What does White Elephant Barter Site Mean?
A white elephant is an expression for a valuable but perhaps burdensome possession that the owner cannot dispose and whose value to them is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth to them. In modern usage, it is an object considered to be without use or value to the present owner. It may be of high value to someone that could use it. WhiteWilly will find that person.

Why the name WhiteWilly?
It is the White Elephant Barter Site.... We had to name our elephant. (His real name is Wilhelm of course) It can be spelled WhiteWillie.com or WhiteWilly.com (Every domain name in the world seems like it is already taken)

What does it mean to Barter for things I will never touch?
When you accept a trade or your trade offer is accepted you become the Virtual Owner of an item. You own it but you do not physically possess it yet. You can trade that item away to someone else for something else without ever having it sent to you. You only have 7 days to do this. The Physical holder of the item or the person who listed it, knows they have to send it to a new owner and are waiting to see who that may be. Once they get notice to send the item (either manually by the new owner or automatically after 7 days) the new owners Name and Address become visible to them. If you trade away the item before 7 days is up the listing person only gets the name of the final owner.

Why would I offer my item to many people for many different things?
Don't offer your item for things you don't want or don't think you can trade for something else. If someone accepts, you own that item and they own yours. You might get stuck with a white elephant! Offers are what make connections. If you offer an item to someone. They likely will not want your item, (what are the odds that your random item will appeal to the random person with the item you want?) but all the people that they offered their item to can now see your item as something they can trade for.. If one of them wants your item you will end up with the item you wanted. (everyone will)

What is show interest?
If you are interested in an item but hesitate to offer something you have, show interest, it is a way to link your name to an item. If the owner looks at who showed interest they may make an offer with that item to you for an item you have. It is also a good way to keep track of items you are interested in without committing to an offer.

What does it mean to Make an Offer?
It is a very simple legal contract you create that says I am willing to trade my item for your item. If the other user clicks accept, that executes the trade. At that point that item you physically hold is not yours. You are obligated to honor the trade. They own the item you listed with all rights to trade it away or ask to have it shipped and you own the item they listed with all rights to trade it away or ask to have it shipped.

What if I change my mind?
If you change your mind prior to the acceptance of an offer you can simply “de-list” your item. This voids all your offers. If you simply “re-list” your item shortly after “de-listing” it, you will retain all offers by you to others and to you from others. If you re-enter the item then you start over with making offers.

What if I dont send the item?
You will have broke a legal contract and would be subject to what ever consequences that may bring. A contract such as this is enforceable in any court and could constitute criminal behavior such as theft by fraud. Remember you are trading something you really didn't want anymore. Honor your word and trade the item you received to someone that really wants it for an item you really want.

What if Someone doesn't send an item to me?
Once you ask for your item you have access to their name address and phone number and email address. I wouldn't pull a “OJ Simpson” and go get my stuff by force or anything but you would be able to contact the authorities or file a claim in court if you felt that was needed. Likely just talking to the people would resolve the situation. You can give a rating for every deal that is done and your low ranking could possibly ban them from the site if they have had other bad ratings.

The site tells me I am banned?
If your ranking drops below 4 out of 10 you didn't impress the people you've traded with and we likely don't want you as part of our community online. If you feel the rating was unfair you can write us and we will investigate it. You lose all your credits and all your listings are delisted if that happens. You will get them back if the investigation reveals substantial evidence that you did exactly what you said you would and still got a bad rating.

Why do I constantly have to re-list my item before it expires?
We want to be sure that all items are still active and available to trade. Re-affirmation of this is your assurance that the item you desire is still active and available. You can have the item on the site with one listing credit charge for months, But you must re-list it every two weeks at a minimum. A simple button push is all it takes. There is no additional charge unless the item has expired. Then you would have pay again to re-list it. You do not lose the offers you made or any offers made to you if re-listing the item even after it has expired. (some of those items may have been traded away though)

What if I decide to give my item to a friend or something?
De-list the item BEFORE you give it away. At any instant, an offer you made even weeks ago may be accepted.