Help Center - Do I need to own a computer to use SwapaCD?

You do not need to have your own computer. 

However, regular access to an Internet-connected computer, and a working email address, are essential to managing a SwapaCD account.  We do have many members who access SwapaCD from work, or from the library.  With a little planning, it is easy to manage your SwapaCD account even if you do not have a computer at home.

• You will need to check your email at least once in every 5 days to ensure you don't miss a CD request.
  • A sender has 5 days to respond to a request for a CD.  After that, the transaction is canceled, and the CD is removed from your Tower.
  • If you will be away from your email (or are unable for any reason to send out CDs) for a period of more than 5 days, you should put your account on Hold to prevent incoming requests.
• You will need to check your email at least every other day if you use the Wish List feature (unless you use auto-request).
  • A Wish List offer "times out" after 48 hours; if you do not respond in that time, the CD is removed from your Wish List.
  • If you are unable to check your email every other day, you should set your Wish List items to auto-request
    • If you do not have credits in your account to cover an auto-request, you will be passed over for the CD (it will not be offered to you), and that item will be set to Hold on your Wish List.
    • For this reason, it is wise to use auto-request if you have only intermittent email access ONLY if you have several credits in your account, to avoid missing out on Wish List CDs.

• You will need to access your account after mailing a CD, to mark it mailed (there is a deadline to do this).
  • If you always choose "I can mail LATER" when accepting a request, and choose the LATEST POSSIBLE mail-by date for the CD, you would always have a week to mark the CD mailed.
  • If you mail a CD but do not mark it mailed, the transaction will be canceled and you will not get credit! So this is very important.

So, if you visit your email and SwapaCD account only every 5 days:

• Take your wrapped outgoing CDs with you--don't mail them yet!
• First check your email for new requests, ensure that no transactions have been canceled
• Then access your account: accept new requests, choosing the latest mail-by date
• Then mark the CDs mailed that you have brought with you, and mail them on the way home.
• In cases where Internet access is uncertain or unreliable, it is safest to mark CDs mailed before you mail them (CDs must be mailed within a day or so of being marked mailed)