Kat (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kindness_says) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
yuletide2021-10-16 11:54 pm
kindness_says) wrote in yuletide2021-10-16 11:54 pm
Entry tags:
Swaps Forever '21 || SIGN-UPS ARE OPEN.
HELLO, ALL. Here we are again, the Yuleswaps season upon us!
We are (okay, I am) a little behind schedule this year, so putting off the dregs of 2020 follow-up emails in favor of getting sign-ups open ASAP. (If you are a 2020 swapper with a swap that never got fully resolved, you will probably hear from us soon as we try to close all those cases. :))
Caveats from the 2020 swaps season, updated:
1) International mailing: most countries have resumed shipping to most places! That said, it never hurts to double-check your country's postal restrictions. (New Zealanders, you still can't ship to Hungary, for instance.) We are keeping an eye on unofficial lists like this one, but it never hurts to warn us or, after you receive your match-up, check official sources and hit us up ASAP if we've made a mistake!
ETA 10/17: Oof, okay,plumeria47 has helpfully informed us that the USPS is currently suspending shipping between the US and several countries, including Australia and New Zealand! A great example of something we'll try to keep in mind while matching...but please check our work, as circumstances (clearly) continue to evolve!
2) Postal delays: we always expect delays due to holidays, and then last year was...you know. This year the situation seems somewhat improved, but we continue to urge caution around homemade/perishable goods. That USPS "2-day delivery" guarantee is NOT back in consistent operation, and other shipping services may be faster, but they're also generally expensive. So use your judgment about travel time, weather, etc.
3) Checking in ON TIME: in the interest of getting all packages and pinch-hits out efficiently, all swappers MUST check in on Swaps Central by the end of the last sending day (this year that's Saturday, November 20th), unless they have requested an extension.
Please note, we generally grant small extensions without penalty (we know people are busy, and our sending period is short), so we strongly encourage you to ask rather than risk being late. If you are very tardy and/or difficult to communicate with, you may be barred from one or more swaps in the future.
YULESWAPS 2021 SCHEDULE:
+ Sign-up forms are open now and will close on Monday, October 25, 2021 at 9:00 AM PDT. Click here for a countdown! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies! Tell yourself to set a reminder on your phone!
+ Match-ups will go out in late October or early November, probably over a period of a few days (in order to accommodate mail merge sending limits). Multi-swap swappers, please do not wait to receive all three match-ups before checking in/contacting your recipient!
+ As noted above, this year's SENDING DEADLINE is Saturday, November 20, 2021. Before signing up, please do a reality/calendar check to make sure you have the time, money, and bandwidth!
REMINDERS:
+ Swaps Central: our all-in-one check-in form! You remember it. Still a thing.
+ Email: please be prepared to contact recipients/respond to senders within 48 hours!
(If you are new, we also suggest emailing us ahead of time at yuleswaps at gmail dot com, so your email will hopefully know we're not spam.)
+ DW/LJ: we will post here after match-ups go out, so everyone knows they definitely did. Please see the FAQ for instructions on how to track the various yuleswaps tags!
+ Sign-ups: you should receive a copy of your responses, and you can edit them (via the link provided in that email) until sign-ups close!
PLEASE read instructions carefully, and take particular care not to typo your AO3 name or email.
+ Defaulting: can't say it enough... If anything (money, anxiety, life) should happen to you AT ANY POINT in the swapping process, please don't just disappear. Tell us as early as you can, and we'll work it out with you!
And now...
Swaps Forever '21: Cándypostale!
Swaps Forever '21: Hot Drinks!
Swaps Forever '21: Book & Audio Works!
Questions? Comments? First check out the FAQ, and then, if that doesn't sort you, feel free to comment either here or there, or email us at yuleswaps at gmail dot com!
Kat (kindness_says) & Livi (anialove)
We are (okay, I am) a little behind schedule this year, so putting off the dregs of 2020 follow-up emails in favor of getting sign-ups open ASAP. (If you are a 2020 swapper with a swap that never got fully resolved, you will probably hear from us soon as we try to close all those cases. :))
Caveats from the 2020 swaps season, updated:
1) International mailing: most countries have resumed shipping to most places! That said, it never hurts to double-check your country's postal restrictions. (New Zealanders, you still can't ship to Hungary, for instance.) We are keeping an eye on unofficial lists like this one, but it never hurts to warn us or, after you receive your match-up, check official sources and hit us up ASAP if we've made a mistake!
ETA 10/17: Oof, okay,
plumeria47 has helpfully informed us that the USPS is currently suspending shipping between the US and several countries, including Australia and New Zealand! A great example of something we'll try to keep in mind while matching...but please check our work, as circumstances (clearly) continue to evolve!2) Postal delays: we always expect delays due to holidays, and then last year was...you know. This year the situation seems somewhat improved, but we continue to urge caution around homemade/perishable goods. That USPS "2-day delivery" guarantee is NOT back in consistent operation, and other shipping services may be faster, but they're also generally expensive. So use your judgment about travel time, weather, etc.
3) Checking in ON TIME: in the interest of getting all packages and pinch-hits out efficiently, all swappers MUST check in on Swaps Central by the end of the last sending day (this year that's Saturday, November 20th), unless they have requested an extension.
Please note, we generally grant small extensions without penalty (we know people are busy, and our sending period is short), so we strongly encourage you to ask rather than risk being late. If you are very tardy and/or difficult to communicate with, you may be barred from one or more swaps in the future.
YULESWAPS 2021 SCHEDULE:
+ Sign-up forms are open now and will close on Monday, October 25, 2021 at 9:00 AM PDT. Click here for a countdown! Tell your friends! Tell your enemies! Tell yourself to set a reminder on your phone!
+ Match-ups will go out in late October or early November, probably over a period of a few days (in order to accommodate mail merge sending limits). Multi-swap swappers, please do not wait to receive all three match-ups before checking in/contacting your recipient!
+ As noted above, this year's SENDING DEADLINE is Saturday, November 20, 2021. Before signing up, please do a reality/calendar check to make sure you have the time, money, and bandwidth!
REMINDERS:
+ Swaps Central: our all-in-one check-in form! You remember it. Still a thing.
+ Email: please be prepared to contact recipients/respond to senders within 48 hours!
(If you are new, we also suggest emailing us ahead of time at yuleswaps at gmail dot com, so your email will hopefully know we're not spam.)
+ DW/LJ: we will post here after match-ups go out, so everyone knows they definitely did. Please see the FAQ for instructions on how to track the various yuleswaps tags!
+ Sign-ups: you should receive a copy of your responses, and you can edit them (via the link provided in that email) until sign-ups close!
PLEASE read instructions carefully, and take particular care not to typo your AO3 name or email.
+ Defaulting: can't say it enough... If anything (money, anxiety, life) should happen to you AT ANY POINT in the swapping process, please don't just disappear. Tell us as early as you can, and we'll work it out with you!
Swaps Forever '21: Hot Drinks!
Swaps Forever '21: Book & Audio Works!
Questions? Comments? First check out the FAQ, and then, if that doesn't sort you, feel free to comment either here or there, or email us at yuleswaps at gmail dot com!
Kat (
kindness_says) & Livi (anialove)
no subject
no subject
I just took a skim through and believe you can take the answer choices pretty literally. I am not autistic so might be wildly wrong, but we definitely have autistic participants who have never made mistakes signing up, as far as I know!
(I also want to assure you that, outside of CONTACT INFO and LOCATION and ALLERGIES, nothing matters much -- you'll talk directly to your sender/recipient and get more info through that way about your tastes.)
If there are particular questions you are struggling with as you go, I'm happy to help clarify via email or (probably faster) on Discord, Gchat, etc. Just let us know what the best medium/handle is -- email yuleswaps@gmail.com, if you don't want to post it publicly here.
Hope you're able to join us!
no subject
(Anonymous) 2021-10-17 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
- The vast majority of CAPS are not jokes. They are for additional/visual emphasis, and sometimes ease of sorting on the other end. Read them as you normally would.
- Under the "As a RECIPIENT..." and "As a SENDER..." sections:
"I EAT EVERYTHING. LIKE COOKIE MONSTER. ONLY NOT JUST COOKIES. OMNOMNOM," just means that you don't have any dietary restrictions/allergies (of the sort listed above in the numbered options, like being vegan or vegetarian or unable to have dairy) to watch out for.
And similarly, "PRAYING FOR A RECIPIENT I WON'T POISON," is for people who prefer not to have to accommodate a major restriction or feel very nervous about it for some reason or specifically want to send certain things that aren't dietary-restriction-friendly, etc.
no subject
For shipping via third party I've found that lots of vendors within Australia accept Paypal or international credit card with an Australian shipping address. It's not the same as picking out something local with your own hands but it does let you funnel shipping costs into ✨moar goodies✨
For books, book depository still does free international shipping but I'm not sure where their warehouses are.
no subject
We usually try to leave options open as everyone has different preferences/financial situations (don't want to force people to buy online or pay higher shipping rates through UPS/FedEx/DHL type carriers), so since we're finding out before matching rather than after, we may just try to avoid US-to-NZ/Australia matches?? but who knows what else will change. :|
We will see what our numbers are like this year, keep tabs on the status of other countries' postal services, etc. It appears that Canada Post has also suspended packages to Aus/NZ, but the UK's Royal Mail has not.
(If other habitual international swappers have opinions, please feel free to weigh in!)
no subject
Well, I'm IN for Swaps! I'm so excited!!!! <3 <3 <3
no subject