Even though I’m a bibliophile and love to browse bookstores, it’s difficult for me to part with my hard-earned money to purchase them new. Of course, there are exceptions such as needed textbooks, but I’m an eternal bargain hunter. So the Paperback Book Swap was a natural fit for me!
No money is involved except for the postage to send your books out to other people. Here’s how it works:
You start by listing nine books, which gives you three credits. In the future, you’ll get one credit per book mailed. The three credits are to get you started.
Search the books to use your credits.
You’ll get an email when someone wants one of your books. Simply print out the wrapper and mail. It’s that easy.
If you run out of credits, you can buy more for a nominal fee. But it’s always nicer to get them without charge.
Here’s a hint. It’s a paperback swap, but many people also put the books up in hardbound. Search for the title you want, and then scroll down to see if it’s also offered in hardcover. The cost is the same to you – one credit – but I’ve found the hardcover ones usually come to me in much better condition. Or just select hardcover on the search page (of course, if there are no hardcovers, you won’t get any returns).
On the subject of condition, remember that these are used books. They’re supposed to be in good condition, but that term is relative. You will get the occasional one that either gets dogged up in the mail or started out that way. You just have to add that in to the cost of doing business.
When you list your book, make sure there are no typos. Also, if it’s from a particular publisher that might be the search query, make sure to list that. For instance, if I’m going to put up my Kings & Queens of England & Scotland book, I’d put “Kings & Queens of England & Scotland, DK Dorling Kindersley”. My kids love the DK books, but I’d be hard-pressed to come up with the names of many of the authors. It’s the publishing style. When there are thousands and thousands of books to wade through, searching by the keyword helps! There’s even a homeschooling section, for those of us teaching at home.
Postage for most books is right around ~$2. You can do your fellow swappers a favor and order more than one book from the same swapper. That way, she’s only paying postage once. It’s always a nice treat when this happens. I try to decide whether a book is worth $2 to me; otherwise I’d go hog-wild and we already have too many books (*gasp* no such thing! dh thinks otherwise).
Have fun! Try it the first time when you have hours to spend browsing, because you will.
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