# The Swap

> The Swap is GenetixBay's pseudonymous, escrowed member-to-member exchange, reviving the Bay's 2009 peer-to-peer roots, running only in the modes local law allows.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/the-swap.html
- Also written: Swap, GenetixBay Swap, Bay Swap, member swap
- Glossary category: GenetixBay terms
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

The Swap is the member-to-member exchange on GenetixBay. GenetixBay began as a peer-to-peer exchange around 2009, and the Swap brings that back with modern safeguards: members trade pseudonymously, value is held in escrow until the receiver confirms, and every item is tied to its [GB-ID](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/gb-id.md).

## In practice

A swap moves through offer, lock (escrow), ship, deliver and confirm, with timers and a dispute process. Members can trade gear and knowledge; genetics lanes run only where the law allows and, where payment or points would be a problem, as gifts only. Receivers ship to pickup points rather than home addresses, so a sender never learns where someone lives. Value moves in Wild Pearls, never Cultured Pearls.

Laws on giving, trading or shipping seeds and plants differ by country, state and province. Check local rules; the Swap enforces the most restrictive applicable mode.

## Don't confuse with

- **Cut trading**: the informal tradition the Swap formalises.
- **A store**: the Swap is between members; GenetixBay holds escrow, it does not sell the items.

## Related terms

[Wild Pearls](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/wild-pearls.md), [Cut trading](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cut-trading.md), [GB-ID](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/gb-id.md), [Pearls](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pearls.md)