Shipping a swap
Once a swap is accepted, you each post your side. This is a two-way trade, so both parcels move at the same time — there's no "buyer pays first". Everything happens in the Shipping tab of the swap.
The default is post + tracked. It is four things: confirm your address, see where to post it, agree a day if you want one, then tell us you've posted it.
The top of the Shipping tab always shows the one next step, and the swap card on your Swaps page leads with the same button. Same wording. Same job.
Rarely, if you both already trust each other, you can choose In person instead — see below. Until you both pick it, you still need addresses and you still post.
1. Confirm your address
At the top of the Shipping tab is Shipping address. Your postal address is filled in for you from the details you gave when you joined, so most of the time this is one tap: check it's right, press Confirm Shipping Address.
If you'd rather it went somewhere else this time, choose Use a different address and edit it. That new address is saved for next time. If we've never had an address for you, you'll be asked for one here (name, street, suburb, state, postcode, phone).
Your address is only shared once both of you have confirmed. Until then, neither side can see the other's details. When the second person confirms, both of you get a "ready to post" email, and the same card starts showing Post it to — your partner's name and address, with a Copy address button and a Maps link.
2. Agree a posting day
Under the address is Posting day. Either of you can suggest a day you can realistically get to the post office and roughly when — morning, midday, afternoon, evening, or any time — with an optional note like "on my way home from work".
The other person sees the suggestion and either taps Agree or suggests a different day. It only reads agreed once you have both said yes to the same day, and suggesting a new day clears the old agreement so nobody is left thinking something is settled when it isn't. Either of you can change it later.
This is a promise between the two of you, not a rule. It does not move the 48-hour deadline and it doesn't stop you posting earlier — it just means neither of you is sitting there wondering when the parcel is coming.
3. Post it
Your parcel holds one button: I've posted it. Press it once the parcel is actually lodged.
- Tracking is optional. There's a field above the button — add the number if you have one and your partner can follow the parcel. If you sent it in an untracked satchel, post anyway and tell them in the thread.
- The only thing that holds the button back is addresses. Until you have both confirmed, it reads Waiting on both addresses, because there is nowhere to post to yet.
- Pressing it confirms the bottle matches your listing and that you agree to the swap conduct terms.
- Your posting deadline is shown as a line of text under the button, not a countdown you have to look at.
Your partner gets an email, a push and an in-app notification the moment you press it.
How to pack and lodge
Fragrance bottles are glass, and fragrance is a Dangerous Good — alcohol-based liquid that cannot fly. Every Australian carrier follows the same air-freight ban, so swaps go road / ground only. The short version is in the Shipping tab under How to pack a bottle.
- 2+ layers of bubble wrap or foam around the bottle.
- Secure the cap with tape so it can't leak in transit.
- A sealed plastic bag as secondary protection.
- A sturdy cardboard box — never a padded mailer; bottles crush in envelopes.
- Fill the gaps so nothing rattles.
- Lodge at the AusPost counter and declare it as Dangerous Goods, ground-only (Class 3 Flammable). Express Post is fine as long as it's the road-network service, not airfreight.
A photo of the bottle before you pack it is worth taking for your own records if anything goes wrong. We no longer make you upload one before you can post.
What you'll see along the way
Every step writes a line into your swap thread — accepted, address confirmed, posted (with tracking if given), cash top-up taken, arrived — so neither of you has to ask "did you…?". You also get a bell in the app and, for the big ones, a push and an email.
The top of the Shipping tab always shows the one thing to do now, and the swap card on your Swaps page leads with the same button. If it says It arrived, that's your cue.
If someone doesn't post
- Neither of you posts within three days of the deadline: the swap closes on its own and both bottles go back on the marketplace. If a cash hold was actually on a card, it is released and the thread says so; if the top-up was only agreed and never authorised, there was nothing to release and the thread says nothing about money. Nobody is out of pocket.
- An agreed posting day moves the deadline. If you both agree a day, the swap will not close before it.
- One of you has posted and the other hasn't: the swap never closes on its own — a bottle is already in the post. The person who hasn't posted gets a daily nudge (bell, push, email and a line in the thread) until they do. If it drags on, use Report an issue and a real person steps in.
Handing over in person
In person is rare, both-agree, and at your own risk. It is for someone you already trust — not a stranger from the feed.
On the Shipping tab you will see two pills: Post it and In person.
- If only one of you picks In person, the swap stays postal. Addresses stay on screen. You still need them to post.
- If you both choose In person, addresses hide. The posting-day card becomes a meet-up day. The next step is Confirm we swapped — one tap each. One confirm does not finish it.
- There is no tracking. Photograph both bottles on the table before anyone leaves.
- Report an issue stays available until the swap is completed.
- You can still end the swap until you have both confirmed the handover.
- If you've confirmed and they haven't, they get a reminder every day. After 7 days you can close the trade yourself from the Shipping tab — only do that if the swap really went ahead. They're told it was closed and why, and Report an issue is still there if it didn't happen.
Already met and swapped?
People sometimes meet and swap before both of you have tapped In person. That's fine. As long as nobody has posted a parcel, either of you can tap We've swapped in person on the Shipping tab. Your partner is asked to confirm it, with a reminder each day, and once they do the swap is finished for both of you.
Because your partner never picked In person, this one can't be closed by one of you alone after 7 days. If they never confirm, use Report an issue and a ScentSell admin can sort it out.
If you paid the cash top-up yourselves (PayID, cash, a bank transfer), you can both record that under Or settle it between you on the Details tab, even after the swap is finished.
Do not pretend you posted a bottle you handed over in a car park. If you swapped in person, say so here.
4. It arrives
If a tracking number was added, you don't have to do anything. We watch the parcel with Australia Post and mark it arrived for you within a few hours of it landing, and you get a notification saying so. When both parcels have landed, the swap completes automatically, both bottles move to sold, and you can each leave a rating.
If it was posted without tracking, or you want to confirm sooner, tap It arrived under their name. It doesn't matter which of you confirms first — you can each confirm your own.
If you've marked theirs arrived and they haven't marked yours, they get a reminder every day. After 7 days you can close the trade yourself from the Shipping tab, so it doesn't hang open forever. They're told it was closed and why.
Either way, the moment it's marked arrived you get two things:
- Say thanks — one tap, posts a short thank-you into your swap thread. Swaps run on goodwill and this is the easy way to show some.
- Something's wrong — opens Report an issue straight away. If the bottle isn't what you expected, is damaged, or something feels off, say so before you rate. We'd rather hear it now than read it in a review.
You'll also be offered a quick photo of what arrived. Worth doing if anything looks wrong; skip it if all is well.
Can I still end the swap?
Yes, up until both parcels are posted. Either of you can end it any time before that, no questions asked, and both bottles go straight back on the marketplace.
Once you have both posted, that one-tap exit goes away. Two bottles are in the post to each other by then, so quietly deleting the deal would put both listings back up for sale while the parcels are still moving, and would reverse any cash top-up that has already been taken. If something has gone wrong at that stage, use Report an issue — it goes to a real person who can sort it out properly.
Both sides posting promptly is what makes a swap feel safe. If your partner has gone quiet past the 48-hour window, the next page explains your options.
Next steps: