Lisa's Question - First, I will say I do enjoy being generous. Some of you may remember I chose to send the packets last year but not collect any. And, I like to send lots of packets at the secret Santa swaps and in other places.
That said, this is listed as a swap and, as a 'not from the seed rack swap' at that. Watching Dave's video, it is about first putting in what you have to swap with and then, at the end, how to get things back. Dave created this space for swapping. There are places for newbies or people who have lost a lot due to moves, weather and what not to ask for and receive free seed in the forums here and over on Gardenweb. I find most of us are very generous with these people.
It would sour a lot of folks if people started abusing these swaps. Say you get 3 packets first night, 6 packets second, 12 third, 24 fourth.
I could see asking Dave to give the admins of the swap (or whatever name we'd give Lisa) the ability to set that anyone with less than say a dozen packets (or whatever number) enters the swap on Day 4.
That way, folks who have been working to gather, dry, pack, label their seeds and do all the data entry still have a chance of getting what's at the top of their wishlist and folks who have less can still, on the fourth day and forward, get many many packets of wonderful seed for their substantially less effort. Especially with Lisa asking about repeaters with substantially less entered.
If someone added, say just 6 packets and got more than a hundred back – and did that a few years in a row (so are they even growing what they collect?), is that fair to others here that they won't take the time to share yet can nab the most prized and sought after seeds? I understand sharing and always in swaps send more (like 5 to 1) for what I collect back. At the same time, I think people who put in the effort should feel rewarded and not abused by a few who can't make the effort to collect and list. There are so many on the internet who take advantage – it would be nice to find a way to keep those people from abusing these swaps. Otherwise, word may be spread among the 'takers' and the swaps here could be inundated.
I also understand that folks running the swaps can see what was sent in in years past and what people got – so they do know when someone is really not 'playing nice with others', offering a few and collecting more than a hundred repeatedly. The admin should be able to restrict these folks.
For everything above, I think if there's zero entered - people should be sent to the forums. Takers would figure out pretty fast that they could just create a new id repeatedly to join and collect and trot off. Let the swap space be about swapping.
Touched base with Lisa and told her I'd share my two cents here. I do think some thought to keeping abusers at bay will contribute to keeping these swaps a rewarding experience.