Swap Your Old CD's for Newer Ones. It's (almost) Free!

If you're like me, you have tons of old cd's in your music collection that you never listen to anymore. You've tried selling them on eBay and, even though some people may be interested in them, no one wants to give you more than a dollar or two. So what's a person to do?

Enter SwapaCD. SwapaCD is this great place on the web where you can swap your cd's for other cd's that you really want. There's no buying or selling involved or allowed, you simply "swap" cd's with other members. SwapaCD members have listed practically thousands of cd's in hundreds of genres. There's the classics and the just-released and everything in-between. You'll find cd's from Bethoven, Beyonce, The Police, Alan Jackson, Prince, Journey and thousands more. Trust me, whatever you want, it's in there.

When you go to SwapaCD, you'll create a free account. You'll then proceed to list all your cd's that you no longer want. When another member sees one of your cd's that he wants, he simply "orders" it. To order a cd, he has to have one credit (we'll go into credits later) and a $0.49 processing fee will be deducted from his account. You're sent an email, telling you that this member has requested this particular cd. You, in turn, carefully package the cd and mail it to the member. You pay postage, but it's usually less than a dollar.

When the member receives his cd from you, he'll log into the system and let you know that he received your cd in good condition. This earns you one credit. Now it's your turn.

You log into the system and search for that cd you've been wanting. Once you find it, you order the cd from the member who has it. Ordering a cd costs you a credit and a $0.49 processing fee. Since you've already earned a credit for sending out a cd, all you have to do is pay the processing fee. When you receive the cd, you'll inspect it for playability and log in to the system and mark it as cd received. The member that sent you the cd earns a credit for the transaction.

Now suppose again that you're like me. It's taken you years to build up your monsterous cd collection and you have no intentions of getting rid of a single one, but you want to continue to add to your collection. Since you can't "earn" a credit (you didn't send out a cd), you buy a credit. Credits cost $2.99 each and you order them from SwapaCD, right off the website in the kiosk section, using your Paypal account, a major credit or debit card or a check. Don't worry, the site is securely encrypted for your safety and privacy. Ordering a cd also requires that you pay a $0.49 processing fee. Again, you can load up your processing fee account right on the website. So the total cost to you for ordering any cd, without any free credits you may have earned by sending out a cd, is $3.48. You can't buy even a crappy cd from a seller on eBay for that, much less a great cd. It's a great deal all around.

You can also refer others to SwapaCD and earn credits. Once someone you've referred lists 10 cd's available to swap, buys SwapaCD money (for the processing fee) and lists your name as the person whom referred them, you earn a free credit.

There's also a great on-site forum where friendly members can answer any questions you have.

If your shopping for a friend or family member who loves music as much as you do, you can purchase gift certificates. Gift certificates are to pay for credits and processing fees. They make great gifts for your music-loving family and friends.

And for those of you who are more into books than music, SwapaCD's sister site is PaperbackSwap. It's accessible from the SwapaCD site and it's operated just like SwapaCD. I've never used it but I only hear great things about it.

To access the SwapaCD site, simply visit www.swapacd.com. To access PaperBackSwap, simply click the link on the left column of SwapaCD, or go there directly by going to www.paperbackswap.com.

In my opinion, SwapaCD is the very best of the cd-swapping sites available. You can't imagine the fun and surprises that await you.