Travel Swop
Travel Swop is a peer-to-peer online marketplace where backpackers and adventure travelers can buy, sell, swap, or rent motorbikes, cars, bicycles, and travel gear across Southeast Asia, Australia, and Greece, monetizing via a flat $4 per-listing registration fee.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersHanoi, Vietnam
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Travel Swop does
Travel Swop is a privately held peer-to-peer marketplace that connects backpackers and adventure travelers so they can buy, sell, swap, or rent used transportation and travel gear at the end of one traveler's journey and the start of another's. Founded around 2012 and operated by founder(s) with personal experience traveling across Europe and Asia, the company targets budget-conscious backpackers and long-distance adventure travelers — particularly those traversing Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia — who need affordable motorbikes, cars, or bicycles at their destination or a way to recover value from a vehicle at journey's end. The marketplace is accessible via a web platform at travelswop.com and native iOS and Android applications, with search functionality that drills down by country, city, item type, model, and date availability to match departing "Swoppas" with arriving "Swoppies."
The platform's technology is a conventional database-backed web marketplace extended by mobile clients, with no APIs, SDKs, or AI/ML components disclosed. Listing taxonomies span accommodation, bicycles, camping equipment, cars, jobs, language learning, motorbikes, surf equipment, and tours, with seven operating geographies listed (Australia, Cambodia, Greece, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam) and inventory densest in Vietnam. Users authenticate via Facebook, Twitter, or email signup. Active social media properties on Facebook, Twitter/X, Pinterest, and RSS, plus a blog, form the documented marketing footprint.
Travel Swop operates as a founder-owned, bootstrapped business with no disclosed institutional funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no public-market listing. Its sole monetization mechanic is a $4 transaction fee charged to register each "Swop" listing, positioned as a quality filter (anti-spam) and to fund hosting and feature development. Headcount, revenue, growth metrics, and management team details are not disclosed in the available data, and the company appears to operate at sub-scale.
Travel Swop firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Travel Swop
- Legal name
- Travel Swop
- Website
- https://travelswop.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Travel Swop is a peer-to-peer online marketplace where backpackers and adventure travelers can buy, sell, swap, or rent motorbikes, cars, bicycles, and travel gear across Southeast Asia, Australia, and Greece, monetizing via a flat $4 per-listing registration fee.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Travel Swop industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Peer-to-Peer Travel Marketplace
- NAICS
- Travel Agencies (56151)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Destination/Activity Booking Marketplaces (Tours & Tickets Aggregators) (THAKAAAH)
Keywords
Where Travel Swop is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hanoi
- HQ country
- Vietnam
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
Travel Swop business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel
Revenue model
- Listing Registration Fee: Small fee of $4 to register each Swop listing to cover hosting costs, reduce spam, and fund development of new features
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Per-listing registration fee |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Travel Swop product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Travel Swop runs a peer-to-peer online marketplace where travelers can post and discover used transportation items (motorbikes, cars, bicycles) and travel gear (camping equipment, surf equipment, accommodation, tours, jobs, language learning) available in specific cities and date ranges. Departing travelers (Swoppas) list items with availability windows, and arriving travelers (Swoppys) search and contact them directly to buy, sell, swap, or rent. The platform charges a flat $4 fee per Swop listing to cover hosting costs and deter spam, supported by iOS and Android mobile applications.
Product overview
Travel Swop operates as a single unified marketplace platform with companion mobile applications. The core Travel Swop platform enables peer-to-peer trading of used transportation (motorbikes, cars, bicycles) and travel-related items (accommodation, camping equipment, surf gear, tours, language learning, and jobs) between travelers at different destinations. The platform is complemented by dedicated Android and iPhone mobile apps that extend access to the marketplace on mobile devices.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Travel Swop Marketplace Platform Peer-to-peer web marketplace where travelers list and discover used transportation items (motorbikes, cars, bicycles) and travel gear (camping equipment, surf equipment, accommodation, tours, jobs, language learning) by country, city, item type, model, price range, and availability dates. Designed for individual backpackers, solo travelers, and adventure travelers to coordinate buy, sell, swap, and rent transactions directly with each other.
- Travel Swop Android App Native Android application available on Google Play Store enabling travelers to access the marketplace on mobile devices for buying, selling, swapping, and renting transportation items and travel gear while traveling.
- Travel Swop iOS App Native iOS application available on the App Store enabling iPhone users to access the marketplace for buying, selling, swapping, and renting transportation items and travel gear on mobile devices while traveling.
Companies that use Travel Swop
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Travel Swop technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Travel Swop partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Travel Swop competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Campspace: Peer-to-peer marketplace for private camping, glamping, and motorhome spots across Europe. Adjacent category overlap with Travel Swop's Accommodation and Camping Equipment listings, and similar appeal to independent/adventure travelers.
- Workaway: Host-based work exchange platform connecting backpackers with hosts worldwide for volunteer stays. Targets an overlapping backpacker/adventure-traveler persona and shares the marketplace-matching mechanic, though transaction type is labor-for-stay rather than vehicle swap.
Regional players
- Motorbike Rental Vietnam (Flamingo / Rentabike Vietnam operators): Regional motorbike rental and resale operators in Vietnam and SE Asia that compete for the same backpacker transportation-swap demand. Direct overlap on the dominant Travel Swop category, but operating B2C rental rather than P2P marketplace.
Direct peers
- Turo: Largest peer-to-peer car rental marketplace in North America and expanding internationally. Same two-sided vehicle marketplace model as Travel Swop, but serving leisure and business travelers in mature markets rather than backpackers in SE Asia.
- Getaround: Peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace where vehicle owners rent directly to drivers for defined time periods. Comparable on the core P2P vehicle transaction model, though Getaround operates at much larger scale and in developed markets with strong insurance/payment infrastructure.
- Outdoorsy: Peer-to-peer marketplace for RVs, campervans, and outdoor adventure vehicles. Shares the P2P vehicle/gear exchange model with Travel Swop, though Outdoorsy focuses on higher-value motorized recreational vehicles in Western markets.
- Spinlister: Peer-to-peer marketplace for renting bikes, surfboards, skis, and stand-up paddleboards between individuals. Closest comparable on model (P2P gear marketplace with date/location matching) though Travel Swop's primary category is motorized transport rather than sports equipment.
Others
- Travelfish: Long-running independent travel guide and community for SE Asia, including accommodation and activity listings. Adjacent ecosystem player serving the same backpacker audience, but content/marketing-led rather than transactional P2P marketplace.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Travel Swop social profiles
Digital presenceTravel Swop financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Travel Swop leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Travel Swop funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Travel Swop M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Travel Swop
What does Travel Swop do?
Travel Swop runs a peer-to-peer online marketplace where travelers can post and discover used transportation items (motorbikes, cars, bicycles) and travel gear (camping equipment, surf equipment, accommodation, tours, jobs, language learning) available in specific cities and date ranges. Departing travelers (Swoppas) list items with availability windows, and arriving travelers (Swoppys) search and contact them directly to buy, sell, swap, or rent. The platform charges a flat $4 fee per Swop listing to cover hosting costs and deter spam, supported by iOS and Android mobile applications.
Is Travel Swop a public or private company?
Travel Swop is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Travel Swop founded?
Travel Swop was founded in 2012.
Where is Travel Swop based?
Travel Swop is headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam, in the Asia region.
How does Travel Swop make money?
One revenue line is on record: listing Registration Fee.
Who are Travel Swop's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Campspace and Workaway. Motorbike Rental Vietnam (Flamingo / Rentabike Vietnam operators) is listed as a regional player. Direct peers are Turo, Getaround, Outdoorsy and Spinlister. Travelfish is listed as an others.
Does Travel Swop have an API?
No public API is recorded for Travel Swop.
What industry is Travel Swop in?
Travel Swop's product category is Peer-to-Peer Travel Marketplace. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAKAAAH, Destination/Activity Booking Marketplaces (Tours & Tickets Aggregators). Its NAICS code is 56151.