Book Swap!

[gategrrl]

Instead of selling my books, the ones that I want to get rid of, I joined Book Swap instead! I posted 16 books up there last night after I joined, and five of them have already been claimed by people who *want* them! I do have to schlep the books to the Post Office tomorrow though, after I buy some packing tape. And then in about 10 days or so, I'll start receiving credits so I can ask for books/audiobooks/DVDs to be sent to me!

There's also a DVD swap. I have to tread carefully there; my kids are attached to DVDs they haven't watched in a while. And who knows, in a few years they might have fits of nostalgia and want to see that show they remembered way back when when they were five, and laugh at them. Hmm.

You can also buy credits instead of relying solely on exchanging books or CDs.

Comments

good idea

[ndmzero.livejournal.com]

I assume you're talking about swapadvd dot com and paperback swap -- I signed up for the books just over a year ago and for the dvds a little bit later.

I haven't had any real problems - one woman did send me a book that a rodent had gnawed on, but I could have gotten my credit back for it (for some reason I didn't, but I could have)

They work great - the dvd site is a little more automated - they'll tell you where you are in the request line. But they're working with much more limited stock - fewer than 100,000 dvds right now (of course, it changes.)

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try to answer them - although I'll be a little slow, as I'm about to head out of town.

[khek.livejournal.com]

Be careful if you have any Disney DVDs you think the kids might want to watch again. Disney only releases their movies every seven to ten years, so if you swap one of yours, it may be impossible to find again.

We constantly have a huge problem at the library, because the average life of a Disney feature film DVD is three to four years...which makes replacing something that gets lost, stolen or broken extremely difficult.

Other than that, it sounds like a great deal!

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Heh, except for a collection of early Disney short cartoons and Snow White, I don't think we have any of the animated Disney movies on DVD. They're all on VHS!

We do have CGI animated movies, though, but there's no way we'll get rid of those.

Re: good idea

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php, yup. That's the one.

I suspect I'll come across someone who thinks a little mouse nibble or snots in the margins are okay. If that's the case, out it goes.

I've already had to state I can't take books from homes with cats in them, or smokers. I hate books with that smoked smell to them (it never goes away) and I really don't want to start sneezing if there are cat hairs tucked into the binding!

Have a good trip out of town!

[agentotter.livejournal.com]

Which site did you join? I used Paperback Swap once but wasn't crazy about it. I mostly use Bookmooch but there's kind of a limited selection of books; I don't think that site has as many users as some of the other sites do. I do like getting my books that way, though... I'm able to send books I've read off to homes that are actually looking for them instead of giving them to thrift stores or libraries where I never know if they'll be read, and it allows me to get books I want without paying $15 a pop for them.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

I go to www.paperbackswap.com

I didn't investigate any other site. I stumbled onto this one, I think. I like the system, it's clear, and it's simple to use.

I put 16 books up on my shelf, and already five of them have been grabbed. When the person on the other end logs on and clicks that they received the book, then I get another credit to spend (or save up).

[agentotter.livejournal.com]

I think I liked bookmooch better because you can start swapping immediately... somebody takes one of your books and you get one credit, you don't have to wait until you've shared ten already. I don't usually have that many to share, you know? Their site isn't as slick, though; it can be kind of hard to search for books you want until you browse amazon and use the "mooch" bookmark to mark the things you want, which is pretty handy.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

If you had the $$ you can buy extra "token" or trading unit for $3.25 each to build your reserve up. It's still cheaper than buying new or used, in many cases. But I'll check Bookmooch out, too.