Swaptree.com Expands Service to All U.S. APO/FPO Addresses

Swaptree.com Expands Service to All U.S. APO/FPO Addresses

Now Members of the U.S. Armed Forces Around the Globe can Receive DVDs, CDs, Video Games, and Books, Paying Only for Postage

BOSTON – The U.S. military now has a weapon of mass sharing. Today, Swaptree.com announced that it has expanded its shipping destinations to every U.S. APO/FPO address on Earth. Every member of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families can freely swap new and used DVDs, CDs, video games, and books with other Swaptree members, paying only for shipping. The extended shipping service arrives just in time for the holiday season and makes sending gifts to the U.S. servicemen and women even easier.

“We are excited to be able to support our troops anyway that we can,” says Mark Hexamer, co-founder of Swaptree.com. “Our customers tell us that every time they get a free book, CD, DVD, or video game in the mail it feels a little like a holiday present. Who deserves a present more than the men and women in our armed forces? Swapping free media items is a simple pleasure that provides a much-needed diversion for our hard-working troops.”

Unlike auction sites, classified ad services, or other e-commerce platforms, Swaptree is completely free, and doesn’t involve active buying or selling. After signing up for the service, consumers simply add items they would like to trade to their "have list" and put items they would like to receive on their "want list." Swaptree’s trading engine then instantly shows the user all the items they can receive in return for the items they are trading. The only expense members incur is the cost of shipping, for which postage labels can be purchased and printed directly from the Swaptree website.

“Many Americans are unaware as to how they can show support for our troops. Now that our services reach APO/FPO addresses, Swaptree users are excited that they can ship an item to military personnel, almost like a ‘care package,’ and therefore in their own small way show their support,” added Hexamer.

Swaptree’s process for shipping items to or from an APO/FPO address is exactly the same as shipping to any U.S. Postal Service address in the United States. After a user completes a trade, Swaptree automatically creates a perfect USPS postage label with the exact postage. The user simply prints the label and applies it to their package, which can be dropped into any mailbox, post office, or military post office. No fees are added for shipping to or from military APO/FPO addresses.

“Soldiers will tell you that many online stores are not friendly to APO buyers,” continues Hexamer. “Many e-commerce sites won’t accept an APO or FPO address, while others make soldiers jump through hoops or wait weeks, even months, for stuff to show up. That’s simply not right.”

Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE: SFE) recently led a $3.35 million Series C financing round for Swaptree. Since its launch in July 2007 by founders Greg Boesel and Mark Hexamer, the total number of Swaptree users has grown more than 30% percent per month. Swaptree trades are cost-effective and friendly to the environment because they save consumers from having to purchase new books, movies, music, and video games at escalating prices, and reduce landfill growth from consumers throwing away unwanted goods.

With close to a million media titles having been listed for trade by its users, Swaptree is making it easy for anyone to discover new authors, musicians, films, and games. The service also features online discussion groups, an online community for traders, and tools for using Swaptree.com with Facebook, Amazon.com, and a number of other social networking and e-commerce sites.

ABOUT SWAPTREE.COM

Swaptree.com (www.swaptree.com) is a new and innovative way for people to easily trade books, CDs, DVDs and video games for free with other users. With Swaptree, users can choose from thousands of books, CDs, DVDs and video games that they can receive in trade for items which they no longer want. The transaction itself is free. The user only pays for the postage necessary to send their item. Based in Boston, MA, Swaptree is a partner company of Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (www.safeguard.com) (NYSE: SFE), a provider of growth capital for entrepreneurial and innovative technology and life sciences companies.