The auto-request feature on the Wish List will request a Wish List book automatically for you when it becomes available, as long as you have the needed balance(s) in your account to make a request, skipping the email offer/confirmation step. 

Auto-request will work even if an account is on Vacation/Hold.

To use Auto-request, be sure you have the needed balance(s) in your account to submit a request:

• if you are enrolled as a Standard Member, for an Auto-Request to go through your account will need to have at least 1 Book Credit (or two for an audio CD book)

• if you are not enrolled as a Standard Member (if you are a Limited Member or A la Carte Member), for an Auto-Request to go through your account will need to have both the necessary Book Credit(s) plus EITHER enough PBS Money for the Swap Fee, OR a Free Swap).

If you do NOT have the balance(s) needed when the book becomes available:

• and your account is ACTIVE (not on Vacation Hold) : the auto-request will convert to a regular Wish List offer with 48-hour exclusive hold. You will be sent an email alert and will have a chance to purchase the balance(s) needed to accept the offer.

• and your account is on Vacation Hold :  you will be "bypassed" for this copy of the book -- the book will be offered to the next member in the queue, and you will remain in your place in the Wish List.

Why use auto-request?

• If you know you will not be able to respond to a Wish List offer email within 48 hours (or if you are going away and putting your account on hold), you will be sure not to miss a Wish List book.
• If you aren't able to send books for a while (but want to continue to get WIsh List books when they become available) you can put your account on Vacation Hold to hide your Bookshelf and use auto-request to keep your Wishes active.

How to Set a Wish List item to Auto-Request

• Go to your Wish List
• Check the box to the left of the item
• Then click  "Auto-Request - ON" at the top of the list
• On the box that comes up, confirm that you want to make the change.

To disable the "auto-request" feature for an item on your Wish List:

• Go to your Wish List
• Check the box to the left of the item
• Then click  "Auto-Request - OFF" at the top of the list
• On the box that comes up, confirm that you want to make the change.

You can also set auto-request to be the default option for every new Wish you add to your Wish List:

• Click "Options" at the top of your Wish List.
• Check the box next to  " Set my future wishes to auto request by default."
  • Doing this will not affect the settings for existing wishes.
  • All books you add to your Wish List while this option is chosen will be set to auto-request by default
• To undo the default auto-request for future wishes, uncheck that box.
  • Doing that will not affect the settings for existing wishes.

Cautions about using the Auto Request feature:

• You must be very conscientious about keeping your mailing address updated in your Account Settings, if you use Auto Request. Keeping your mailing address current is in our Terms of Use anyway -- but it's especially important with auto-request. This will prevent books from being sent to to the wrong address, since Media mail is not routinely forwarded. (If a book is sent to your old address, you will need to pay the credit for the book sent in good faith to the address provided.)
• It's important to check over your Wish List periodically (at least once a month) to ensure that you remove any items you no longer want. This will prevent books from being sent to you that you don't want anymore (if this happens, you will need to mark them received when they arrive).
• Again, you must have the balance(s) needed to submit the request for the automatic request to go through:
  • If you are a Standard Member, you just need a Book Credit.
  • If you are NOT enrolled in Standard Annual Membership you'll need Book Credit plus:
    • enough PBS Money (49 cents) to cover a Swap Fee
    • OR a Free Swap (30 of these come with Limited Annual Membership, AND they are also earned by sending a book with Printable Postage)
  • If you don't have adequate balances for a request, your auto-request will convert to a Wish List offer with 48 hours to respond.
    • If your account is on Vacation Hold when this happens (the book becomes available without adequate balances), you will simply be "skipped" and you will not be offered that copy of the book at all.
• If you wish for more than one version of a book, you should not use Auto Request for more than one version - to avoid ending up with more than one copy of the book
  • Note: If you wish for more than one version of a book and you do use auto-request for your Wish List items, you should be sure to check over your Wish List periodically and remove items you no longer want/have already received. The system will remove all linked alternate versions of a Wish List book when you mark one version received, but the system does not always have alternate versions linked, so you can't count on that 100%. All members who use the Wish List should periodically check over their Wish Lists to keep them current.
• If you use auto-request you should be sure NOT to opt out of the "Book Request Accepted into the System" auto-emails, as those will tell you when an auto-request happens.
  • If it's a book you actually no longer want (if you didn't get a chance to clean up your Wish List to remove that wish), the email notification will allow you to cancel the request if you go to your My Account page in time.
  • To make sure you get those auto-emails, you should UNcheck the box next to " Book Request Accepted in System " in your Email Settings. Here's a link:

http://www.paperbackswap.com/members/profile/account_settings.php#email_settings

Be sure to click "Update Email Settings" in that section to apply the change!

• If you change your mailing address or for any reason are not prepared to receive books at the address in your account settings, you should be sure that auto-request is OFF, because auto-request keeps Wishes active even while your account is on Vacation Hold.
• If you are at an APO/FPO/DPO address, or in HI/AK/GU/VI or any other address outside the contiguous US, you should not use Auto-request for your Wish List items, since books mailed to you may be declared "lost" by the system while they are still en route - and you don't want another copy to be auto-requested before the first copy arrives.

Related Links:

How the Wish List Works
How the Vacation/Hold feature works
How does the Vacation Hold affect My Wish List?