My post the other day about Diaper Swappers has sure gotten a lot of attention! I was out of town, watching the comments flow in on my iPhone email client and marveling at the discussion. There is definitely some heated opinions out there about Diaper Swappers.
But first, let me apologize. I knew these heated opinions and I didn’t share them with you in my post. So I apologize for that! Someone had emailed me asking me how to figure out how to sell on Diaper Swappers so my post was answering that, without going into some of the nitty gritty details.
There have been many people who have come forward saying that Diaper Swappers (or more specifically, their ads) have given people’s computers dangerous and destructive viruses. I have not experienced this myself and that could be why I didn’t think to mention it. I use a Mac, Firefox and the powerful AdBlock Plus extension. This means that all ads on all sites are automatically blocked. Even when I visited DS on my old, decrepit Dell with expired and useless virus protection, using Firefox with AdBlock Plus meant that I never once had a virus problem. Phew! But that doesn’t mean that this virus issue isn’t a very real problem for many people. So I would advise those of you who go to Diaper Swappers or want to check it out, to make sure you understand there is a risk and to take the proper precautions. Back up your important files, save your precious photos to an external hard drive and beware!
Of course, the issues with Diaper Swappers don’t end with the viruses. There are also lots of opportunities to get “scammed”. Again, this is nothing that has happened to me, thank goodness, but it DOES happen unfortunately. And some people are of the belief that DS makes it easy for people to get spammed. This is because of the “no bashing and no drama” rules, you aren’t allowed to call out someone who has scammed you on the board or even in private messages in an effort to warn others. There are stories I have heard where these issues have been handled satisfactorily behind the scenes, and stories I’ve heard where dozens of people have been burnt. It’s much like eBay in that you need to heed the “buyer beware” warning and use your best judgment. There are ways to protect yourself when selling and buying and you would be on that.
Other cloth diapering communities can also be plagued by scammers, but the argument is that on those boards, you are able to call out the foul party. Of course, it’s always possible that someone could be wrongly targeted.
There are other places besides Diaper Swappers to sell your used diapers and to hang out and make friends. Many of the commenters in my last post have championed Cloth Diaper Nation. I have yet to check out this site, but have heard many good things. There is also the forums at the Diaper Pin. There are great cloth diapering communities on Live Journal as well. Hyena Cart’s Spots Corner is my personal favorite place to sell things because there seems to be less hassle. If you’re into the fitted diaper craze, there’s even the forum at the Goodmama site, though I’ve heard it can be just as troublesome as Diaper Swappers. There are also countless of smaller, more personal communities. I belong to such a forum, a group that had formed on Diaper Swappers before branching out on our own. Sometimes we sell to one another and sometimes we just hang out and chat. I love these smaller communities because they give you a great opportunity to fit in somewhere and really get to know people.
My big question to all of you now is: What is your favorite cloth diapering community and why? Tell us in the comments, share your favorite sites and why you keep coming back. I’d love to hear from all of you!
CDN is definitely my favorite CD community! The mamas are fantastic, and scamming is not tolerated at.all. I feel very much at home there, and have “met” a bunch of great ladies! I’m not comfortable at DiaperScammers any longer.
CDN is my favorite of all time. While I still visited Diaper Swappers now and then just for extra info or to browse the FSOT, I actually got attacked on my BRAND NEW laptop just this morning! Thankfully with a bunch of virus protection and a discover and recover disk I was able to get into my PC.
CDN is a very “homey” enviroment and I’m glad that I joined there. I have met some great mamas and even have met some in real life. CDN is AWESOME!
Another mama from Cloth Diaper Nation (CDN)~LOVE LOVE LOVE that place and the wonderful members
Their is also a FSOT section 
Come join us!
I’m redfishbluefish on there.
I’ve only been a member of diaperswapper.com for a few months and I bought 95% of my future newborn diapers there. I got great deals and am very happy with all my purchases there and haven’t had any problems. Also all my questions have been answered at the various forums.
This only thing that bothered me slightly is that I made 20+ purchases and have less than 10 feedbacks. So people aren’t as good about that for buyers. The main reason I care is that I will probably resell my newborn stash at DS and although it’s only buyer feedback I imagine it will help me sell when the time comes. I know even on eBay I feel more comfortable buying from people who are also buyers, generally people who buy and sell generally treat you as they want to be treated.
Another CDNer here as well!! The community is much smaller than DS, but growing fast. We all know each other, and are more than just online forum friends. We care about each other, and uplift one anohter. I love the FSOT and it is growing as well. I see more and more mamas coming over everyday from DS. The more mamas we have the better the FSOT will be. It is a great place to hang out, and just all around my favorite place on the interweb.
http://www.clothdiapernation.com btw
Another CDNer here, as well.
I wanted to mention another Firefox addon which helps keep your computer safe, in addition to adblock, is called NoScript. NoScript blocks JavaScript. ALL JavaScript, and since pop up ads are written in JavaScript, it keeps them from popping up. It also keeps fairly benign or helpful things from popping up, but there is a banner at the bottom where you can click to allow certain things (like allowing part of the page, but not other parts). AdBlock is a good start, but it won’t prevent everything.
I started at DS but got scared by all of the reports of viruses. A mama there recommended CDN to me and I will NEVER turn back! I felt like a speck of sand at DS, and I feel like a community member at CDN.
I’ve been on DS for a few months now, and I love it there. Never had an virus issues, though I don’t doubt other mamas do. I use Firefox with Ad Block Plus – so I assume that’s why I’ve never had any issues.
I will check out the other communities though:)
And also, the LLL forums have a FSOT for diapers, too!
@ Pix – just wanted to mention, I find that LOT of moms (like myself) are just really busy and sometimes forget to leave the feedback for buyers and sellers. Try sending the mamas who have not left your feedback yet a PM reminding them.. I’ve found that 90% of the time, you get your feedback.. we all need a reminder now and then
oops I don’t know why Pix showed up as the name… sorry about that!