The Really Simple Penpal Swap :p No. 2

This is going to be fun! I love new pen pals!

I myself have to type because I have very bad pain in my hands and my writing isnt always readable. I hope my partner wont mind.

Forgive me, this is my first swap. How and when will I know who I am partnered up with? Is there any other information I should be aware of concerning this and future swaps? Thanks for any and all help :)

This is the first swap I joined then I joined one more, but I'm new as well and am a little unsure of how and when I will know who my partner(s) are and if there is any additional information I may need to know other than what I saw and read when joining. Thank you in advance for any and all help!

sounds great have to type mine hope dont mind as i have arthritus

I have the same questions as shortmommy23... I really am very interested in this... daetura1940

After the sign up deadline (listed above), partners are assigned by the swap coordinator. On the right side you will see, "See the partner(s) you send to", you must click on this. Request joining "Newbie Niceties", it's a group for newbies.

thank you for answering the questions cthelen.

please feel free to send me a message if you have any more.xxxx

how exciting to see how many people have signed up - thanks everybody

This is a great idea for a swap. I already wrote one of my two letters :-)

Can't wait to get started!!

So excited! I am a MAJOR lover of letter writing and Pen Pals :)

It is nice to think that this swap, that just involves making a new friend, is so popular.

it is lovely to see people so excited and to see the swap so popular :p thanks guys.

I am pumped to start sending Letters to each other I love pen pals!

that's great to hear musicaltheatredork!

Im excited I am going to go buy more stamps tomorrow!

i think i need to do that soon too mspanda :p

This is going to be so much fun! It has been ages since getting mail from another country. I cannot wait to see who I'm matched. :)

i hope you become good friends with your partners mssuzanne!

Hi! Can you explain me why you took one of my illustrations without my permission for this swap? As I already wrote to the admin, I suggest you to remove it. Thx.

Did you join Swap-bot just to say that here?

WOW

Today is the last day to sign up! Wonder if we'll hit the 200 mark. ;) I can't wait for partners to be assigned, although I may pm a few folks who posted here and see if they'd like to pen pal with me anyway, even if we're not partners. I LOVE having pen pals (and I'm a really good pen pal, too, by the way. At least I think so.) ♥

Just for the record, I saw where several have said they would need to type their letters. As for me, I don't mind one tiny bit. It's the heart and friendship behind the letter, not who has the best handwriting. I wouldn't want a pen pal letter to cause anyone pain, so I would definitely welcome typed letters, if that would be something you need to do. I imagine most folks here would feel the same way. ♥

I get today is the last day to sign up but when do we find out who our partner is?

sorry grelinmachin! :/ i just thought it was a very cute image and i found it on google images. will remove it in a second :)

so close to 200 :o because i'm in the uk and time zones vary everywhere, i will wait until the end of the day to assign partners! it would be nice to get 200 :) that's a great idea by the way gooseberry - no reason why you can't contact people to try and make new extra friends! most people have no problem at all with typed letters. i like to get hand-written ones but i totally understand why many people aren't comfortable with that :)

mspanda - you will get an email to say it is time to start swapping when i assign partners later today! :) you will then be able to come to this page and see who you're sending to and who you're getting a letter from.

just so that everyone is clear - this swap gives you two new penpals! :) there will be the person you write your letter to who will hopefully write back and you'll form a friendship, and then there will be the person who will write a letter to you. hope that makes sense! :)

Oh and is it ok for me to write a cute folded notecard? I got some new ones im dying to use!

i think it's ok to write on whatever you want! normal paper, cute paper, notecards... :)

Can't wait for this one :)

nearly there welshgirlie!

Only 2 more for 200! Will we make it?
Either way, I'm so happy to see so many excited pen pals! :)
I welcome anyone who is not my partner for this and who would like to pen pal with me, to please contact me. I respond to pen pal letters within one week of receiving and I really do love to make new pen pal friends. I welcome International as well as fellow American friends. :)

it did get up to 200 a little while ago but then it went down again! hopefully we'll find a couple more :) i would love to be your penpal gooseberry! if you send me your address in a message or email i'll happily write you a letter :)

I sent you a pm, jay! :D

got it gooseberry! :) if we don't get matched, i'll write you a letter.xxx

So far I have 3 new pen pals from this swap and partners haven't even been assigned yet! (that number could go down if I do get paired with one of the 3, but it not, then I would have made 5 new pen pals from this swap alone! woo!)

Yay! We are at 202 people now! :D
Welshiegirl, I know how you're feeling!

that's brilliant gooseberry :) i can't wait to assign partners...

204 now :o wow, thanks everybody!

Oh and i need to ask 1 more queston (sorry for spaming this with all my questions but I am new to swap-bot) If i get a international swapper do i do the same amount of postage or do I do more? (sorry if it is a stupid question but I honestly dont know)

you can ask as many questions as you need to mspanda! :) if you have never sent mail abroad before then i would advise you to post your item at the post office rather than do the postage yourself and put it in the mailbox. i'm in the uk rather than the usa, so i'm not familiar with your postal system, but our postal service has a website with all the rates, weights and everything else :) perhaps a fellow american can point you in the direction of something similar?! but i would definitely suggest going to the actual post office for the first time :) please be aware that it does cost more but if you're just sending a letter it isn't too expensive!

Ok thanks Jay!

It's 98 cents for international envelopes Ms Panda :-)

Yes, 98 cents for international, except if you'resending to Canada or Mexico. For those two countries (the rest of North America) it's 78 cents. :)

Yay!!! 211 folks signed up! :D

Thank you Lucky1234 and gooseberry!

You're welcome, MsPanda. Now remember, though, those prices are for a letter weighing 1 ounce or less. You can write a very long letter for just one stamp. I have a digital food scale that I weigh my letters and small packages on and it's been very helpful and accurate when calculating postage.

Hello everyone! I am new to this site, and I am very excited about joining. I love penpals and I can not wait to get started. Everyone has been so nice and helpful! Thanks for making me feel so welcome on here. I look forward to making some new and great friends! I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

@Gooseberry WellI might have to look into getting myself one of those... My first letter is going to be a notecard so Ill be good but I cant wait to find out who my partner is! YAY

thanks for helping out mspanda lucky1234 and gooseberry :)

hi spiritcharmer :) welcome to swapbot and thank you for joining my swap!

right! i'm going to go and check and assign partners right now :)

Can we request multiple partners? like Gooseberry, I would love more than 2. I am new also and this is my second swap, so far I love this group! Everyone has been awesome! So if anyone would like another partner, please let me know, I am not sure how to pm, but my email address is on my profile, I think!!

Awesome! I love writing letters and getting them in return. I look forward to participating in this.

Once partners are assigned, that's pretty much it, @kewlmom23 However, you have posted here that you would like more pen pals, so maybe other folks will pm you. I just went through the folks who posted here and then just pm'd them. :) To send a pm all you have to do is go to someone's profile page you are interested in and you will see a little box by their name at the top of their profile. The box reads "Send Message." That is how to send a pm that only the person writing to will see.

I have also received a few requests as well, so I'm swimming in pen pals right now! Woo! :D

i had a good day so i wrote it hope can understand my handwritting all sent today

Thank you so much for matching me with someone I have so much in common. I told my daughter, "There is a person like me in England. Go figure!" Looking forward to having quiet time next week to write a pen pal worthy letter. It will be most fantastic to get a letter in the mail!
Peace!

Gooseberry ;) i would love to be your penpals as well - if you want, of course haha

YAY I just sent my letter to JAPAN! How exciting!

hey i dont think i have recieved mine yet :( what dooo i dooo???

Gabrina - rec'd what? Your partner or your letter? The swap ends on Sept 22, so swappers have until then to mail letters out. I am kind of surprised at how many haven't been mailed out yet thou - I sent mine long ago. I hope we don't get any flakers.

i havnt had mine either sent mine ages ago got an amazing pal out of it,

31 ppl not sent 4 days aft end of swap? I really hope they r only late and not flakers.

Nothing like being flaked on both ways...received nothing at all~

@sayux3 Yes, I would write to you! But I've heard that Brazil is having a strike or something with the post there. If that isn't the case, then yes, I would love to write to you!

@Angee I sent you a pm.

If anyone else has been flaked on, please pm me! :)
I can handle some more penpals. ♥

p.s...I've had to recant my promise of a one week turnaround on letters. Please give me about 2-3 weeks to write to you, but I PROMISE, I will always write! I just don't want my hand to fall off, either. :D

Updated offer!

I've checked and almost NO ONE has been rated 1s for this swap! Why aren't they being rated fairly? You don't have to be mean, a 1 simply means you did not receive the swap. You can re-rate if/when you receive.

I would love new penpals, but the deal is, you must play fair, and that means rating fairly, too. Unless there is an agreement between you and your partner that you are willing to wait for the swap, please rate 1s. That's why there is a 1 rating!

If you have been flaked on and you've rated fairly, then please pm me and I will write to you.

i got flaked on too :(

I will write to you, @Beanyneko if you've rated your partner! :)

I've had to leave 1s a couple of times and it is not fun, but it's also fair. This was a lovely swap @jay set up and perhaps life got in the way of people, it can. Again, no one has to be nasty and leave ugly comments...just leave a 1 and say "Will re-rate when I receive". That's all anyone has to do!

Has anyone who's been flaked on contacted the host co-ordinator @jay !

Out of 23 people who did not send, only 2 were rated as having not sent!!! Only 2 !!!

I have pm'd those two brave souls.
Again, if you were flaked on and have rated as such, please pm me, and I will write if you'd like.

Be brave, folks! You're not being mean, you're being fair!

I've had trouble, too, folks.
My partner @collegebound has deleted her account and failed to rate me! So, yes, I do understand the frustrations. If I could have left her a rating for not rating, I would have! It stinks to do something and then not even receive a thank you or a notice that she even received my letter.

Yay for the two here who rated fairly!

OOPS!!! A BIG OOOPS!!! blushy blushes Dear souls who were flaked on, I just realized that today, was probably the first day the 1 ratings were available to you. Please forgive my little soapbox speech, although I still do believe in it, it may have been a little premature.

My offer still stands for those who have rated 1s. I already received a response back from one of the two people I pm'd! I won't be searching out any others for this swap (it took a long time to get it all figured out.) Just know you can pm me with your address and I will write to you.

I'm feeling frustrated too. @Puffymarshmallow won't answer the messages I've sent to let me know if she received my letter or not. I also have not received the letter sent me by @Rabu I run out to my mailbox every day almost before the mail-lady leaves to see if my letter has come yet.

@gooseberry I would write to you. :)

I never rec'd a letter, had to msg my partner that I sent to to see if she rec'd mine, got a rating but no letter back - too bad this swap was a wash!

Still showing 22 ppl not sent - that is really sad!

I said I wouldn't check again, but I am not going to leave people alone here, either.

If you wish for a penpal and you've been flaked on with this swap, please rate your partner accordingly (that means, rate a 1, comment optional, but you don't necessarily have to be mean. I'd rather not write to anyone who has been mean, and I am checking to see what you've written because I don't play with meanies.)

I have collected several people who were left adrift from this swap and there is room in the gooseberry boat for more. If I don't see you, then please pm me @gooseberry

I can't promise I will write back in a week as was possible before, but I do promise to write as soon as I can to you. ♥

I will continue to monitor this swap and toss out a lifelife to anyone else who is cast adrift (and who have rated their partners.)but I did contact the host @jay about the situation.

So far I have gathered 6 dear souls who were flaked on this swap into the gooseberry life boat. There is room for more, if you've been flaked and have rated your partner fairly (and not unkindly, just leave a 1 and come into the boat.)

@gooseberry

♥

So far I have gathered 6 dear souls who were flaked on this swap into the gooseberry life boat. There is room for more, if you've been flaked and have rated your partner fairly (and not unkindly, just leave a 1 and come into the boat.)

@gooseberry

♥

I was flaked on both ways:( I have messaged and messaged but no response from the one I sent to and never recieved from Nicole 1111, she is still showing not sent, and I never recieved rating for my letter I sent my partner :(

I just want to give kudos to gooseberry for saving all of these people, including myself, who were flaked on. I appreciate it, and I want to also say I would love to help out with her lifeboat project. I love to write and recieve mail, and would be more than happy to make some new friends. If you would like to have another penpal, please pm me your name and address and I will get started right away with helping the ones who were flaked on. I know how dissappointing it is to have this done to you, it has happened to me also. So please, let me help in anyway I can and I hope to hear from anyone who would like me to write to them. Thanks again gooseberry, I am here to help. :) I hope everyone has a wonderful day :)

I just want to give kudos to gooseberry for saving all of these people, including myself, who were flaked on. I appreciate it, and I want to also say I would love to help out with her lifeboat project. I love to write and recieve mail, and would be more than happy to make some new friends. If you would like to have another penpal, please pm me your name and address and I will get started right away with helping the ones who were flaked on. I know how dissappointing it is to have this done to you, it has happened to me also. So please, let me help in anyway I can and I hope to hear from anyone who would like me to write to them. Thanks again gooseberry, I am here to help. :) I hope everyone has a wonderful day :)

I just want to give kudos to gooseberry for saving all of these people, including myself, who were flaked on. I appreciate it, and I want to also say I would love to help out with her lifeboat project. I love to write and recieve mail, and would be more than happy to make some new friends. If you would like to have another penpal, please pm me your name and address and I will get started right away with helping the ones who were flaked on. I know how dissappointing it is to have this done to you, it has happened to me also. So please, let me help in anyway I can and I hope to hear from anyone who would like me to write to them. Thanks again gooseberry, I am here to help. :) I hope everyone has a wonderful day :)

I just want to give kudos to gooseberry for saving all of these people, including myself, who were flaked on. I appreciate it, and I want to also say I would love to help out with her lifeboat project. I love to write and recieve mail, and would be more than happy to make some new friends. If you would like to have another penpal, please pm me your name and address and I will get started right away with helping the ones who were flaked on. I know how dissappointing it is to have this done to you, it has happened to me also. So please, let me help in anyway I can and I hope to hear from anyone who would like me to write to them. Thanks again gooseberry, I am here to help. :) I hope everyone has a wonderful day :)

Sorry for all the post, it kept saying unsent. so so sorry for all of those :)

Thank you so much @spiritcharmer for the offer of help! I will keep watching this thread to see if anyone is adrift, and will direct them to @spiritcharmer

I contacted the swap-host @jay on October 24th. The pm has been read, but no reply. :(

Being flaked on any swap is unpleasant but for me, penpal letters are special. It is an offer of friendship and hopefully on-going letters. I love the ATCs that I have been sent, but sometimes, that's the first and last I hear from a person. Penpal letters are esentially a gift of yourself and it is even more disappointing to have that either not appreciated, or not to be offered in the first place.

Also, about ratings. I've heard some hosts and swappers say that people are not obligated to rate. YES, THEY ARE! It is just as much a part of swapping as sending is. It isn't optional and shame on anyone who doesn't rate you.

Ok, well, enough soapboxing. This situation has really upset me and especially that I have not received any kind of support from the swap host. :( That is very disappointing. Again, the swap host was @jay so you might want to make a note of that before joining any other swaps. I hope all is well with @jay but it would have been nice if she had been the one rescuing people...although I hope to make lovely friendships through them. There is always a bright spot, everyone.

So, again, any new folks who need a penpal, please go to @spiritcharmer 's little boat. It's so nice to have another little lifebout out in the sea with mine. :)

I love to write and decorate my envies and send surprises in my letters, so please anyone who was flaked on, message me or gooseberry and leave addy and I will be more than happy to send you a letter. I love making new friends, and I am here to help :)

well gooseberry, I have plenty of room in my lifeboat, I hopefully have one rescue :) I would love to write anyone and everyone who has been flaked on :)

well gooseberry, I have plenty of room in my lifeboat, I hopefully have one rescue :) I would love to write anyone and everyone who has been flaked on :)

I sent someone adrift over to @spiritcharmer hopefully she will accept @spriritcharmer 's kind offer of friendship. ♥

Anyone else need to be lifted from the sea of flakiness?

Whoops I'm awful! I sent this months ago & didn't mark it sent! I'm so very sorry to my partner, I honestly can't believe I did that!!