Be Aware

Before you swap, sell or buy there are some things you can do, or be aware of, to help ensure a positive trading experience:

For deals involving mobile phones we recommend you keep a note of the phone's make, model, IMEI number and serial number.

For deals involving games consoles and computers we recommend you keep a note of model and serial numbers.

If you are swapping or buying a car swap we recommend that you HPI check (or similar) the car you are hoping to get for to ensure there is no outstanding finance on the vehicle

Always look at the other user's profile and review their ratings. Make sure they look and feel right to you. If in doubt look try and message other users they have traded with (you can see who these are in their Swap History) and don't be afraid to ask any of the site's regulars for advice or opinion.

The other member who you are swapping with or buying from should supply you with mobile and landline telephone numbers. Use them to talk to each other.

If a user tells you they previously had a swapz account with high feedback but had it closed for some reason or another it is most likely not true - why would we close a site of an honest member?

If you receive a mail in poor English asking you how much you'll sell your item for (without referring to it by name) or offering to pay over the top - beware! The same person will usually ask you to contact them away from the swapz site using a web based email such as yahoo, hotmail or googlemail.

Never give out any financial information (bank account details, swapz or PayPal login info, etc) and avoid deals that involve sending to Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire or anywhere else in Africa!

Never send money by Western Union or Moneygram or any other wire service - anyone who asks you to do so is probably a scammer!

PayPal emails saying money is on the way are fake. PayPal put funds immediately into your account. If the funds are not there, then they have not been sent!

Remember, the swapz system has been built for visibility. If you buy or swap something through the swapz site without using the swapz system and messaging function then we have no visibility of the transaction and will only be able to give limited assistance should you have a problem.