Most of the pages you will use on this site have navigation buttons across the top of the page which take you to different areas. However, you can access all areas of the site from 'My Hut', so the help files below always start from here.

1.) How do I Specify the Games and/or DVDs I want to Swap?

Go to My Hut and click the Swap List button. This will take you to your Swap List which displays the Games and/or DVDs you want to swap. To add a new item to your Swap List click the Add New Item button. You can then search for items you want to add and add them to your Swap List.

2.) How do I Specify the Games and/or DVDs I want to get in return?

Go to My Hut and click the Wish List button. This will take you to your Wish List which displays the Games and/or DVDs you want to obtain in return for the items on your Swap List. To add a new item to your Wish List click the Add New Item button. You can then search for items you want to add and add them to your Wish List.

3.) How do I find Swaps?

You don't - TradeHut finds them for you! Instead of having to search through other people's lists looking for something you want - and then hoping they want something you have (like other Swap Sites) - TradeHut does the matching for you. Every time any TradeHutter adds an item to their Swap or Wish List - TradeHut searches the whole database looking for matches - and notifies all the parties that an opportunity to trade has arisen.

4.) How do I propose a trade?

Go to My Hut and click the Matched Trades button. The page lists all trades available to you. You can review the other TradeHutter's Rating and Feedback and propose a trade by clicking the Propose button.

5.) How do I accept or reject a trade?

When a trade is proposed to you, you will receive an email notifying you. The email contains a link you can click on to automatically log you in to TradeHut and take you directly to the detailed view of the trade. You can review the proposer's TradeHutter Rating and Feedback and accept or reject the traded by clicking the appropriate button. When you do this the other TradeHutter is notified by email of your decision.

6.) How do I know when items are sent and received?

Go to My Hut and click the In-Trades button. The In-Trades page lists all your current trades. You can click on a link showing the current status of each trade which will take you to a detailed view of the trade. On here you can update when you sent your item and received the other item and can see when the other TradeHutter sent and received their item.

7.) How do I see trades that have completed or which I have missed?

Go to My Hut and click the Trade History button. The Trade History page displays a list of trades that have been Completed, Rejected or Missed.

8.) How do I add TradeHutters to my Approved List?

You don't. Whenever a trade completes TradeHut automatically adds each TradeHutter to the other TradeHutter's Approved List. If you are not happy with this you can go to My Hut, click the Manage My Lists button and remove any TradeHutter from your Approved List.

9.) How do I add TradeHutters to my Blocked List?

When a trade completes it moves to Trade History. Here you can click on a Feedback button to leave feedback. If you leave Negative Feedback, you are asked if you want to add the TradeHutter to your Blocked List. You can remove people from your Blocked List by going to My Hut and clicking the Manage My Lists button.

10.) How do I Specify which consoles I have?

Go to My Hut and click the Platform List button. On the Platform List page you can specify which consoles you have - and ask for a new console to be listed if you have one that is not listed.

1.) How do I know other Traders will actually send their items to me?

TradeHut is similar to sites such as on-line auction sites in that it is based on developing a community of trusted people. When you trade with someone and they fulfil their part of the bargain, you will almost certainly be happy to trade with them again. After a successful trade the other TradeHutter is automatically added to your 'Approved List' and you, likewise, are added to their 'Approved List'. Each TradeHutter can also leave Feedback about the other TradeHutter. When a trade is offered, you can see the other persons TradeHutter Rating and review the feedback that has been left about them. If another TradeHutter has positive feedback, you can be reassured that they have traded before and can be trusted.

2.) Can other people access my personal details?

Obviously at the point that a trade has been agreed, each party needs the other party's name and address to send their item to.

Up until the point that a trade is agreed, other TradeHutters can:

• See your Screen Name

• Review Feedback left about you by other TradeHutters (screen names only)

After a trade is agreed, each party to the trade can:

• See the other party's real name and address - so they can send their items to each other

• See each other's email address -  to deal with any questions that may arise

Apart from revealing your contact details to someone you have agreed to trade with, TradeHut keeps all your personal information confidential and we never reveal it to 3rd parties.

3.) How exactly do TradeHutter Ratings, Approved Lists and Blocked Lists work?

TradeHutter Rating - The TradeHutter Rating is a number that is simply the number of negative feedback comments subtracted from the number of positive feedback comments.

• If a TradeHutter has a positive rating it means they have more positive than negative feedback

• If a TradeHutter has a negative rating it means you should approach trading with them with caution - they have more negative than positive feedback

• If a TradeHutter has a rating of 0 - it probably means they have not traded before (or they have an equal number of positive and negative feedback comments

Approved List - Anyone you trade with is automatically added to your Approved List when the trade is completed. However, if you were unhappy with how the trade went - perhaps they took a very long time to despatch their item - you can remove that TradeHutter from your Approved List. If you decide you never want to trade with them again you can add them to your Blocked List.

Blocked List - You are never offered trades from anyone on your Blocked List.

4.) I am a new TradeHutter, who will trust me?

If you haven't traded before on TradeHut, you must expect other traders to be a little wary - they don't know if you can be trusted or not. Let's say you are offered a matched trade with a trader who has an excellent rating of, for example, 12. You propose the trade - the other trader sees you have a Trader Rating of 0 - which means you haven't traded before. If the other TradeHutter agrees to the trade it is reasonable for them - as a proven, trusted TradeHutter - to wait to receive the item from you before despatching their item. Once you have a successful trade under your belt, you too will be a trusted TradeHutter. In future trades between trusted TradeHutters both parties can despatch their items immediately confident that the other TradeHutter will do the same thing.

5.) I clicked on a link to view a Trade and was told I had missed it. What happened?

When TradeHut finds a match - it finds all matches. Someone might add a game to TradeHut and it creates a trade match with you - and with 2 other TradeHutters. All the TradeHutters will be notified there is an Matched Trade and any of them can propose it. The TradeHutter that added the game might review the Feedback of the other TradeHutters (all good) and propose the trade to all 3 of them. The first one that accepts gets the trade. If you are the second one to accept - you will be told you have 'Missed the Trade'. TradeHut moves fast - with thousands of TradeHutters and hundreds of thousands of Games and DVDS - Trade Matches are created, proposed and accepted very quickly.

6.) How much notice should I take of Feedback?

The short answer is that you will almost certainly base your decision whether to trade with someone on the Feedback you read. If you read Feedback like ... 'They took 2 weeks to send their item and were very slow to respond to enquiries' - you probably won't want to deal with that person. But, if that person also had 15 positive feedback comments like ... 'Excellent TradeHutter, item sent straight away', you might think 'this sounds like a good TradeHutter who may have had dealings with one person who was a bit awkward.' In the early days, as we build the TradeHut community with new members joining all the time, it is important to give Newbies a chance to get trading and build positive feedback.

7.) How much does TradeHut cost?

TradeHut is new and we are still building the TradeHut community - so using TradeHut is completely FREE.

8.) Will TradeHut always be free?

TradeHut is a serious application which has taken a lot of resources to develop and implement. Going forwards we anticipate that TradeHut will be an extremely busy and popular site - requiring considerable ongoing investment in hardware, bandwidth and customer support staff etc. At some point in the future we may need to make a nominal annual charge for TradeHut which will allow us to provide the professional service you expect.

9.) How much can I save?

If you are a keen Gamer or DVD buyer, you can save a lot of money. Second-hand Games and DVDs are worth very little - which is why most people end up with dozens (or even hundreds) of them laying around. Using TradeHut you can easily swap them for other Games and DVDs and, in the process, get a lot more value from your original purchase.
As we say on TradeHut - 'Why keep buying? Buy Once, Swap Many Times!'

Platform List

Every TradeHutter has a Platform List. If you want to swap Video Games, you add the consoles you own to your Platform List. You can then restrict searches for games to only show games for the consoles you have.

Swap List

Every TradeHutter has a Swap List. You add all the Games and DVDs you want to swap to your Swap List.

Wish List

Every TradeHutter has a Wish List which contains the items you want to receive in exchange for the items on your Swap List. (You must have items on both your Swap List and Wish List before you can be offered any Matched Trades.) To get offered lots of trades add loads of items to your Wish List.

Possible Trades (they want something you have - check what they have to offer)

TradeHut constantly checks for matches between your Swap List and other TradeHutter's Wish Lists. When an item on your Swap List is also on another TradeHutter's Wish List - TradeHut automatically presents this Possible Trade. You can review the other TradeHutter's Swap List to see what they have available. You can see the Trader Rating and location of the other party - and review Feedback left about them - and you can propose a trade if you want.

Matched Trades (they want yours and you want theirs)

As well as looking for Possible Trades, TradeHut also constantly checks for matches between your Swap and Wish Lists and other TradeHutter's Swap and Wish Lists. When an item on your Swap List is on someone else's Wish List - and something on their Wish List is on your Swap List - TradeHut automatically matches you and presents the Matched Trade to both TradeHutters. You can see the Trader Rating and location of the other party -  and review Feedback left about them - and you can propose a trade if you want.

Proposing a Trade

You can propose any Matched or Possible Trade to the other party by clicking a Propose Trade button. When you do this the other party is notified by email of your proposal and the Matched Trade moves into your In-trades area to await an answer. (When you propose a Possible Trade it automatically turns into a Matched Trade because the item you want is automatically added to your Wish List.)

Accepting or Rejecting a Trade

When a TradeHutter receives an email notifying them of a trade offer, they click on a link in the email and go straight to the trade. They can review the offer, check the Trader Rating of the other TradeHutter and can click either an Accept or Reject button. If the trade is accepted, TradeHut sends an email to the other party advising them the trade has been accepted. If the trade offer is rejected the offer is removed and the Matched Trade is moved into Trade History for a month - so the same offer is not inadvertently made again a few days later.

After a Trade is accepted

After a trade is accepted each party can then access the trade from their In-trades area and can click to see a detailed view of the trade. As the trade has been accepted, the contact details of each party are shown to each other. It is now up to each party to promptly despatch their item to the other party. Each party can update when they sent their item and received the other item - and, when both items have been received, the trade is Complete and moves into Trade History.

Feedback

TradeHut is building a community of trusted TradeHutters. When you have completed a Trade it moves into Trade History. From here you can add Feedback about the other TradeHutter.

How should goods be sent?

In the UK, if you despatch Games or DVDs by second class post - the postage cost will normally be 58 pence. (Second class post provides automatic coverage against loss of goods up to £30 - but you need a certificate of postage from the Post Office to get this cover.)  Alternatively, if you trade with someone local to you, you can arrange to swap in person. If you do post your item, it's a good idea to make sure you obtain a proof of postage and that the item is insured against loss.

Approved Lists and Blocked Lists

When a trade completes, each TradeHutter is automatically added to the other TradeHutter's Approved List. When reviewing Matched or Possible Trades, if the other party is on your Approved List it is highlighted so you know you have the opportunity to trade with someone you have traded with before. If you are unhappy with another TradeHutter you can add them to your Blocked List. If you do this you will not be offered further trades with that person.