The Aus / NZ Easter Swap

[fingerpaints]

You asked for it ponies! Due to the inflated price of international postage, it is getting really hard for us "nirvana" ponies to join in the normal swaps, so I am going to host an easter swap just for our Aussie & New Zealand pony pals. Please have a read through my rules.   

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Shipping dates are -

 

March 23rd (within same country)
March 16th (if posting across the ditch)

This will be quiet a long swap, please start looking & shopping straight away however, the reason I have such a long deadline is to help everyone be able to find nice ponies & items for their swap partner. Do not get to a week before & then start shopping.



Rules -

Level does not include the cost of postage, postage costs are an extra that you will have to pay extra for. Please take this into account when signing up. Postage for items purchased online for your swap partner are not to be included in the final price either.

The only generation that I will allow a "must be MIB" on is G4 as these are easily obtained in their packaging at this point in time. If you wish to join, you must be willing to accept all other gens loose, but in good condition. If your partner is happy to receive G4’s loose, that is fine too.

All ponies sent must be in great overall condition, if your partner is ok with certain flaws (like haircuts, cancer ect) I will allow that, but I would prefer everyone to try to send ponies in great condition unless that is nearly impossible (eg. party time almost always has regrind, chief is very rarely perfectly white with no cancer, most G4's have a head / body colour mismatch which can't be helped ect.)

You can't pull out of the swap once I have sent out the wish lists as this is really unfair to your partner, they may have already purchased ponies for you.

Extras are essential in this swap. Extra's value should make up what you have not spent on ponies (for example, on a $40 box, you spend $20 on ponies, you should spend the remaining $20 on extra goodies)

You may go a little over your swap budget, but please do not to too far over, as this will make others feel bad that may not be able to afford a heap of extras. I would prefer if we all stayed within an extra $10 of your swap limit, this is not necessary, I just know how easy it is to go over budget. Please do not scrimp and go under budget however, this is poor trading practice.

Customs are fine as long as your partner is happy to receive customs, these are included as extras however, not as a pony, and I will cap ALL customs at $5 in trade value, I know customs are worth much more than this but I really want you all to concentrate on spoiling your partner.

Do not send anything that is wet in your parcel, if you wish to send anything like bath gel ect. please make sure it is concealed well in 2 zip lock bags in case of accidental leakage.

All swap participants are required to post a brag after they have received their parcel so we are aware it has arrived.

Please wrap all gifts (except for candies & the like) in wrapping paper. You can purchase a roll for a couple of dollars from a cheap shop like the warehouse, reject shop ect. You may also wrap candy if you wish, but I will allow it to be sent unwrapped if it is contained (in a bag or similar)

All packages must be sent in a cardboard box, please use padding material like bubble wrap, tissue paper or packing peanuts.

Please start looking & purchasing for your partner as soon as you receive their wish list. Time has a way of getting away on us, do not start shopping a week before shipping deadline.

Please PM me if you are having any problems, I am more than willing to help you and give advice.

If you are unsure about something, please PM me and ask! That’s what a swap host is there for
   

New / Updated rules: these are in addition / slight changes of original rules, please read carefully


These must be followed and I will ban you from this swap if you are caught breaking the rules for no good reason.

·         You HAVE to check in either through the swap thread or via pm to me once a week. If I have not heard from you within a week and you do not have a good excuse as to why, I may ask you to leave the swap. This is unfair on your partner, so please just follow this rule for me. As it is such a long swap, I need to know you are all still around and that you are all still shopping / making things / thinking of what to put into your partners box. I will not take most excuses as you can jump on the forum even via mobile phone, so please just check in for me.
·         Make sure your box is equal to the swap limit. You do not have to go over the limit, it is not expected, but if you do go over, please keep it close to the limit.
·         Your partner should feel spoilt once their box arrives, not disappointed, please wrap everything (candy if bagged is allowed to be sent without being wrapped up) and make sure there is plenty of padding in the box if there are gaps.
·         Please be aware of any allergies or intolerances your partner may have, if they have a reaction to smoke, please do not send them incense, if they have an allergy to peanuts, please do not send them a snickers bar
·         If you are a smoker or if you burn incense inside the house, please try to keep all swap items in a separate part of the house away from any smoke smells. Even if you are sending your box to a smoker, I do not care, your items should all be in nice condition and not reeking of smoky smells.
·         Everyone is required to leave feedback for their partner at the end of the swap. I will leave feedback from a host perspective that reflects how you interacted in the swap as well, feedback should show an honest reflection of how you interacted in the swap and if your parcel was up to scratch.
·         Please be aware that postage is NOT included in the swap limit, any postage to your partner or for items that you have purchased for them should not be factored in to the limit.
·         Please do not overpay for ponies, if you are unsure if a price is ok or not, please pm me, I am happy to help or at the very least figure out if it is a reasonable price or if you are being ripped off. On average, most ponies on your partners list should be around the $10ish mark, some may be a little lower and others a bit higher. G4’s should be considered what price they are on the shelves (around $7 - $9AU for regulars) and the G4 blind bags should all be priced at about $4AU each, as this is what they were new. I refuse to let you all go off ebay’s crazy pricing (for example, I have seen a single blind bag fluttershy go for over $100, we all know she was available for just $4ish new)
·         If you have any questions, please contact me straight away. I am happy to help where possible, and don’t think you are bothering me, I prefer questions over mistakes
·         If there are problems between you & your partner, please pm me immediately.
·         Have fun & do not stress this is supposed to be an enjoyable experience for all those involved, please do not stress about this swap. If we all start looking & shopping straight away, by the time we are ready to ship you should have pulled a lovely box together.

* When trading, communication is key! If for some reason you aren't in regular contact over the next few months with myself and / or your partner, I will be leaving appropriate feedback for you stating so.

* Feedback is a MUST. I am guilty of not leaving it myself as I am forgetful, but I will prod you all to leave feedback for your partners, I will also leave you all my own feedback at the end of the swap, if you do not leave your partner feedback, I will also reflect this in feedback left by myself.

* If you are going to skimp and just pull through this swap without spoiling your partner and reaching the limit (possibly a tad over) please do not join this swap. If you have already pm'd me with your form, please message me back & let me know that you no longer wish to participate. I know most people in swaps tend to go overboard & spoil their partner rotten, I would be very dissapointed if you slap some last minute thoughts into a box, tape it up & send it off to your partner. It will reflect in your box, and I will also leave feedback according to this, and if required I may pass details on to a mod as well.

* Packing is VERY important. I do not want to see items damaged due to poor packaging. Please make sure we use plenty of protective items such as bubble wrap or packing peanuts to make sure the contents of your parcel have a safe journey to your partner. I know Australia Post has a habbit of using parcels as footballs and possibly a small seat for the elephants at the zoo, I assume NZ post office isn't much better. Please make sure you pack your swap box well, do not have loose items flapping around in the box, and try to make it as sturdy as possible. I know too sometimes no matter how well packaged, things do get damaged, but if you have taken care in packaging, there isn't really much else you could have done to avoid this, so I will not hold it against you.

I can not stress strongly enough that these things are very important. For anyone new to this sort of thing, please message me if you are having any dbouts, need answers to questions, or are unsure on something. If in dbout, PM me immediately. I will help you through it, and I will do my best to give you the best possible advice.   
   

Participants & partners -

 

dollhands -Princess-Sparkles

 

foalpatrol - Endocat

 

kerry483 - Sea_Breeze

 

Megt19 - spinky69er - fingerpaints

Shipped / Recieved

dollhands - SHIPPED (RECIEVED by Princess-Sparkles)

Princess-Sparkles - SHIPPED (RECIEVED by dollhands)

 

foalpatrol - SHIPPED (RECIEVED by Endocat)

Endocat - SHIPPED (RECIEVED by foalpatrol)

 

kerry483- SHIPPED

Sea_Breeze - SHIPPED (RECIEVED by kerry483)

 

Megt19 - SHIPPED (RECIEVED by fingerpaints)

spinky69er - SHIPPED (RECIEVED by Megt19)

fingerpaints - SHIPPED (RECIEVED by spinky69er)

[megt19]

You're quick Fingerpaints! *runs off to fill out forms*

[fingerpaints]

Yeah I figure the quicker we get this off the ground, the more time we all have to shop will be PMing everyone that showed any interest soon, and I have been in touch with mods about the swap, so all is above board

[megt19]

Cool, just a quick question..... are you going to pair everyone up so that you send to the person who is sending to you? (this would make sense since it is called a 'swap' and you would literally be swapping with another person.....  I have only been in one other swap, but it was random, we didn't know who was sending to us until the box arrived........

[foalpatrol]

Awesome!  Going to have a good look over the form tomorrow.    I'm a little unsure about the references, I will PM you about it after I've re-read the form. 

[fingerpaints]

I am going to pair people up, the only exception will be if I have an odd number of participants, then it would be A sends to B, B to C, and C to A for three people, but I would try to make sure that only 3 were affected by this. I think a straight forward send to who you are recieving from is going to be much easier, as I have had alot of interest from newbies, and want to make this as smooth as possible, this would make it much easier for everyone involved & more straight forward. It is fun to get random people & not know too, but I want to make this easy for everyone & as hassal free as possible
 
Foal Partol - no worries, feel free to ask me here or through PM if you have any queries and if anything in the form / rules is confusing, please ask and I will explain it for anyone

[megt19]

Great, no worries, thanks for clarifying.

[fingerpaints]

No worries would prefer questions now over two minutes to shipping time lol

[butterflybuttons]

Yay! I'm going to fill out a form!

[fingerpaints]

BFB - Great so glad you are joining us!

[butterflybuttons]

[megt19]

PM sent! - now to work on my new wishlist! yay!

[fingerpaints]

Yay I will be working through the forms soon, I am looking at having sign ups open for about a week, and giving myself a couple of days to work out who goes with who & sending wishlists ect. sometime over hopefully not this weekend but the one following.

I have already started checking out references too

[StarFaerie]

I'll redo my wishlist this weekend and fill in the form as soon as that's done. This should be fun.

[fingerpaints]

No worries hun I am going to leave sign ups open until friday next week (27th) so no hurry

I will hopefully have everyones partners sorted by the weekend this way.

If everyone wanting to join could get their forms in ASAP so I can check references that would be greatly appreciated