I'm guilty -- when I like what I buy through SwapItGreen, I've been giving an "Excellent" rating but not adding a comment back to the seller. I began to rethink that recently when I received some second-hand feedback on one of my trades. My buyer is a personal friend of my boss, who invited her to join SwapItGreen. (That's a good idea, too, by the way. Grow our community by inviting your friends to join, and gain a few bonus SwapItGreen dollars for yourself in the process.) Anyhow, my boss passed on an email from her friend that said:
"Hub swapped for this little cat figurine for my Mom, who loves cats. I thought it was really cute. He shipped it off to Malibu – well, my Mom just loved it. Said the cat’s tail was 'just like Missy’s' (deceased favorite cat.)"
I'm a cat collector myself, but at some point I decided I really prefer just a few almost-life-size ones that lounge or snooze (or sneer at me) on tables and bookcases -- cats with cat-attitude, you know -- so I had packed away my small cute ones. This one I decided to list on SwapItGreen because it really could be a treasure to someone -- a nice antique Goebel figurine of a kitten playing with a ball, and it made me feel so good to learn that my trade had found an appreciative home. That has inspired me (1) to hit my closets again, looking for goodies that I have "retired" at some time from one of my collections and (2) to remember that the folks I buy from might also like to know that their old treasures have a new life.