January 13, 2000 | Read Time: 1 minute
Children are natural traders — and now they can turn some of those Beanie Baby and Pokemon exchanges into a donation to charity.
Swap.com, a new Web site that went on line the day after Christmas, lets kids across the country trade toys, games, books, and other items with one another. Parents must sign kids up for the service, which then allows the youngsters to build their own on-line stores, where they can describe the items they would like to trade. Members of the site can then propose trades via an e-mail system that conceals the children’s identities.
For every trade that is completed before April 1, Swap.com will donate $2 to the pediatric programs at the City of Hope Cancer Center, in Los Angeles.
Bill Keenan, Swap.com’s chief executive officer, says he sees the City of Hope offer as a good incentive for kids to start trading, “not just registering or putting items on there but actually doing a swap to get the money flowing to City of Hope.”
All trades on the site are free until April 1, after which each trade will cost 77 cents. Members are responsible for shipping the swapped items, either directly to the other child or through the company.
To get there: Go to http://www.swap.com.
