i think it all depends. I know that when i leave a 5 no comment it's because I was disappointed by the swap. I usually ALWAYS leave a comment saying "thank you!" but when i get a swap that I know was poorly put together with no effort, I give that type of rating.

There are some people who give 5's with no comments because they just do. They figure they got their swap, give their partner a 5 and that's that. If I get a 5 with no comment it's usually been for an ATC (one of the simplest swaps on here) so it doesn't bother me TOO much.

ok, I checked out her profile and just as I thought, she's not very chatty. If you look at all of her ratings she doesn't respond to any of them. It's not you, that's just the way she rates! :)

Some people are also very busy with a lot of swaps. Maybe they don't have time to comment!

There is no obligation here to commment when you rate. Trying to read people's feelings about a swap on the basis of what they do write is rarely helpful (Is "Thank you!" just being polite? They only mentioned the extras not the ATC, so did they hate it? and so on). Trying to read something into what someone didn't write is equally unproductive, and usually depressing.

I doubt it has anything to do with being busy or a number of swaps. I have tons of swaps and just happen to be oober chatty and leave comments with everything.

Well, typing "thank you" literally takes 2 seconds.

I have heard other swappers like cupcakechica say they don't comment when they are disappointed with the swap. and I understand that. But, I think it would be nice to let the person know exactly why you were disappointed with the package.

I want to send a pm to people that don't comment, asking if something was wrong, but is that being to intrusive?

I also wonder about that @yesiyesi I mean people not writing any comments with their rating.

It might be that they do their rating in bulk (maybe they're really busy and sit with 20 swaps and rate all of them in one go); it is difficult to know...

But it is certainly much nicer to get a comment :) even if it just says 'thanks'.

I'm disappointed also when there's no comment with the rating. Some swappers create such a friendly, chatty profile, I figure they'll leave a friendly, chatty rating. Not necessarily I've found out. I try to say something specific and positive about each swap I receive. Once in a while I can't, but not often. I at least say thank you.

And if the person isn't fluent in english they might not really know how to put the words right so they say nothing or they are superbusy so they rate a 5 and then come back later to leave a comment.

In my experience, the international swappers tend to leave a nice comment with the rating. The overseas swappers I've sent to speak english very well.

Sometimes I have left a rating with a simple 'thank you' simply because I was very busy, but didn't want to forget to rate. Usually I leave longer comments though.

I always say thank you (how rude not to, IMHO) and try to leave a comment - I try to find something positive to say about the swap even if I am disappointed.

However, I would hesitate to tell someone why I was disappointed, because it is such a subjective thing. I don't think it is worth causing misunderstanding and upset over. I just steer clear of those people in future swaps.

Only if a partner specifically asked me for feedback privately would I then give it. Very kindly and carefully. And never in a rating comment.

i don't understand. comments are not required, just rating. it irritates me that it seems that people are so insecure of what they sent that they need more than just a 5. hearts are lame, also.

now that i've said that, i've been trying to give hearts when i feel the actual swap item is amazing. and i'm trying to leave comments, even if it's just thanks just because i've read people's complaints around (like they were voiced here). it's just peer pressure, though.

Dear coracardoni, I don't consider myself insecure, and I find it a bit rude to be so snippy about comments and hearts. I'm sure other swappers that have the same questions as me would also find it rude of you to call them insecure.

As cupcakechika said, many people don't leave comments because they were dissatisfied with the swap.

Since the MAJORITY of swappers leave comments, there is nothing wrong in wondering if those that do not leave comments are disappointed with what they received.

There are also "overseas" partners who are not good in English. And there are people who are not chatty, and there are people who just don't know what to say. Not leaving comment because of being disappointed... well, I should be extremely disappointed if I could not even leave a "thank you". (On the other side, I seldom know what else to add.) Why should one always assume the worst? :)

yesiyesi, I don't think you're insecure or silly at all for asking that question; I think it's a very valid one. cupcakechica confirmed that there are people (herself, for one) who rate a "5" with no comment when they are disappointed in the swap they receive. I have only left a "5" with no comment one time, and it was a swap package that was so bad I honestly could not find one nice thing to say about it. In fact, the only way I was able to rate a "5" was by stretching my imagination to its breaking point, as far as how what I received could have possibly met the swap requirements. I wasn't just disapppointed, I was a little ticked off as well, as it was obvious that my partner had made absolutely NO effort at all to make it even a decent swap package. So my "5" without comment was definitely my way of letting her know I was NOT happy with the swap.

HOWEVER, in this case, I totally agree with cupcakechica. I looked at your partner's profile page, and to say she is "not very chatty" is absolutely correct. Her bio is extremely brief and to the point; she doesn't comment on any of her ratings or respond to any of the messages people have left her in the Comments column on her profile. In short, she doesn't waste words - LOL. So in this case, yesiyesi, I really think this has more to do with her way of rating/communicating than the quality of your swap. So I wouldn't worry about it, honestly.

I've seen this question on the Forums before, so I assure you you're not the only one to wonder about this issue. But if you know you did a good job and sent out a swap you'd by happy to receive, that's really all you can do - in any case. Best of Luck to you! :o)

I've never rated without a comment, but then I could talk (and type) underwater. I think if I didn't like something I'd still leave a thank you.

I would normally agree with you, Frogglin. I have received swaps I considered "disappointing" before, and have still managed to look for something positive to comment on in the rating. Once in a while, though, it's possible to receive a swap that's so bad that the Sending Partner should leave a comment and thank the Receiving Partner for the gift of a "5" rating, when it really deserved a "3" and a critical comment. It's kind of like the old saying "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all".

Not saying I always live by that saying - LOL!

Auntielle, shouldn't you leave 3 in that case, to warn potential future hosts and partners, rather than stretching your imagination to make it a 5? If I couldn't bring myself to give a 3 in that situation, I hope that rather than give a misleading 5, I would PM my partner and explain that I was not going to rate at all as I did not want to give the 3 it deserved. But then ... I'm meaner than you, Lisa! :-)

Well spinjenny, I believe it was one of my beginning swaps, like, within my first 3 months or so of swapping. I looked at the swap items, and imagined what I would say if I had been the Sender ... how I would justify how each item she met the swap requirements. And I still think I would "technically" have had to give her a "5". Because the items "technically" met the swap requirements.

Let me give an example ... let's say that one of the requirements was 30 stickers. I don't know about overseas, but in the U.S., lots of charitable organizations send out form letters, soliciting for donations for their charity. And they often send out a little "gift" as an incentive to get people to donate. Sometimes the "gift" is a set of address labels: labels with your name and address printed on them, for you to use on your mailing envelopes. Often, the address labels have a design on them ... to the left of the address. It might be a smiley face, a bird, a flower, etc.

Well, what if your Sending Partner saves those address labels she got in the mail, and cuts off the design from the printed part - and sends you 30 of these tiny little smiley faces, birds, etc. to you as your "stickers" in the swap? Well, I do NOT consider those to be stickers. They are parts of address labels that someone has cut off from the address part of the label. They are tiny, and they are all the same, and they were never designed to be "stickers". But they DO "stick", and they ARE a "design". So technically, the Sending Partner could claim that they are stickers, and that she fulfilled the requirement of the swap. Now that is NOT what happened in the case I was referring to. It's been so long I can't remember now what I was sent. But what I've just described is a very good example of what I mean.

It was that type of thing, and every item in the package was that way (there were only 4 or 5 items in the package). I figured that someone who would send out a swap package like this would also be the kind of person to come to the Forums and post about how her "mean" partner had left her a "3", when she did the best she could, and that she felt that the items fulfilled the requirements, etc.

As I said, I was still fairly new, and I really didn't want to get into a confrontation with someone like that. So I just rated a "5" with no comment. And I would probably do so again, just because, if there is a way that I can see how the person could claim that the items technically fulfilled the swap requirement, I don't want to get into a big "HooHa" on the Forums about it, or have someone leave irate messages on my profile, etc. Plus, there is also a side of me that asks myself "What if this is all the person could afford to send?" Of course, one answer to that question is that if they can't afford to send a decent package they shouldn't be swapping in the first place. But that is not my judgement to make. So I gave her the "5", and let it go at that. And I honestly can't say I'd do it any differently today, if I can see how they could claim that what they sent technically met the swap requirements.

"I figured that someone who would send out a swap package like this would also be the kind of person to come to the Forums and post about how her "mean" partner had left her a "3", when she did the best she could"

I know what you mean! I've actually never given a 3. I almost did once, but the host changed the description retrospectively so that I couldn't.

I usually comment when I rate, whether it's good or bad (I have rated few people poorly, and only when they flaked). But I don't expend any time worrying about those who don't comment. Some people are not chatty. Sometimes, I know I didn't put my best into a swap (this happened with one of the last swaps I did before I took a break from S-B; I could tell from my lack of interest in putting the swap together that I was getting overwhelmed and needed to cool off). But also, I've long ago learned that I can overwhelm other people with my level of chattiness, and not everyone is that way. It's okay-- I respect others' forms of communication, and a 5 is just fine.

My record on the forums and in my profile and rations demonstrate that I'm not a drama-starter, so I really can't blame myself if someone else doesn't want to remark on the swap they received. If they were disappointed, it is really not up to me to do anything about it if they can't communicate their disappointment to me.

@Auntielle you elaborated my point perfectly! I mean to say all that and more but thanks for saying it. As for feeling insecure about no comments, it's hard not to sometimes! No, there is no requirement on SB saying we must comment when we rate, but if you look at the majority of ratings there are usually always comments! If I get a 5 no comment of course I'm going to wonder what's wrong. So did yesiyesi. But then I quickly realized that not everyone is going to comment my swaps.

As for being disappointed with a swap, I personally am not going to rate a 3 if it meets swap requirements, but I will omit a comment if I see the swap looks as if no effort was put into it, if the items looked used, or if it looks like they dug through their personal stash and just threw it in a box and sent it to me! What am I going to tell them? "Thanks for the swap, but it sucked!"? I can't and won't do that. I honestly don't expect anyone to resend to me either just to satisfy me or meet my expectations. What if that's the best they could do? What if they felt they did their best? Who am I to tell them "Your swap wasn't good enough".

I think that's why I've stopped signing up for most large swaps, because I've been disappointed so much lately. I put tremendous effort into my swaps and customize them for each particular swapper. I can expect the same in return but it doesn't always come true : /

Oh :( I have one of those too .. I don't know what it means either. If I rate someone, I usually leave a comment too. I think this way you can say thank you or not and why you gave the rating. With this blank comment, it feels like it's negative somehow.

I know it's not OBLIGATED to do, to comment, but a thank you doesn't take much time. If you have the time to push the buttons for a "5" and "save" .. you can also type Thank You.

Communication is very important! No communication, makes me like something went wrong. LOL ..