Venting about my very first swap gone bad...

Almost 2 weeks ago I received a message from a swapper (who shall remain nameless) inquiring about a few of my items. We subsequently arranged a swap of...

MY:

MAC Full Fuchsia lipstick (BNIB)

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Stash (BN)

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Covet (listed as sharpened 2x)

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Ransom (listed as sharpened 2x)

for...

HER:

MAC Slick CCB (listed as used 3-4x)

MAC Underplay l/s (listed as used 3x)

MAC Gingerly blush (listed as swatched 3x)

MAC Ice Iridescent Pressed Powder (listed as swatched 5x)

I am currently wish list only and Underplay & Gingerly are the only items she had that are on my wish list. But, Slick & Ice piqued my curiosity when I saw them on her list. So, I Googled them & liked what I saw. Especially Slick, which one of the Pixiwoo girls used in a tutorial as a base for Club eyeshadow.

Once we came to an agreement & exchanged addresses, I went to get her items ready to post. It was then that I realized that I had listed Covet & Ransom incorrectly. Covet was actually sharpened 3x & Ransom only 1x. I promptly told her this & we eventually agreed that I would send her a BN Ransom (from my 15th Anniversary set) instead of the used one.

I have over 270 positive tokens & she only has 24. Standard practice would be for me to wait until her end arrived and then post mine. Hindsight being 20/20, I definitely should have done that. But, like a fool, I went ahead & posted the day after her. 3 days later (today), we both received our packages. When I opened mine and examined the items, I found that they are far more used than she claimed. 

This is a pic of the Slick CCB, which was supposedly used 3-4x...

Has a CCB of your's ever had a large dip in it after 3 or 4 uses? Also, notice that the plastic piece is out. IDK if it happened before she posted it or during transit. I assume during transit. The plastic piece popping out didn't even bother me, because it's happened a few times before. But, when I mentioned that the plastic piece was out, she practically accused me of doing it myself! Because that makes SO much sense. Right?

This is a pic of Underplay, which was supposedly only used 3x...

C'mon! Has a MAC lipstick of your's ever had a groove that size in it after only 3 uses? 

Worst of all is the Ice Iridescent Powder, which was supposedly only SWATCHED 5x. Take a look at this...

Has the surface of one of your pressed powder items EVER looked like that after SWATCHING it a few times? It's bumpy! I've received a few items that were bumpy before, but I have no idea what caused it. What causes bumps? Whatever it is, I'm sure that it's not a finger.


Every so often I receive items that aren't EXACTLY as described and I let it slide. But, the descriptions weren't ever that far off the mark. I am letting Gingerly slide, though. Because, although it looks to be USED at least once or twice, instead of SWATCHED 3x, it's still light wear. So, it doesn't really bother me. As for the other items... it's just ridiculous. I mean, she even had the audacity to state, "my items that you'll be getting are almost BN". Ha! On what planet are these almost BN?!

Anyway... long story short, we've a agreed to reverse the swap. I really hope that things go smoothly from now on and that she's not crazy enough to give me a negative or neutral token. I guess that I'll have to wait & see.


I know that there are so many lovely swappers on MakeupAlley, so this won't deter me from swapping and I hope that it doesn't deter you, either. After over 250 swaps, this is the first time that this has happened. I've never been swaplifted or anything. As the title of this post suggests, I just felt the need to vent (^_^)

Your opinions on this would be greatly appreciated. 

Please feel free to chime in!