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TPBSwap, Website Launch

Started by techvoodoo,

68 posts in this topic

techvoodoo

techvoodoo

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Posted

I finally finished the TPBSwap website. I'm 2 and 1/2 weeks past my goal to have the site completed, but better late than never I guess. In the end I'd estimate total time to build the site was between 120-160 hours, so not that bad.

 

I decided to start a new thread to announce the official launch of the site, so if you aren't familiar with this project from the old thread here's a simple recap.

 

TPBSwap is a graphic novel and trade paper back swapping community website. It is free, and by invitation only, currently. When you sign up for membership you will be able to list books you have to offer for trade. For every book you ship to another member, you earn a credit. You in turn use your credits to request books from other members. You also will earn 2 credit for posting your first 10 books (1 credit at book number 5 and another credit at book number 10, so as to not force people to start by posting 10 books).

 

I'm going to start sending out the invitation codes tomorrow to those that have sent me PM's asking to get access to the site, after I clear out all the testing data from the database and do a few basic maintenance things.

 

If you're interested in joining the site, I still have room for a few more people in the first round of invites to launch the site. If you have 5 to 10 or more books to post, I'm looking for members here that have a year or more membership on the forums, or who have done transactions with me through the sales forum or PIF thread, or who generally can prove they have a good trustworthy reputation. I'm also limiting it to USA members only at this time. Send me a PM with your email address and if you're selected I'll email you an invitation code to use for signing up.

 

Thanks to those that have shown interest in the project and have offered their support. I appreciate it and I hope you like the site.

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Ares

Ares

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Posted
I finally finished the TPBSwap website. I'm 2 and 1/2 weeks past my goal to have the site completed, but better late than never I guess. In the end I'd estimate total time to build the site was between 120-160 hours, so not that bad.

 

I decided to start a new thread to announce the official launch of the site, so if you aren't familiar with this project from the old thread here's a simple recap.

 

TPBSwap is a graphic novel and trade paper back swapping community website. It is free, and by invitation only, currently. When you sign up for membership you will be able to list books you have to offer for trade. For every book you ship to another member, you earn a credit. You in turn use your credits to request books from other members. You also will earn 2 credit for posting your first 10 books (1 credit at book number 5 and another credit at book number 10, so as to not force people to start by posting 10 books).

 

I'm going to start sending out the invitation codes tomorrow to those that have sent me PM's asking to get access to the site, after I clear out all the testing data from the database and do a few basic maintenance things.

 

If you're interested in joining the site, I still have room for a few more people in the first round of invites to launch the site. I'm looking for members here that have a year or more membership on the forums, or who have done transactions with me through the sales forum or PIF thread, or who generally can prove they have a good trustworthy reputation. Send me a PM with your email address and if you're selected I'll email you an invitation code to use for signing up.

 

Thanks to those that have shown interest in the project and have offered their support. I appreciate it and I hope you like the site.

 

How do you confirm the other person got the book?

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techvoodoo

techvoodoo

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I finally finished the TPBSwap website. I'm 2 and 1/2 weeks past my goal to have the site completed, but better late than never I guess. In the end I'd estimate total time to build the site was between 120-160 hours, so not that bad.

 

I decided to start a new thread to announce the official launch of the site, so if you aren't familiar with this project from the old thread here's a simple recap.

 

TPBSwap is a graphic novel and trade paper back swapping community website. It is free, and by invitation only, currently. When you sign up for membership you will be able to list books you have to offer for trade. For every book you ship to another member, you earn a credit. You in turn use your credits to request books from other members. You also will earn 2 credit for posting your first 10 books (1 credit at book number 5 and another credit at book number 10, so as to not force people to start by posting 10 books).

 

I'm going to start sending out the invitation codes tomorrow to those that have sent me PM's asking to get access to the site, after I clear out all the testing data from the database and do a few basic maintenance things.

 

If you're interested in joining the site, I still have room for a few more people in the first round of invites to launch the site. I'm looking for members here that have a year or more membership on the forums, or who have done transactions with me through the sales forum or PIF thread, or who generally can prove they have a good trustworthy reputation. Send me a PM with your email address and if you're selected I'll email you an invitation code to use for signing up.

 

Thanks to those that have shown interest in the project and have offered their support. I appreciate it and I hope you like the site.

 

How do you confirm the other person got the book?

 

I recommend when you mark the book as shipped in the request log to include a tracking number. That way if there is a dispute it's easier to resolve. But otherwise, once the person gets the book they are supposed to mark it as received in the request log and you will be credited.

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techvoodoo

techvoodoo

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The website signup form isn't formatted to accept anything other than standard city/state/zipcode USA addresses right now. So I'm probably going to have to hold off on international members for the time being.

 

Also the cost and inconvenience of having to go to the post office and not doing a simple Priority Flat Rate may disuade people when they are suprised with a request to ship internationally.

 

That said, if enough Canadians for example, have interest is having access to the site, I can setup a Canada only version, or a Euro site, or whatever.

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Ares

Ares

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The website signup form isn't formatted to accept anything other than standard city/state/zipcode USA addresses right now. So I'm probably going to have to hold off on international members for the time being.

 

Also the cost and inconvenience of having to go to the post office and not doing a simple Priority Flat Rate may disuade people when they are suprised with a request to ship internationally.

 

That said, if enough Canadians for example, have interest is having access to the site, I can setup a Canada only version, or a Euro site, or whatever.

 

OK

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dupont2005

dupont2005

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I believe paperbackswap, a similar site, uses a feedback system. I've used it in the past.
Yeah, on Paperbackswap when you order a book they ship it and mark it as shipped. Within like 20 days or so you have to mark it as received in good condition in order for them to get their credit. Of course it's polite to mark received asap since they may be waiting on that credit to order a book themselves. I don't list books on there anymore though. I just buy credits in the marketplace.
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techvoodoo

techvoodoo

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The website signup form isn't formatted to accept anything other than standard city/state/zipcode USA addresses right now. So I'm probably going to have to hold off on international members for the time being.

 

Also the cost and inconvenience of having to go to the post office and not doing a simple Priority Flat Rate may disuade people when they are suprised with a request to ship internationally.

 

That said, if enough Canadians for example, have interest is having access to the site, I can setup a Canada only version, or a Euro site, or whatever.

 

OK

 

I've come up with 2 options in dealing with Canadian membership.

 

1.) The easy system would be to setup a separate site site for Canadian members. If there is a group of people large enough from Canada that would have interest, that could be done relatively quickly, and Canadians could swap with other Canadians.

 

2.) I can build into the current system, the option for people to opt of of swapping with international members, so as to not force anyone to have to ship internationally. After the first round of invites go out I'll start putting together a plan to implement this into the system and open invites to our foreign friends for the next round of invites. If someone opts out, they won't be able to swap with you and you won't be able to swap with them. If someone opts in, you have to be willing to ship international if you want to accept international shipments.

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techvoodoo

techvoodoo

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I just thought I'd post a quick update about the roll-out of the TPBSwap.com website.

 

I've sent out 14 invites so far, still waiting on a couple people to sign-up and post their books. That said, we've already had over 100 books posted to the library. I'm not sure how many requests have been submitted but I know I've already used my 2 book request credits and I'm looking forward to getting those books.

 

I've also had 2 of my books requested and they went out in the mail yesterday.

 

So far all the feedback has been positive and I think everyone has found the site design pretty simple and usable. I put in my first update yesterday, updating the sorting and filtering of the library view. You could browse the library by looking at all the books, or filter it to show books by specific publisher. I added a feature to also sort it showing the newest books listed. That will come in handy down the road as people want to view what's been posted if they haven't looked in a while.

 

My next major update will be to implement a system for our foreign friends to be able to use the site. I think I'll add a function where people can opt out/in to participating in international transactions. Some people have said they wouldn't mind shipping international and others would prefer to not have to deal with it. So I think that's the best way to handle it. That update is probably a couple weeks down the line though.

 

Thanks to everyone that's already joined and is participating.

 

If you haven't joined already, and meet the basic requirements:

 

• you have at least 5 to 10 or more so books you'd like to post

• you have a USA address

• have been a member on the forums for a year or more or can otherwise validate your trustworthiness and reliability

 

send me a PM with your email address and I'll shoot you an invite.

 

Guy

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Ares

Ares

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I just thought I'd post a quick update about the roll-out of the TPBSwap.com website.

 

I've sent out 14 invites so far, still waiting on a couple people to sign-up and post their books. That said, we've already head over 100 books posted to the library. I'm not sure how many requests have been submitted but I know I've already used my 2 book request credits and I'm looking forward to getting those books.

 

I've also had 2 of my books requested and they went out in the mail yesterday.

 

So far all the feedback has been positive and I think everyone has found the site design pretty simple and usable. I put in my first update yesterday, updating the sorting and filtering of the library view. You could browse the library by looking at all the books, or filter it to show books by specific publisher. I added a feature to also sort it showing the newest books listed. That will come in handy down the road as people want to view what's been posted if they haven't looked in a while.

 

My next major update will be to implement a system for our foreign friends to be able to use the site. I think I'll add a function where people can opt out/in to participating in international transactions. Some people have said they wouldn't mind shipping international and others would prefer to not have to deal with it. So I think that's the best way to handle it. That update is probably a couple weeks down the line though.

 

Thanks to everyone that's already joined and is participating.

 

If you haven't joined already, and meet the basic requirements:

 

• you have at least 5 to 10 or more so books you'd like to post

• you have a USA address

• have been a member on the forums for a year or more or can otherwise validate your trustworthiness and reliability

 

send me a PM with your email address and I'll shoot you an invite.

 

Guy

 

If you do add that option, it should be as an "opt in" option so people have to be willing to go into shipping international

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