Swapping, bartering or trading has been going on for centuries. Here at BGC we believe that swapping is one of the most important modes of commerce in our world today. On our site you can exchange all new items that have been made with recyclable organic, fair trade materials and with an environmentally friendly intention. Or you can trade preused items so that we can fulfill the chasing arrows policy to reuse, recycle and renew. You can trade services that are environmentally friendly as well. Check our glossary to make sure that your service or items match at least two of our environmentally friendly definitions.

To place an item up for bid or barter you need to register. Registration is free and can be found in the Login box on our home page. In this box you can select Register and easily become a member.

Essentially, swapping is informal bartering where BGC members can trade items of comparable value. To set up a swap listing, follow these simple steps:

• Begin in your account home page and click "New Listing"
• Choose "Classified Ad" from the first menu
• Choose "Swap" from the following dropdown menu
• When creating a title for your listing, start with the word "SWAP:", then describe the item or service YOU are offering up for trade.
• The body of your listing should mention what item(s) or service(s) you are willing to trade for, and in what quantity or what ratio you are willing to trade. For example, if you are trading a service (like Green house cleaning), and you are looking for books from a certain author/genre, mention that you are willing to trade 1 hour of service for every X amount of books the person will give you. You may also leave the listing open ended by saying "I am willing to negotiate with you on whatever item or service you are offering" so that you can see what variety of offers you receive, but we reccommend being a bit more specific. Specifying not only the type of item/service but the quantity in which you want it will save you time and will attract the ideal traders you are looking for.
• Enter $0.00 for the item cost since this is a trade and you and the other trader will have already agreed upon a fair and equitable exchange of goods or services.
• Simply fill out the remaining required fields as you would for any other type of listing, and voila! Your Swap listing is complete.

All subsequent bartering should be done via the BGC messaging system, particularly to eliminate the potential for someone to access your personal information. Utilizing our messaging system also makes it easier to keep track of your exchange. We advise our users not to accept any user's offer to 'barter' in person, simply to protect your personal safety, and only to use the telephone if they are 100% comfortable with the other user having access to that information.

You may want to trade locally in order to ensure that the seller has the item, and also to reduce your carbon footprint during shipping. If you wish to trade locally, you should include that in your listing.

Remember BGC only brings together the traders. Swapping on our site is between the individuals. BGC offers the site to connect the individuals to swap. We are not a barter exchange and we do not offer any contracts. Therefore we are not responsible for the comparable value. You, the Green Swapper, need to determine the fair market value on the trade.

You should be aware that the IRS has some important laws regarding bartering that you need to check out. Since BGC is not a barter exchange we are not responsible for any IRS forms. It is up to you the Green Swapper to make sure that you abide by all laws as they relate to barter. You should know about your tax responsibilities so you can report the fair market value from the barter dealings.

Since BGC is a global marketplace, if you decide to swap internationally you need to examine tariff information as well.

So go ahead… today looks like a good day to begin Green swapping!