Update: No more 99 cents. Swaprocks is now FREE.

The folks at Swaprocks sent me a press release about their new "online forum for swapping CDs, DVDs and video games." I checked out the site and they are actually bringing back the oldest form of commerce there is: bartering. (Tip: lose the weird bearded stock image guy...) Here's how it works: Need to get rid of that old Night Ranger CD? List it on Swaprocks (for free)...When the another member, dying to hear "Sister Christian" sees the listing, they request the CD and pay only 99 cents. The former owner of the Night Ranger CD then gets a free credit and can go claim a copy of the original Frogger video game. You get the gist. So it's more like bartering with the service than a peer-to-peer direct swap, but anyway... From the release:

"I can't believe that music download sites will charge someone $12 for a release, and the consumer is willing to pay for it when they aren't getting anything tangible and graphic like the artwork and case, and if they don’t like it they have nothing to resale," said Frank Bridges, founder and CEO of Swaprocks. "That leaves consumers with the only option of illegally downloading through one of the peer-to-peer sites, and that is very risky because it's only a matter of time until these sites are shut down or you get handed a subpoena. I might live for rock 'n roll, but I’m not willing to sit in a jail cell to listen to it."

I don't think teens are going to give up illegal downloading just yet...but this is a really interesting start-up...

Posted by anastasia