I am not ready to trade right now (though there is one set of seeds I am testing...), but I know exactly how you feel. And I don't know how to do much here yet either, but I did figure out how to check if other people can message me. Are you getting your messages?

Because if not, what you do is right-click* on the little gray circle with a head in it (upper right corner of page) to open your profile in a new page, then in that new page you hover your cursor over that gray head *again,* move down and select "Edit Profile," and click. Then, on the next new page, look on the left side and click on Advanced Settings, then on the next page scroll alllll the way down, and there you will find the boxes that say if or how other people message you. It *is* rather involved.

*I do the right-click bc I like opening a new page for stuff like this, because when I'm done I just close it and the page I was working on is still there. Much easier to me. I am not sure this works on all Apples or on iphones, pads etc. There is probably a way to do it, but I do not know how.

I hope this is helpful, or at least, not too annoying! I feel your pain! I have emailed the Houzz folks a couple times and they've actually been pretty responsive, I thought. So all hope isn't lost.

The most helpful thing you can do is start your have/want list. Be sure to include both. It's much easier for people to trade with you or help when we know what you want and what you have. otherwise, people will just go to the next person. If you can't trade right now, make a note of when you will be ready to trade at the top of your list so people will know. If you have very little to trade but still need things, join a swap or two to help you get started. That is the most important thing you can do here. Everyone pitches in where they can. :)