Trading in your games can be a good idea, and there are a number of stores that offer this service. They might low-ball you, however. Fortunately, the Internet can expand your options even if you’ve taken up residence at the end of the Earth.

Trading Games For Cash

One of the problems you run into when trading in games is the lack of cash offers. Most stores want you to turn around and buy from them, so they just offer you store credit.

Fortunately, there are two online sites that can help you step around this obstacle by allowing you to trade games online, and they both start with a G – Gazelle and Gylde. Neither site is dedicated to games alone. They are both aimed simply at people looking to get rid of old things, as well as people looking to buy used things. You might think that the freedom of cash would result in a penalty, but I looked at some offers and found them to be roughly comparable, and sometimes higher than, the store trade-in credit typically offered for the same titles.

Of the two I think Gazelle, despite a more muddled front page, is probably the better. They will quote you a price on your trade-in without requiring that you create an account. Glyde, on the other hand, wanted me to create an account complete with credit card information before conducting any activity.

Gazelle is also a direct, no-hassle item for cash trade. Gazelle pays shipping on items over $1 and once the item is received and its condition verified, you will receive cash by check or through PayPal. Glyde lists your item and then sends you a mailer to ship it to the buyer once it sells.

Trading Games For Store Credit

If you’re simply like to trade in your game for credit from a big online retailer, you’ll find that Amazon and Best Buy can help you.

Both of these companies run online trade-in programs and they work in basically the same way. You search for the game you want to sell in the company’s database and receive a price for it. If you accept it, you’ll be sent a free mailing label (but the packaging is up to you). After you send it in, the game is verified and a gift card is sent out.

These are simple, easy services with trusted retailers, which is why they offer low trade-in values. The sacrifice is particularly obvious on Amazon.com. If you browse the used marketplace you’ll find games going for two to three times the amount of store credit Amazon will give you for a trade-in.

That’s the price you pay for convenience. You’ll receive less for your game but you don’t have to wait for your item to sell, you don’t have to worry about buyer feedback and you don’t have to pay shipping.

Peer To Peer Trading

Gamers have been trading games in to companies for cash or credit for years. But what if you could skip the middle man and instead trade directly with other games? Wouldn’t that provide a better value? There are in fact two sites that facilitate such trades – Goozex and Mooch. The idea here is simple. You post the games you have up for trade and the games you’d like to receive, then the system tries to find a match for you.

Despite their similar goals, these two sites differ in how they work. Goozex charges a flat $1.99 fee for all trades. They also provide a shipping label, but you have to pay the price of shipping yourself. That may sound expensive, but it works out to be an amazing deal if you’re looking to trade new and popular games.

Mooch is different. The service can be used for free, but it uses a rather complex system of “Mooch points” to try and balance what are considered uneven trades. Mooch points are pricey, so you’re more or less corralled into the $19.99 yearly membership (which includes 100 free points). You also need a paid membership to have access to customer service and guaranteed trades. Shipping is not covered, so you have to pay that as well.

Of the two, Goozex seems better to my eye and has a better reputation online. It’s a much easier system to use and there’s no chance that you’ll end up wasting money on it, something that’s possible if you buy a Mooch membership but then can’t work out any acceptable trades.

If It Were Your Game….

I tend to sell on Amazon when they’re relatively new. That nets a decent price. I’ve used game trading before, and had a good experience with it. But I find the process to be more time-consuming then I’d like.

What system do you prefer to trade games online? Let us know what you think in the comments.

I would say these sites have a tendency to appeal to women more than to men. But please have a look at them yourself and whether you’re a guy or a gal, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

So with springtime ahead of us, get those creative spirits in gear and prepare yourself for a fresh start into whatever you fancy.

1. Swapstyle & Big Wardrobe

Maybe what you fancy is a new wardrobe?

Just recently I introduced several sites that allow for swapping of books and other items. With Swapstyle there is a service targeted at women who would like to swap fashion items, such as cosmetics, shoes, accessories and of course clothes.

Big Wardrobe is not just for women, but also for kids and men.

Both sites operate internationally and are free to use, although you can spend $10 for having your address verified at Swapstyle.

So be easy on your finances, go green and swap your stuff instead of throwing it away and buying new.

2. Unclutterer

Unclutterer is a blog about getting and staying organized.

Posts range from tips and tricks on how to change personal habits, over guides on getting started, to practical tools. Topped with pictures from the “workspace of the week”, Unclutterer provides the perfect incentives to take that spring cleaning action to the next level.

But don’t get fooled by the Unitasker Wednesday posts and don’t fall for similarly useless items.

3. Home Design Find

This blog features stylish products and ideas for your home.

The best part of the site are definitely its how to, tips, advice, DIY, and home improvement posts. But I also love to see the works of architects and designers.

My favorite posts are:

17 Clever Tips for Around the House

The Wicked Sliding House by dRMM Architects

Do It yourself: Top Tips on How to Paint Walls

Maybe you can draw a few ideas to improve your own home from this site. I certainly did.

4. MopShots

Somewhere I read “Is a Haircut the new Botox?” Apparently, the right haircut can make you several years younger. However, most women will agree that finding the right hairdresser is almost as difficult as finding the right partner.

If you’re in the US, you may find the right hairdresser through MopShots by going through images of hair styles they created. And if you would like to recommend your personal hairdresser, submit a shot of your latest cut.

If you’re not from the US, at least you may find inspiration for your next haircut. Either way, the hair seen at that site is awesome!

5. Handbag

Can you imagine a woman without a handbag? Well, I actually can as I don’t like handbags, but I realize I’m in a minority. So an online handbag would certainly seem like an essential feature of a woman’s daily web consumption.

Handbag really wraps it all up. There’s articles on fashion, beauty, hair, relationships, dieting and well being, as well as celebrity and entertainment gossip. And all articles can be delivered through RSS or email. What more could a woman ask for?

What is your favorite, stylish website and are there any for men that you can recommend? Please share your secrets with us!

Image credits: erwinbacik, dimitri_c

Bookcrossing in this post refers to exchanging the books you have for books you want. However, there also is a website called BookCrossing that follows quite a different strategy. You sign up with BookCrossing, register the books you would like to give away, print the ID for each book, put it into the books and set them free in a public place. The lucky finder will eventually report your book using its ID and post a comment about how he liked it. Likewise, you may find a book that was registered at BookCrossing and share your feedback using its ID.

Now let’s look at the sites that allow you to swap items.

Title Trader

Through this website you can swap books, DVDs or CDs with people around the world.

To participate you sign up and create a list of the things you are offering. This procedure is quick and easy as the site supports ISBN numbers to identify items. Then you have to wait until someone is interested in one of your items.

Once someone has received an item you sent them, you receive a request credit which you can trade in for an item you want from somebody else. The service is free, but you cover the postage.

There are two more ways you can earn request points. First of all you can purchase them. Secondly, you receive points for referring new, active members.

BookMooch

BookMooch works very much like TitleTrader, but it’s limited to books. It’s a multilingual, community-driven site that works based on a point system.

The site supports English, Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano, Japanese, and Português and is available to anyone around the world. Points are earned by providing someone with the book they want and these points can be spent by requesting and receiving a book you want. The only fee you pay is the postage to send books.

Using the MoochBar browser toolbar (IE, Firefox, Opera, Safari, OmnniWeb) you can search books on Amazon and then see if they are available for trade on BookMooch.

SwitchPlanet

This site allows to trade DVDs, CDs, video games and books. The mission is to reduce environmental waste, help those who need it most and support arts/culture and education.

Much like Title Trader and BookMooch, SwitchPlanet works based on a point or currency system and adds the community aspect. Users can create profiles, and join groups. Also, SwitchPlanet hopes to collect donations from its members. This money will be used to help needy families.

Textbook Revolt

Textbook Revolt is made for students around the world who cannot afford to buy new college textbooks all the time.

The limit is that you need a valid .edu address to register. However, if you are a student, would like to participate, but don’t have such an eMail address, you can contact the site owners and request to be added.

Other than that, Textbook Revolt works very similar to the sites described above. Through Twitter you can keep track of all new books listed or requested.

Read It Swap It & Swapz

This is a service for people from the UK to exchange books.

Books are swapped between two users, which eliminates the necessity of credits. If you find an item on someone’s list, you can ask them to swap with you. If there is nothing on your list they like, they can deny to swap with you and you’ll have to find somebody else to swap with.

Swapz is a similar page. It’s also limited to residents of the UK. However, you can exchange any item you have or want including collectibles, instruments, stamps or clothes.

Swaptree & PaperBack Swap

Recently, Wendy wrote about a site through which US residents can swap books, CDs, DVDs and video games for free.

Items are listed based on their ISBN numbers and users can add a short description. Like on Read It Swap It, users are matched for swapping an item.

PaperBack Swap is a club for swapping books that is also limited to US residents.

The cool thing about this site is that books are sent using a wrap that contains all essential information, like address and sender details. The book can simply be wrapped into this printed piece of paper, which simplifies the packing and labeling process.

The advantage of sites limited to residents of a specific country is that postage costs remain predictable for all members.

SwapAce

SwapAce allows you to swap, buy or sell items and meet members. The site supports any type of item, such as electronics, services and of course books.

Users can use the system to barter and negotiate for items or services. This makes the site extremely flexible.

Neighborrow

Finally, here is a page that makes anything possible.

Join neighBORROW hoods and trade items within these groups. They can be made up of strangers around the world or your personal neighbors, friends or students from your campus. You can borrow, lend, sell, buy or trade anything with whomever you like.

Are you familiar with any other good websites to swap books, movies and games? Remember the story of the guy that started swapping stuff online and ended up with a house? What was your best swap? Let us know in comments

The internet has played a big source of information and advice in the past, but never in the way that we’re going to be experiencing today.

One of the big flaws of this part of the internet, is that a great deal of it has an impersonal air about it (not all of course). Everything gets countered straight on, often in a rush.

Imagine a community where online help gets personal again, where people go to help, or in search of the latter. Like a grown up Yahoo Questions, where people go to swap skills – quite literally.

swapaskill

Dear reader, meet swapaskill. I’m sure you’ll get along just perfect.

Swapaskill throws the impersonality overboard and goes back to the essential things that friends and family do for each other – giving favours and returning them. It’s all based on the principle of doing things you love, and helping others at the same time. In return, when you’ve got problems with something, you can count on the help of others.

Swapaskill essentially brings together people who can help each other out with various things.

How Does It Work?

To match the right people up – as some might say – they quite simply ask each user to state their skills upon signing up. Of course you can always adjust these skills later on.

The meaning of these skills can be taken quite broadly. It can be something like being good with Photoshop, or MS Word, and willing to help the struggling other. It can also be something more solid, like being a good cook; you can not only offer tips, but even your service as a cook, or frozen meals.

Swapaskill has recently also started supporting. the possibility of swapping items.

If you need help with something, you can search for skills based on keywords; e.g. if I’ve got a problem with Spanish, swapaskill will put forward all the users who’ve stated it as one of their skills.

You can then access their profiles and contact them with any questions you might have.

Additionally, you can also save your searches, so skilled users can easily find and contact you themselves.

After you’ve been helped by someone, you can assign stars to rate the user. This way other people will know who they can depend on in the long run – kinda like with friends.

But Why? Tell Me Why?

A lot of people might be wondering about the why of doing this. To quote The Joker: “If you’re good at something, never do it for free”. However, this would show you’re missing the idea of doing favours. If your friend asks you to help them out with their computer, would you ask them to pay for it?

The spirit of favours was put down pretty well by the Roman Publilius Syrus who said that “The person who receives the most favours is the one who knows how to return them“, because next time you need help with some DIY furniture torture, Jdoe655 might remember that you helped him with the cooking for his lawn party.

What do you think about swapaskill? Is it brilliant or ludicrous? Or perhaps you know of some alternatives to this service.  Share it with us in the comments section below.