In recent weeks, I’ve been noticing situations where the admins are giving less and less and less chances to new members and sellers to stand out. So much so, that now the chance of anyone standing out feels like 1-5%.
It feels like SWAPD is trying to protect “the oldest and wealthiest members” so that all deals are funneled to them, and that they have the most influence.
To some extent I understand it — and to some extent, I don’t.
I believe the admins are doing the best they can, but I’ll point out some things that have become common:
- The first update where all new users were removed from the front page visibility
- The introduction of the success ratio
- No rights to send messages
…etc
More and more, I feel like admins just want to make money, because the constant conversation revolves around:
SUCCESS PER TICKET
WASTING OTHER PEOPLE’S TIME
And you all seem to forget that each one of you did exactly that in the beginning. And yes, I agree it’s not good to waste anyone’s time — but I feel like people are now forbidden from even trying.
It feels like people are being pushed to open as few tickets as possible, because now we have a constant fear of:
- Success ratio
- Whether we’ll be able to deliver
- Whether we’ll get a negative review
- Whether well get a bad comments
It feels like SWAPD is slowly becoming a group of selected sellers. (And I’m not talking about myself in any of these examples, i only observe .)
Here’s the advice I’ll give you new people
Open as many tickets as you want.
Even if your success ratio is 0% — mine is 35% and I feel absolutely great about it.
I open tickets all the time and many of them have been successful.
Both quality and quantity matter.
Keep posting and promoting what you’re good at.
Don’t let yourself be discouraged by “diamond” or “millionaire” members — the titles mean nothing.
You get no actual privileges from them.
Funny fact many of the older members have become extremely inactive or lazy. Sometimes they respond, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they disappear for days. And yet — they’re still given the most visibility and preference.
How is that fair to the people who are active daily, constantly trying, showing up, and putting in the effort?
Giving priority to inactivity over consistency sends the wrong message to the rest of the community.
If you’ve already introduced “success ratio per ticket”, then why not also introduce:
Response rate per ticket
Average response time
Because if sellers are being judged based on how many deals they close they should also be judged based on how responsive they are.
Second reason:
I feel like the admins and the owner have become very emotionally invested in decision making. (Probably because they have less time because this becomes huge)
I’ve personally experienced “punishments” from admins that were absolutely baseless and made just because “they could.” I think the SWAPD admins and owner should stop making emotional decisions.
You’re constantly punishing users, and many feel like you’re trying to get rid of them. (Of course, if someone takes deals outside the platform, they should be penalized — I’m not talking about that here.)
There should be an unofficial body formed by users that votes on who should be banned and who shouldn’t.
Or an AI system to regulate it.
SWAPD has become too important and too big for someone to just get kicked out because someone’s having a bad day.
I believe you’re doing the best you can — but let’s not forget last year.
Third point:
The owner and the admins have often shown selfishness in their comments, especially when someone is earning well — or with posts like:
“We’re looking for representatives to work directly with us,” followed by comments from the same admins like:
“It’s our platform, if you don’t like it, leave.”
Yes — it’s your platform, and I’m here to respect your rules, and I’m doing that the best I can.
I’m just pointing out that the balance is fading, and that emotion and hunger for money are becoming the primary decision-makers, instead of the original business network that also serves as an escrow, marketplace
I want to be clearrr this isn’t an attack, it’s an observation from someone who genuinely cares about this platform. SWAPD has built something truly valuable and unique, but its strength came from the community, not from TOP sellers.
If new members are demotivated, if simply trying is punished more than actual failure, then the platform risks becoming stagnant. Growth dies where experimentation is not allowed. Innovation dies where fear replaces freedom.
It’s okay to protect quality — but not at the expense of potential.
Please don’t lose what made SWAPD great in the first place, a chance to succeed even though you’re new
Thanks for reading.
