Your  Wish List is the list for all books that are currently unavailable to order in the system, that you want to request when they become available.  (Books that you are only considering requesting in the future should go on your Reminder List.)  You can see where you are "in line" for a book on your Wish List by looking at any item in the list.

the Wish List is a very important tool in bookswapping -- many books are swapped ONLY through the Wish List -- so if you are interested in books that rarely become available *or* that are very sought-after, you will want to put them on your Wish List!

The SIZE of the Wish List (how many items you can wish for simultaneously) varies according to membership level:

• Standard Annual Membership gives a 500-item Wish List

• Limited Annual Membership gives a 200-item Wish List

• A la Carte nembership (the default level if not enrolled in either of the Annual Memberships above) gives a 100-item Wish List

You can view your Wish List in My Lists, in My Account: 

• From the toolbar at the top of the site:
  • Place your cursor over My Account; move it over My Lists > in the dropdown menu, and click Wish List.
• From My Account:
  • Click the My Lists tab; the Wish List is the default view (the other lists are linked in the yellow bar at the top of My Lists).

How the Wish List works:

You add a book to your Wish List by finding the book in the system, and clicking +Wish on it.

• the book must be currently unavailable - available books can't go on the Wish List.
• you  must have free spaces on your Wish List - the limit is 500 items for Standard Members, 200 items for Limited Members and 100 items for unenrolled members.

To remove a book from your Wish List - just check the box to the left of the item on your Wish List  and click the "Delete" button at the top of the List.

• You can remove multiple items on each page by checking multiple boxes and clicking Delete
• If you fail to respond to a Wish List offer withing 48 hours *or* click "I do not want this book" on a Wish List offer, that will also remove the book from your Wish List.

After adding a book to your Wish List,  you just wait for the book to be offered to you! 

• You can choose 48-hour hold (the default) which will send you an email when the book becomes available to you; you must accept the offer on your My Account page within 48 hours to get the book.
• Or you can choose auto-request, which will request the book for you automatically (even if your account is on Vacation Hold) if you have enough credits.

• More Basics:
  • The Wish List works by ISBN:
    • The ISBN you place on your Wish List will trigger a Wish List offer when that ISBN becomes available for you to request.
      • the exact ISBN will be offered to you exclusively for 48 hours; if you don't respond, the book will be made available to the next member on the Wish List, or released into the general database if no one else is Wishing
    • "Linked" ISBNs (other versions/binding types of the same title) if they are NOT wished-for, will trigger alerts also when they become available in the club.
      • However, these will NOT be exclusive offers; unwished-for "similar items" will be offered simultaneously to everyone on the Wish List for any version of that title, on a first-come, first-serve basis.
    • Non-ISBN items do not work well with the Wish List:
      • Since each non-ISBN listing refers only to ONE copy of a book, that will be the only book that triggers a WIsh List offer if a non-ISBN item is put on a Wish List
      • Non-ISBN items are not "linked" to any other items in the database, and will not trigger "similar-to-wished-for-item" alert emails.

  • Only a currently unavailable book may be added to your Wish List.

  • There are Wish List Limits according to your type of membership
    • Standard Membership allows 500 Wishes
    • Limited Membership allows 200 Wishes
    • unenrolled members are allowed 100 Wishes
  • To add an item to your Wish List, click the +Wish on the listing for the book
    • See How to find books to request for help finding books to add to your Wish List
• How to see where you are "in line" for a particular book:
  • Go to your Wish List and look at the item in the list
  • Note that your position in line will be shown in terms of ACTIVE wishes.
    • This means that any wishes in accounts that are on vacation, or any wishes that are on hold, will not show.
    • This can explain why you might see fluctuations in your position if you look at the Wish List frequently.
  • You can sort your Wish List by author (alphabetically by author's last name), title (alphabetically), date (date you added it to your Wish List, position (your position in the lines for the books) and estimate (our estimate of when you might be offered the book).
  • Auto-request options are color-coded for at-a-glance list management
    • Items set to auto-request will be green
    • Items on hold will be red
    • Items not on hold and not set to auto-request will have no color applied.
    • If you put an auto-request item on hold, it will turn red.

• If you wish for multiple versions of a book:

  • if you put multiple versions of a book on your Wish List,

    • be cautious with Auto Request, to avoid ending up with more than one version.

    • be sure to make a habit of taking the extra versions off the list, once you have received one version.

    • Our system will remove alternate versions *when it can* - but since not all publishers provide the information to link alternate versions, this is not always possible.

  • So members are responsible for looking over their Wish Lists periodically, and removing any items they no longer want. This is particularly important to do if you use the Auto-Request feature of the Wish List.

    • If you receive more than one version of a book because you didn't keep your Wish List current, you should mark all of the received copies received (you can repost the extras), and tidy up your Wish List asap.

    • You can read more about this in I received 2 copies of the same book!

Using the Wish List to GET books:

• When an ISBN on your Wish List is Posted into the system, and you are the first active wisher "in line" for that ISBN, you will get a "Wish List offer" email from PBS.
  • The book will be held for you as an "exclusive" for 48 hours
  • To respond to the email offer, log into PBS and click on the offer to accept or decline it
  • If you do not have credits (or - if you are not a Standard Member-  49 cents in PBS Money for the swap fee, or a free swap fee) to request the book, you will be given an opportunity to buy credits and PBS Money.
  • You can also click "Not Now" on the offer to decline the offer and keep your place in the Wish List queue (this will put your Wish on Hold until you remove the Hold). This option is available only once per ISBN-read more about that in 'Not Now' option for Wish List offers
  • If you do not click "I want this book" (or "Not Now") on the offer within 48 hours of the notification, the exclusive hold will expire, and the book will be removed from your Wish List.  It will be moved to your Reminder List.
  • Once you have accepted a Wish List offer, the request will proceed normally:
    • The sender will have 5 days to respond to the request
    • The sender will have a deadline to mark the book mailed
    • If the sender does not respond in time, or does not mark the book mailed before the deadline, you will get an email and the book will go back onto your Wish List--you will go back to your previous place "in line" for the book again.
  • If you decline the offer of the book, the book will be removed from your Wish List.  It will be moved to your Reminder List.
• If you use auto-request for a Wish List item:
  • When the book becomes available to you and you have credits, you will NOT get an email offer
  • The book will be requested automatically by your account when the book becomes available
    • The sender again will have 5 days to respond to the request
    • This will happen whether or not your account is on Vacation/Hold at the time.
  • If you have an item on auto-request and you do not have credits OR (if you are not a Standard Member) enough PBS Money for swap fee or any free Swap fees (and your account is NOT on Hold)
    • The auto-request will be converted to a regular Wish List offer: you will get an email notification, and you will have 48 hours to respond, just as explained above.
  • If you have an item on auto-request and you do not have credits OR if you are not a Standard Member and you do not have 49 cents for the swap fee or a free swap fee (and your account is on Hold)
    • You will simply be bypassed for that book, and you will remain in the same "place in line" in the Wish List.
  • Default auto-request option
    • • You can set the default at the top of the Wish List to choose auto-request for your future wishes - go to Options at the top of the Wish List.  Clicking that button will reveal a menu with two items.  The first one makes auto-request your default setting.
      • if you check this box, it will not affect any existing Wishes on your list, but all Wishes added while the box is checked will be set to auto-request by default.
      • Unchecking the box will not affect the settings on any items already on your list, but all wishes added to your list while the box is UNchecked will be added with the 48-hour offer option (NOT set to auto-request).
• When your Wish List book arrives and you mark it received:
  • The system will offer to remove all alternate (linked) ISBNs of that title from your Wish List
  • This will be done automatically unless you uncheck the box under this option when you mark the book received.
• Putting your whole Wish List on Hold:
  • To do this, you choose "check all" at the top of the list and then click "Hold checked"
    • this will preserve your "place in line" in the Wish List but your Wish will not be active
    • this hold will also make auto-requested wishes INACTIVE.
    • You can do this page by page or do the whole Wish List by checking the additional box that appears when you check the "check all" box
  • You may want to do this for example if you have no credits to accept Wish List books, but you still want your Bookshelf to be active
• You can also put individual items on hold if you are not ready to accept those items when they are offered to you
  • to do this, check the box to the left of the item and click Hold Checked. 
  • This will preserve your "place in line" for the book but make the wish INACTIVE
  • Note: items on hold still count toward the item limit on your Wish List.
  • Read more about the Wish List hold in Why is a book on hold on my Wish List?

Monitoring Your Wish List

Your position on the Wish List will appear to MOVE UP if:

(1) a member ahead of you gets the book
(2) a member ahead of you takes the book off his or her Wish List
(3) a member ahead of you puts his or her account on Vacation Hold and the book is not set to auto-request
(4) a member ahead of you puts that wish on individual Hold on the Wish List.

Your position on the Wish List will appear to MOVE DOWN if:

(1) a member ahead of you who was offered a copy of the book then has that offer canceled by the sender - she'll go back in line in her previous position.
(2) a member ahead of you who was sent a copy of the book got the book with a problem or never got the book and it was declared "lost in the mail" - in each case, she'll go back in line in her previous position.
(3) a member ahead of you had her account on Vacation and removed the vacation hold
(4) a member ahead of you had that wish on individual hold and removed the individual hold.

Your position on the Wish List will not change if any of the above does not happen.

SENDING a Wish List book:

• When you Post a book that another member is wishing for:

• The book will be offered to the member immediately; an auto-email alert will be sent.
• Your account will show the notation below:

• Reserved On: (date)
  Status: Waiting 48 hours for other member
  to confirm that they still want this book.

• If the Wishing member accepts the offer:

• • • You will get an email notiying you that you have a new request
    • You will have the usual 5 days to respond to the request
    • The usual timeframes and deadline to mark the book mailed will apply

• • If the Wishing member declines the offer (or does not respond within 48 hours):
  • • your book will immediately be offered to the next member on the Wish List for that book. (You will not get an auto-email notifying you of this cancellation; the offer will just be passed along.)
    • If no other members are wishing for that book, it will go onto your bookshelf. (If this happens, you will get an auto-email telling you that this has happened.)

• • If the WIshing member has the book set to auto-request:
    • You will not see the "pending Wish List offer" on your account page
    • This will be treated as a regular request, and you will get the request 1 hour after it is submitted into the system
    • You will see "pending 1 hr max" on your bookshelf next to the auto-requested item during the hour before you get the request.
    • When you get the request, the usual timeframes and deadlines will apply.
    • If the Wishing member cancels the request before you respond (you have 5 days to respond), you will NOT see the request when you log in.
      • In this case, you will not get an email notification of the cancellation unless there is no other member Wishing for the book 
      • If someone else is on the Wish List for the book when the auto-requesting member cancels, the book will be offered to the next Wisher.
      • If no one else is on the Wish List for the book when the auto-requesting member cancels, you will get an email notifying you of the cancellation and the book will go back onto your bookshelf.
    • If the Wishing member has the book set to auto-request and his/her account is on Vacation/Hold:
      • The book will not be offered to that member; it will be offered to the next member in line for the book
      • If no one else is in line for the book, the book will go onto your bookshelf and someone else can request it.
      • If no one else requests it from your bookshelf, it will be auto-requested by the Wishing member set to auto-request when his or her Vacation Hold ends.

• "Similar to Wished-for" items
  • Different versions (ISBNs) of a title are usually linked in the database
    • non-ISBN items are not linked to any other item, even if the title is the same
  • When one version (ISBN) of a book is Wished for, and an alternate version (ISBN) is posted:
    • ALL members who have a "similar" item (same title, but different ISBN) on their Wish List will get an auto-email alert from PBS.
    • This "Similar-item" email alert is NOT the same as a true Wish List offer: it will not be an exclusive 48-hour hold; it will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis
    • Members who want a specific version (ISBN) of a book should not request the "similar item" when they are alerted to it.
    • You can opt out of these emails by clicking the opt-out link in the email: one link will opt out of ALL such emails about ALL items on your WIsh List; the other link will opt out of alternate-version alerts only for THAT TITLE.
    • The "similar-item" notification emails can also be turned off in the Email Settings in the Settings tab in My Account.
    • Responding to a "similar-item" alert and requesting that book from the alert email will NOT remove the original ISBN from the requestor's Wish List.