nigatsubebe

I host a lot of swaps and join other's swaps, too.

I do have some serious chronic illnesses that can be unpredictable. Something 'normal' could mean I barely get off a couch for a week... or I could feel fine after a day or two, haul to finish the household stuff I let slide for a week, annnnd that's enough to put me back down for another few weeks. Fun. If I could figure out specific triggers, I'd avoid them entirely. They wouldn't randomly destroy my daily life. So. I do try to keep communication open and let people know if I'm late on something. If you have an issue with someone not arriving, please let me know!

Message me for my e-mail address, especially for messages longer than trading links, or anything I need to respond back to.

SB was never intended to be an email server. SB Messenger does not allow for photo attachments, messaging multiple people, or most importantly, message chains. I cannot see what you messaged me at the same time that I'm writing back. That alone will significantly delay response times.

I have to go back and open a separate window to look for every single exchange we've had on a topic and any other relevant history before assembling it into a timeline. That is incredibly taxing. I can accomplish other things that are also important, OR I can drop everything for this one stupid message response. Both need to be done, and only enough energy for one 'set' of things.

Also, I can only respond when I'm on an actual computer. I can't do it from my phone. I try to avoid typing on that tiny keyboard for anything at all if it's longer than a phone number. Even my text apps need to be accessible via PC. Relatives who use SMS only often do not get responses because... I can't... type... on... my... PHONE. Which I've repeatedly told people. And yet!

STUFF I LOVE GETTING:

• I love trading out washi + stickers. I have lots of them! I like 'academia,' 'dark forest,' animals, all kinds of things that aren't the cute, cartoony kind.
• Random envelopes that aren't the standard white business envelopes. No notecards needed or anything. Any colours, any sizes, but 4x6" or larger preferred. These are for mailing other swaps out.
• Vintage + antique Japanese postcards of the karyukai (geisha, maiko, tayuu, oiran,) Japanese entertainment industry, basically. I also like vintage books about Japan that aren't just tourist guides. Yiddish postcards, especially early 1900s Yiddish, when they were popular. The colouring may be misleading. I think colourized ones were more expensive, so black and white might have been more likely to see, despite the year.

Everything else, I have So Much of right now and I feel like I need to use more of it before I let myself buy more Things.

Feel free to message me if you want to send any of this stuff instead of the swap items asked for. It isn't a problem!

Dislikes:

It isn't personal, I just won't use these items in my own work. So things I will pass on automatically: - Used stamps - Kiddie stuff - Most planner stickers unless it's just numbers - Felt stickers - Recipes (too many dietary restrictions. :P It's just a puzzle...)

Please no dog hair, cigarette smells, or strong perfumes. I tend to get migraines and don't have a washing machine, so it could take 2 weeks to hot wash something properly.

• Sewing basic items. I try to use natural fabrics only, including scraps larger than 2x2" for sewing. Right now my joints are getting worse and will for the forseeable future, so lifting the sewing machine and such in a small space isn't doable easily. But hand-sewing with fine needles for more than a few minutes also isn't... I fear I'm losing one of the very few things I can still do. Any advice?

• Papercrafts like art journalling, scrapbooking, and some bullet journal/art journal hybrid work for daily use.

I hope to move to another place before lease renewal in 2024! But I am physically disabled and have to pay to move everything, so that is very expensive. Min budget is $4k.

To raise money, I am going to start listing many of my postcards, fabrics, papercrafting supplies, kimono (including kimono for fabric,) notecards as lots, and much more. Other items, I'll be giving away locally.

If you're interested in the kimono especially, message me since they may not be on ko-fi in my links!

USPS has been having problems since before COVID, but it's gotten much worse. General DeJoy ordered the shutdown of improved tech that sorts and sends mail without damaging it, making the mail faster and more reliable... but he decided that it cost money, so these systems can't be used. Heh. Brilliant thinking, there.

Mail coming and going is arriving damaged, especially with the fold edges of envelopes torn open. Probably 2/5 swaps arrive this way, and I've heard from others that their mail also comes damaged. Between reporting this to USPS, esp with photos, we should probably be reinforcing envelope edges with tape.

Mail is also missing or very late. I've gotten envelopes anywhere between 1-3 weeks domestically. I've dropped from Intl swaps because they can take 2-4 MONTHS. I've advised new users especially to give benefit of the doubt in most cases, and I angel all of my swaps if something is missing.

Be patient and just message people! Take photos, which are especially useful. It's a habit I picked up while running an online retail shop. Then it's shown what exactly was happening. It's another reason I ask people to email me!

Happy swapping.

Hello! I host a lot of swaps. When I was a new user, I had the hardest time getting into ANY swaps because I didn't have ratings... but the only way to GET ratings was to be able to join swaps. Catch-22.

I've been here since 2010. In that time I've seen quite a few people get on some users who have intermittent issues fulfilling a swap or who may not have understood swap requirements as written. 1 and 3 ratings might be YEARS old and it'll still reflect badly if someone checks their profile, sees the low rating, and doesn't click the number to see when the last neutral/low rating happened. Or they could see hundreds, literally hundreds, of positive ratings and still drop over some low rating that didn't even happen this year. So how does anyone recover?

More than a few times this year, users with perfect 5 ratings have joined multiple swaps at the same time, waited for them to be assigned, and then just... ghosted. In the past month I've mailed easily half a dozen Angel swaps over ONE user.

Ratings are not the One True Flake Factor. I won't drop users just because of ratings.

I usually post swap requirements in every post but I do sometimes forget. Here are the typical guidelines:

TYPE 1 (E-MAIL)

No 1s in the past 6 months. It's e-mail.

TYPE 2 (PCs, FILLING ENVELOPES, STICKER SWAPS, WHATEVER)

Postcards: No 1s in the past 6 months. 1 stamp envelopes: Must have 10+ type 2 swaps, no 1s/non-sends in past 6 months.

TYPE 3 (CRAFTS, LETTERS, PACKAGES)

No 1s in the past 12 months. 4.5+ star rating. 5-10 type 3 swaps completed (this depends on the package and how easy it is for me to angel.)

EXCEPTIONS: If I have time/energy and you message me, I may set up a private swap for just the two of us. This limits flakers expecting to receive, say, 5 items to 1. Tends to ward them off. Private swaps are just not worth it.

All swaps I host are angel-ed. Strict rules seem to weed out most (not all) flakers.

I'd like users to feel secure joining any of my swaps. If you end up having questions, please message me. Do NOT comment on a swap. SB does not notify anyone of these comments. I might see it too late.

• Check deadline date to send. For many USA items, 2 weeks is around the current USPS estimate for arrival. Be aware of weather that could delay things (like hurricanes, blizzards, extreme heat.) Somehow stuff from one county to the next is being shipped all over the USA. ::rolls eyes:: Yeah, idk why either. But first I give the benefit of the doubt.

• If it's been 2 weeks, send the partner a message. Keep it simple. "Hey, I'm your partner is Swap Name. I haven't gotten the envelope yet." Set a reasonable deadline to receive it. I've sent these messages and gotten the swap 4 days later- a day after the partner resent it. x.x But if a swap DOESN'T come by the date? The person can re-send it. Yep, even if it's me. :P

• SB typically sends an email for messages unless the user turned that off. If there is no answer to the message within 3 business days, rate that person accordingly and mention that your message was not responded to. It shows that you did attempt to reach out first. RATINGS CAN BE AMENDED LATER. Do not feel guilty about this.