Platform Guide

BidSwap is a live marketplace with a twist: bid cash on a listing like a normal auction, or skip the cash entirely and offer a swap from your own locker instead. Everything happens in real time, right down to the countdown clock.

• Describe — a seller lists an item with photos and details.
• Market Decides — buyers bid cash or offer a swap, live, until the timer runs out.
• Close at Fair Value — highest bid or best swap wins, no guesswork.

Quick-start checklist for your first day:

• Create an account and verify your email
• Pick a starter profile picture
• Complete your profile (name, bio, location)
• Like a listing you enjoy
• Save a listing to your watchlist
• Place your first bid — any logged-in account can bid

Sign up from the login button in the navbar. It only takes a minute.

After registering, check your inbox for a verification email and click the link — that alone is worth +20 points.

Then head to your profile and fill in your display name and state. A complete profile is worth +10 points and helps other users trust who they're trading with.

Finally, tackle the Newcomer Checklist — six small tasks (pick a profile DP, fill in your display name and state, verify your identity by email or social sign-in, like a listing, save your first watchlist listing, and place your first bid) that add up fast, plus a +50 bonus for finishing all of them.

You can link Google or Facebook from the Connected Accounts tab on your Profile at any time. Linking is free — it adds no extra Merit points (identity verification is a single +20 whether you verify by email or sign in socially), but it gives you more ways to sign in.

You don't need an account to browse — look around freely and come back to bid once you're ready.

Four ways to find a listing: browse the listings page, use search, enter a listing code directly, or scan a QR code someone shared with you.

Each listing card shows the current price (the "floor"), a live countdown, and whether swap offers are being accepted alongside cash bids.

Any logged-in account can place a bid — there is no rank or point requirement. Your very first bid also earns you +30 points, so it pays to jump in early.

Every bid has to beat the current price by at least the listing's minimum increment — the input will tell you if you're under.

If someone bids in the last 60 seconds, the clock adds 30 more seconds automatically. It's a feature, not a glitch — it stops last-second sniping and gives everyone a fair shot.

Tap Create Listing and start with the basics: a title, a description, a category, and the item's condition. Descriptions of 150+ characters with 3 or more photos unlock a small +5 optimization bonus.

Next, set your pricing: a starting price, an optional Buy It Now price, and an optional reserve price if you don't want it to sell below a certain amount. Then pick a duration.

Once published, you'll get a unique listing code, a QR code, and a shareable link — post any of these to bring bidders in.

You can cancel a listing with 0 bids anytime, no penalty. Once it has a bid, the listing can no longer be cancelled — the auction runs to its end.

When the timer hits zero, the highest bidder (or best swap offer) wins, and both sides get notified.

From there, the seller picks the outcome. The system generates a PIN, the buyer sees it, and the seller enters it to confirm — and you're done. The Advanced Guide covers this whole process in detail, worth a read before your first sale.