Boston’s Swap.com, formerly Swaptree and now the world’s largest swap marketplace, has released an iPhone app. And it’s an app that doesn’t just allow you to access Swap.com on the go. With a core feature that turns your camera into a barcode scanner, this app allows you to connect with Swap.com in an entirely new way.
Ahead of the collaborative consumption wave and logging 1.9 million member swaps to date, Swap.com makes it easy for people to trade books, movies, music and video games. The scanning feature on their new app — placed front and center on the app’s home screen — makes this trading even easier and more convenient. Powered by another company with Boston and MIT roots, Scandit, which you can read more about here, this scanning technology promises to drive more swaps among members.
Scan items you have and want to trade OR scan items you want from other people, and the Swap.com app automatically adds it to your ‘Have it’ or ‘Want it’ lists. I tried the scanner out on a Zappos! Delivering Happiness book barcode, and learned that eight Swap.com members have the book and are looking to trade it.
With your iPhone on you from waking to sleep, Swap.com has made it more convenient to use the service by bringing it more fundamentally into your every day life — be it if you come across something you want perusing shelves on your lunch break or if you come across something you’re ready to be rid of during an upcoming spring cleaning spree.
Aside from this core feature, the Swap app also streamlines the Swap.com site, focusing strictly on the trading function. ‘Have it,’ ‘Want it,’ ‘My Trades,’ and ‘Get Now’ are the only sections of the app. This simplicity makes it easier for you to quickly make trades.
The company also makes it super easy to create a Swap.com account through the app if you don’t already have one. The company simply asks for a username, your email, and password right within the app (and without then needing to click a confirmation link in your email to get started, or having to go outside of the app to the browser on your phone).
Curious what types of fees are associated with making swaps? They differ depending on the item, but each includes a fee (50 cents for things like books and $1 for things like video games) and shipping costs (which averages $3.20).
Swap.com’s in-person events have also helped the company make the news, from New York Fashion Week to right here in the Hub today. Launched with Mayor Menino’s support, Swap.com’s Swap4Schools launched today and aims to help schools collect books from community members, who can swap the books out for others.
Download the Swap.com iPhone app here.
Do you use Swap.com? Let us know what you think about the app in the comments!
