Paperback Swap? (Now Reading. . . .)

[DarkOne]

I realized that, with the popularity of the Now Reading thread, a lot of folks might like to know about the Paperback swap site

http://www.paperbackswap.com

In case you haven't heard of it, it's a place to swap books. I've been using it for a few months now and I'm really impressed. Best of all, it's free.

Here's how it works:

• You sign up.
• You post the books you want to get rid of (and get a free book credit when you post 10)
• If someone requests one of your books, you mail it out (and you pay shipping).
• The site prints out a nice label/wrapper for you, and if you pay an extra $0.43, it'll print the postage for you (usually books are sent media mail, so they cost about $2.13 to mail.
• When the book you mailed is received, you get a credit.
• With your credits, you can request books from other members.

It allows you to set up a wish list, and will alert you via email when someone posts a book you have on your list. I've used it to fill in trilogies or series, or to get some obscure books I've been seeking.

If you sign up, you can say that "Darkone" referred you (I think you get credit for referrals), but even if you don't do that, you should still check it out. The site is a really great idea.

Steve in Philly

 

[spag]

Someone put a http://www.bookcrossing.com basket on a table in one of the break rooms. I think it started out with all the books registered at bookcrossing, but now people just put whatever out there. I probably dumped 30-40 books on that after I moved. Happy to give them away if someone will read them, as I rarely read fiction a second time. Too many other books to read.

The one you posted might not be too bad. Bookcrossing wants to sell you these stickers for the books and such, like $1 each or something ridiculous. While I don't mind giving away books, I'll be damned if I'm going to PAY to give them away. At least with yours, it's more of an exchange. While it might be interesting, I don't really care about the travels of a given book.

 

[Kenneth R.]

I'd join up on this, but I love to keep my books, so they're all hardcover or leatherbound. I do loan if you can find me in real life though.

 

[Pellaz]

Yeah, same here. I almost never get rid of books.

It's a cool idea for those who DO like to swap, though.

 

[spag]

I used to keep all my books, till I started moving every couple of years. I think I started with maybe 80 boxes of books when I left VA, and have cut that in half every couple of years. Last move was down to eight, and have probably gotten rid of two since. Lot of technical books, so those are often obsolete, no biggie. Fiction I don't care about. The tough ones are the non-fiction, books on medieval weapons, motorcycles, other interesting ones. Thing is, I rarely look at them, but they are still hard to get rid of. I'm thinking about shipping the ones I really want to keep to a friend with a big house and lots of shelves. They'll be a little mini-wing of mine at his place, and I can move around and not worry about them.

 

[metalprof]

What I'd really like to find is an on-line used book store that specializes in sf/fantasy/horror, you know, kind of like a Sentinel Steel for books. Right now, I have many more books to move off my own shelves than books I want to get in return. I don't need to make money off them, but I'd rather get them somewhere proper so that they'll end up in the hands of someone who really wants them, rather than just blindly donating them someplace.

Ken

 

[Cheiron]

I have a used book store near me (Omega books) where I can get credit for turnins, and spend it in-store. They have a good selection of sci-fi/fantasy/history/new fiction/non-fiction. Its definitely not a 1 to 1 though! This is pretty cool.

I too like the aesthetic of having books. If I didn't care about the aesthetic part (it reveals something about a person), I'd probably go to mostly e-books, a library, or something else.

And yeah, two moves ago about half of my stuff was books.

 

[Harvester]

What I'd really like to find is an on-line used book store that specializes in sf/fantasy/horror, you know, kind of like a Sentinel Steel for books.

Ken

http://www.sff.net/people/doylemacdonald/bookstor.htm

 

[metalprof]

http://www.sff.net/people/doylemacdonald/bookstor.htm

Yup, I saw that page a while ago. At the time, what I found was that most of the stores want to sell me used books, but none of them have any obvious system for buying mine through the mail. That's what I'm looking for. But there are some new ones, so it's probably worth another browse!

Edit: I mean, I know I can sell used books via amazon or ebay or half.com, but I'm really looking for a place I can just send a gigantic box or two and get rid of LOTS of books at once. Like I can with used CDs via Denis at Sentinel Steel.

Ken

 

[LunaTEKKE]

Bookcrossing wants to sell you these stickers for the books and such, like $1 each or something ridiculous. While I don't mind giving away books, I'll be damned if I'm going to PAY to give them away. At least with yours, it's more of an exchange.

I'm a member of bookcrossing.com, and the service really *is* free...the stickers are optional. You can just register the book online and enter the bookcrossing web site and the BCID # directly on the book. You can do this by hand...or I know one member who makes her own stickers using computer address labels.

Of course, being a big geek, I bought the stickers, the post-it notes, *and* the bookmarks.