Thread: Pay It Forward Idea

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I don't know if it would be possible to have something like this here or not. A Christmas group that I am apart of used to do a Pay It Forward swap. The idea was that someone would offer an item (with photo) and post it. The first person to PM them that they wanted it received it. The item had to be sent at the givers expense. Then the receiver would have to immediately post another item to be given away. They would post the item and photo and wait for someone to take it. Then they would mail it out. It would keep continuing...

I think this would be a great idea. The rules would be that you could not claim a new item until you had completed a prior swap (you had received your earlier item AND your PIF item had been received by the new recipient.

Would it be possible to start something like this here?

i think it's a fun idea! are these used items or new?

Love it!

So the new "PIF" item wouldn't be posted until that person received their free item? So maybe a couple of days would pass between each one?

Lovely, kinda like a Halloween freecycle.... excelent!

No, the new PIF item would be posted immediately. The sender and receiver would just not be elgible to participate in another PIF until their item arrived. Once the sender's item got to the winner, the sender could claim another. The receiver couldn't claim a new one until their item got to the person it was sent to. Does that make sense. The idea is to make sure that the same person is not jumping in and claiming something until their portion of the swap is sent/received.

Is this something that I can do here or do I need permission from Larry or someone?

Oh, and in answer the the question, they could be new, homemade, or something that you picked up at a garage sale or no longer need in your haunt.

I found this cool item recently and really didn't want it, but just couldn't pass it up. I know that some of you would love it. So, I bought it thinking I would find a use for it. LOL

Yeah, that makes sense. I almost feel like it would need to be a post in the thread rather than a PM so people would know that it was taken.

then the "winner" would need to post their free item in a "timely" manner.

Not sure if that's necessary... I guess you know how yours Christmas one worked.

Also, I'd think a moderator making it a "sticky" would be good.

I think it's a great idea. You might wanna check w/the powers that be just in case & as wackychimp suggested, one of them could sticky the thread so it wouldn't get lost.

Would this be for just a certain amount of time or open ended?

Yeah, I think posting to claim on the open board would be good. That way everyone would know it was taken. The address could be PMd to the sender. (gotta keep us safe) It would be a rule that BEFORE someone claimed an item, they had one ready to send out--complete with description and photo ready to post. Then they could post it immediately so this could continue.

It would also be a swap at your own risk. We would be at the mercy of everyone following through. That is what scares me the most. (should it be for people who have been members for a certain length of time to help insure this?)

Also, how to I get in touch with Larry or a mod to see if this is even possible?

On the time line, it could run from now until a little after Halloween, so we could take advantage of the after sales, too. We would have to have someone end it. I could try to be the last person to take a gift and start it off again next season. (or someone else who is a staple around here.)

Sort of leaves those photo-posting challenged out of the loop, or forces us to learn how to download photos, I guess.

I'm photo posting challenged too, but this sounds like a great idea. Time to get off my keester and learn.