is run by an experienced web-production team who work tirelessly to ensure a smooth, safe and fun swapping experience on the UK’s leading swapping site for young people. What the Swapit Team doesn’t know about web-swapping isn’t worth knowing (or swapping).

Can I speak to a real person?
Of course! You can call our in house customer services team any time from Monday to Friday, 9am – 6pm. Our number is free phone too: 0800 56 77 340.

How about send an email?
Our customer services team can also be reached by email, just drop us a note to: info@swapit.co.uk

What if I need to send you something?
In case you need to send us something, our address is:

Swapit
PO Box 70160
London
WC1A 9GP
United Kingdom

Safety

Is Swapit safe?
Very. In fact, we’re confident that we are the safest kids’ site around. We have a range of measures in place to make sure that the swapping experience is safe:

No personal details are displayed on the site. If you look at any swapper’s profile you’ll notice all you can see is their nickname and swapping history. Their full name and any personal details are never displayed.

There is no direct communication on the site. We don’t have a chat facility, messaging or forums. Swappers cannot speak to each other on the site in any way.

There is no direct swapping. All parcels are sent through the Swapit post room so that there is no need for swappers to know each other’s addresses, and we can check that swaps are appropriate and fair.

We require parental consent for children aged under 13. Whilst our site is completely safe, we think it’s only appropriate that parents confirm they are happy with the online activities of younger children.

We encourage our swappers to flag inappropriate content. Whilst all swaps are approved before they go live, we have buttons where our swappers can flag any content they are not completely happy with.

How do I keep my child safe online more generally?
We can only keep children safe on Swapit. If you are concerned about the safety of your children online in general then you might find the following guidelines helpful:

1.	Have your family computer in the busiest room in your home.
2.	Create a set of rules for using the Internet (set times; make sure that they finish their homework first etc).
3.	Use the Internet with your child or make sure that there is another adult supervising. (You can always check which sites they have been visiting by using the history tool on your PC.)
4.	Warn your child not to give out any personal information.
5.	Instruct your child never to respond to email or chat messages that make them feel uncomfortable. And ensure that your child reports such a message should one occur.
6.	Inform your ISP (Internet Service Provider) of any inappropriate uses of the Internet encountered by you or your child.
7.	Talk with your child about their thoughts and use of the Internet.
8.	Learn exactly what the various parental control tools can and cannot do and how they work.
9.	Familiarise yourself with using the Internet and the various filters you can use yourself.
10.	Remember that the Internet is a huge network of information that can be used to the benefit of your child, for both fun and education, as long as it is monitored sensibly.

Education

Is it educational?
Absolutely. We see Swapit as a safe environment where children can learn about trading, business and economics with real products, but without using real money. They will learn about the value of different items, the importance of saving and the basics of marketing as they list items online and bid for them. The children who use our site the most are real playground entrepreneurs and show incredibly savvy behaviour, employing sophisticated bidding tactics, an advanced understanding of supply and demand and a keen eye for spotting opportunities in the marketplace and making their items stand out. It’s a fun experience where children can start with nothing, and by learning more about economics be rewarded with real toys at the end of it all.

What sort of things will my child learn?
Swapit is an incredibly broad experience, with a huge number of informal learning opportunities. Here are just a few of the aspects we see and encourage:

Economics

Understanding the value of items

Understanding supply and demand

Saving up to buy larger items

Employing different bidding tactics

Creativity

Spotting opportunities in the marketplace

Designing products to fit opportunities

Listing items in the most appealing manner

Communication

Negotiating on the price of items

Describing items accurately and with good spelling and grammar

Maintaining a good reputation