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In a swap I ran on another board a few years ago, one of my participants PM'ed me to see if the partner I paired her with "knew how to make customs" so she could see how much effort she needed to put in to her own custom - she didn't want to give her partner a well thought out and well executed pony if she was going to get one she didn't believe would be equal to her own skill level. It took me HOURS to come up with a reply that wouldn't have gotten me banned. Swaps are every bit as important as commissions, and in my eyes are actually the same. The only difference is you don't know who commissioned you! I give my best in swaps and expect to receive the best my partner has to offer, regardless of their skill level.
A thought occurred to me while I was searching - custom swaps are basically advertising for your work. Everyone sees the custom you make for it, and the quality of the work has the potential to spur people to commission you later. Why would you ever turn out something less than your best, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of your partner, regardless of your own skill, when people are judging your abilty based on the custom you present and NOT on what you know you're capable of?
I always pour my heart into making each pony be it a show-accurate/persona pony or a completely original design. I must say though, by my personal experience, that I've always ended up doing A LOT more to a swap pony than what I would originally expect of myself . It's mainly the fact that, since this pony won't be paid for, I don't have the constraint of "doing only what I'm getting paid to do" and can "overdo" it all I want! . It is a pony meant to make someone else happy, and having a reaction that's nothing short of a "SQUEE" from my partner like CSA said is more than enough payment for me for a swap pony .
I'm a newb to customizing, but to me each custom is a different pony, with its own personality. So if you're not really putting your heart into the customs you make, whether for swaps, commissions, or just for yourself, then you really ought to question why you're doing it. After all, some customs can be so time-consuming that you can't exactly make a living off this stuff.