I recently had the opportunity to join the internet book-swapping site PaperBackSwap. I thought I’d take the opportunity to share my experience here and explain some of what I learned.
First, it is a free site and was established in 2004. I really like the concept: you list books you are willing to send off to others. For each book you send, you receive one credit that you may use to request a book someone else is offering. The site maintains the database of books currently being offered by other members. You can also keep a “wish list” of books you’d like to have if they should become available. When you send a book, you pay the postage. However, when you request a book, it is free to you.
What You Can Swap
Apparently when it originated it handled only paperbook books, but that has now been expanded to include hardbook and even audio books (note that audio books cost 2 credits). The books must be in good condition (there is an explanation on the site of what constitutes “good” condition). Furthermore, you can specify your own criteria in your profile; for example, you might state that you don’t want books that are currently in a smoking environment, or that you’d prefer not to receive books that have ex-library stickers on them.
How it Works
Listing books is a piece of cake: you simply enter the ISBN and the database finds your books with photo and other pertinent information. There is a good search facility that will allow you to look for books you want, including books that are not currently available but that you’d like to add to your wish list.
After you list your first 10 books you receive 2 credits from the system, meaning that theoretically you could receive two books before ever being asked to send one of yours. I had four books to list and was surprised that all four were requested by other members within 24 hours. You receive one credit per book you send off, with credit given to you when the recipient acknowledges receipt (alternatively, you can purchase your postage and tracking through PaperBackSwap, which costs a bit extra but gives credit to you as soon as you acknowledge sending the book).
So I quickly accumulated 4 credits and went looking for books to request. I found one I had been wanting right away and have already received it (in good, but not new, condition). Several other books I want are not available at the moment so I added them to my wish list. This is the only downside I found to using this service: popular or recently released books seem to have a long waiting list. There were a couple of books I looked for that currently have over 300 people waiting for them. I didn’t even bother adding them to my wishlist but imagine it would take a long time to see those books.
A Good Alternative to Selling Books
I didn’t initially go looking to swap books. I had a few books I was ready to part with and, being a long-time eBay seller, first listed them on eBay. It seems that either I hit a lull or business has really slowed down on eBay, because not only did none of the books sell, but there were very few people even looking at the listings. Rather than continue to throw listing fees away, I thought I’d try another avenue. I considered selling them on Amazon, but since I have never sold there I thought a lack of feedback might make it tough. So, I stumbled onto Paperback swap and figured I didn’t have much to lose.
Obviously you would not want to list your valuable books here as all books are treated equally. But if you have some books gathering dust, you’re willing to pay media mail postage (generally between $2 and $3 per book) and you’re game to find some books you’d like to receive, this is a fun, easy, and frugal way to swap books.
You Can Also Buy Books without Swapping
If you are looking for a good deal on a good used book but don’t have one to trade at the moment, there is even a way to purchase a credit. For $3.45 you can buy one credit, for $10.35 you can buy 3 credits. This could be a frugal way to buy used books. Remember that audio books take 2 credits, all other books just one credit.
Have You Used PaperBackSwap or Other Swapping Site?
Have you used PaperBackSwap or other sites like SwapTree? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts or experiences. Obviously I am still new to online book swapping so would be interested to hear what others have found, good or bad.
November 4th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I have tried them all and like Swaptree the best. Paperbackswap has a good inventory, but I hate the point system, and I like the ability to do cross media trades. Plus, the Swaptree interface is amazing…I just love it. I have my whole family on the website. Best website for consumers since ebay. I AM HOOKED!!!
November 4th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
@Jacob - Thanks so much for the input. I signed up for SwapTree but initially thought that doing a direct swap (or the 3-way swap) might be too limiting. In hindsight I realized that a couple of the books I offered were sought-after (not necessarily expensive, but popular) and I might have been able to trade for something popular that I want more easily on SwapTree. I’ll probably give it a try next time.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
In my experience lack of ratings on amazon is not an issue as long as you’re the cheapest seller. I think the premium paid for good ratings as long as they are over 94% is quite small.
By the nature of the system, you will see a lot of early swaps when you donate “new blood”. After a while it peters out and some books, CDs, … take a long time to swap.
Personally I prefer the point system since it allows for a greater range of trades. I’ve noticed some complaints about swaptree when people don’t send until they have received. This is a problem if both people have that attitude. It is especially a problem in three way trades. Another annoying thing about swaptree is that people will list things on their want list and then decline trades or simply wait them out. If the CD and DVD part of paperbackswap did not charge, I would prefer to use those. Still, I have used swaptree about 20 times. It’s not bad, but it’s too subjected to the weakness of the traders.
November 5th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
@Early Retirement Extreme - Thanks so much for the info, especially about selling on Amazon. I may give that a try next time.
November 20th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Swaptree is the future. (p-b-swap is old-fasioned)
I’d like to read your review of swaptree.com.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:45 am
I have had a horrible time with swaptree. the traders you deal with are mostly children or act as such, items are shipped late. people complain about everything from what the item was shipped in to you did include a thank you note. rippoff’s are getting rampant. the site is getting worse every day. and swaptree will not help and at times get rather hateful with you
September 26th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I have used Swaptree a number of times, and enjoyed all the trades, with no problems, until lately. A book I sent was not received. Since I had the Post Office receipt proving that the book was sent on time, I thought there would not be a prolem. WRONG! Swaptree has treated me like a criminal, harassing me regularly, threatening me, and now suspending my account and my ability to participate. I am considered guilty in their eyes, even ‘tho I sent them a copy of the receipt, proof that the book was lost or stolen. They continue to accuse me of “not sending”. I deeply resent being treated like a criminal, and not being able to contact anyone who can fix the problem at Swaptree.
As soon as they allow me, I will drop out, and I will recommend that no one join, to be treated as poorly as I have been.
September 29th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Be careful swapping older books on Paperback Swap. If they have age stains (foxing), even though they would be in very good condition if listed by a bookseller, you may find your Paperback Swap recipient won’t be forgiving- for a free book! This happened to me twice, sending out out-of-print books that I could have sold on Amazon (one book for $77, the other for $16). Neither recipient sent books back; instead they threw them out and demanded their “credits” refunded. There is no arbitration in Paperback Swap, you pretty much have to refund the credit or risk having your account frozen.
Someone else posted on a consumer site that when she complained to the BBB about Paperback Swap, her account was frozen.
November 29th, 2009 at 8:08 am
@ BB: Thanks for the information. I will re-think about joining Paperback Swap.
December 24th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
These are actually great ways to swap and trade goods without having to spend a lot of money on new items. You generally have to pay for the shipping and a credit per trade, but that’s still a huge difference from buying every book you may read new.
January 25th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
I love Paperback Swap. My goal is to get old paperbacks out of the house and get some new ones in. I have several teenagers (3 - God help me!) and they are always looking for something to read. I have gotten several books right away that they want. Even popular books that seem to have a long wait list (over 150 requests ahead of mine) I have received within two weeks. Granted, if you are part of a book group and HAVE to get something read on short notice, it may not be your best bet, but I have found it ideal. I am a teacher and have gotten a few teaching resource books, and even ordered books for my kids to have an extra copy of a book here at home they were reading in school, and then repost and send them back out. Easy straightforward system.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:07 am
I have been a long time member of PBS and have not had any issues until recently someone made a claim (false one at that) against me and my acccount has been frozen for several days even after replying to the e-mail sent out. I have books that I needed to print things for which I now can’t..books needing to be marked recieved that I now can’t and those things will count “against” me too. I also have a lot of credits sitting in the frozen account.
I have not had issue with PBS before..but this siutation has me thinking on how often I will reccomend it now..
March 15th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Trading or swapping goods can really help you in saving money. Sometimes you can even get the package through free shipping. You’ll be able to get huge amount of discount in this way. But of course, you still need to be careful just like whenever you buy products.
April 2nd, 2010 at 9:12 am
My account was fine with paperbackswap until I started trying to use up my credits. I had about 108 when they froze my account, accusing me of reselling their books “on my storefront”. I tried to explain to them that I order a lot of books for friends/acquaintances who want books but do not want to join the club. Apparently my account activity over the last couple of months flagged my account. I received a nasty email telling me “Don’t try to deny it; we can see the books on your storefront.” What storefront? Their terms of use forbid anyone from reselling books either in person or online. I don’t see how this can possibly be controlled or enforced. I feel that if I am in possession of an item, then it becomes my property to do with as I wish. There is no way to prove any one book came from their website, anyway.
Damage Resulting = 108 credits with approximate value of $2.38-$2.77 each, which is the average price to mail a book media mail.
April 20th, 2010 at 4:49 am
This sounds like a fantastic idea in theory. I love reading but you can spend a lot on a book you may only read once. Some other reviews aren’t so positive but I think it would be worth a try to see how it works for you.
May 2nd, 2010 at 2:50 pm
This post was written back a couple of years ago but I think it’s just as relevant today when we are still in the middle of a recession. Swapping and trading becomes more and more important as you have to try to save cash and and this is a great idea. I’m a fast reader and I go through books very quickly so I need a lot of new material coming into my library often. That can get very expensive if you have to keep visiting the bookstore. This allows you to leverage the money you do spend into a lot more reading material.
June 24th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
I loved PBS until they froze my account. I put my account on hold for a couple months because I was too busy to read much, but when I tried to log-in to start using it again it had been frozen. When I emailed to ask why I got a chain of nasty responses telling me I wasn’t sending out books people requested. I don’t understand this because my account was on hold? I got 4 nasty emails in one day, now a week with no response as to when they will unfreeze my account. I have filled a complaint with the BBB in order to get a response from them since I have credits I haven’t gotten to use. I will NOT be recommending the site to other readers.
June 29th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
I LOVE PBS, I know some of you guys have had problems after reading through your comments, but overall I think it’s great. I don’t know if I’ve been lucky or not but I’ve had no problems with PBS and I’ve been a member for as long as I can remember.