Swap Not Shop 'Til You Drop

If you find yourself really strapped for money to buy gifts this holiday, consider swapping. Swaptree.com makes it easy to swap books, movie dvd's, video games and music. Most of them are in mint condition.

We spoke to one satisfied customer, Andrea Hutchins. " I've always had a problem, buying books by the boatload," she said. Not now. She swaps instead.

Does she ever give the books out as gifts, sort of regifting?

" Yeah," said Hutchins, "but I keep quiet about it. But I don't think they'd really mind even if they knew."

She walked us through how to swap.

Go onto the website: www.swaptree.com.

You input two lists. Your 'want list' and your 'have list'.

List all the books you want.

List all the books you have and are willing to swap.

Once you put in your want list, Swaptree searches for you and puts you together with someone who has that book and offers to swap for something they have.

You can print out the label with their address right then and there and the swap is in progress. All you pay is the shipping cost which, even with a hardcover, is never more than a couple dollars.

"I've only had minimal complaints,” said Hutchins. “Usually it's someone having family problems, they couldn't ship for three weeks, etc., it's never been a person trying to fool you. People have been completely honest.

"It's worked great. I've traded like a million times.

"Swaptree will be as active as you are. If you don't go on for awhile; if you get busy for a few weeks, the matching up drops off.

" Most of the time I've got two or three books coming a week. My roommate gets really jealous, she'll say, 'you've got another package in the mail.'

" Sometimes I'll get brand new books in the mail! I've done that too, I'll get to the second chapter of a book, realize I don't like it, and I'll immediately swap it.

"I don't ever go into bookstores now to shop. I only go in there to make lists of what I want, then I go onto Swaptree.com."

For more information: www.swaptree.com