PLEASE NOTE the relaxed deadlines for mailing during the Covid pandemic are no longer in effect, as of 5/17/2023.

This is what happens after you submit your request for a book:

The sender has 4 full days to respond to your book request. If the sender does not respond (or if the sender declines the request) the system will automatically pass your request to the next member offering the same book. 

Usually the first sender who gets the request sends the book, but sometimes a request has to go through a couple of members.  The system will continue to pass your request along automatically, until either (1) a sender marks the book mailed to you or (2) you click Cancel Order on your pending request.  You will not get an email when your request is passed along - you can tell your request has been passed along if the Requested On date changes on the pending request on your My Account page.

Read more about the requesting process here.

Read more about the sending process here.

You can monitor the progress of your book request from your account page.

To do this:

• Log into PBS
• Click My Account in the main toolbar at the top of the site.
• Click the "Books I've Requested" tab under the Message from the Librarian.
• The status of each request you have submitted appears In the "speech bubble" on the right.
  • "Requested on:" is the date and time that you submitted the request (or that the request was re-submitted by the system if the original request was canceled)
• There are three steps to the sending process (acceptance - printing - mailing).
  • Acceptance
    • If you see "Waiting for Member"
      • this means the sender has not yet agreed to send the book (he or she has 4 full days to respond).
    • If you see "Accepted"
      • this means that the sender has agreed to send the book, and has 7 full days from the date of acceptance in which to mark the book mailed. 
      • You can see the deadline for the sender to mark mailed if you click on the little grey exclamation point on the request on your My Account main page.
  • Printing
    • This line will appear after the request has been accepted
    • If you see  "Awaiting Member"
      • this means the sender has not yet accessed the address from the request.  The request can still be canceled by you at this point.
    • If you see  "Printed:" (with a date)
      • this means that the sender has printed your address to send the book (the request can no longer be canceled by you at this point).
      • The date shown here is the LAST time the address was printed.  This will update if the sender reprints the address.
  • Mailing
    • You can see the deadline to mark mailed if you click on the little grey exclamation point on the request on your My Account main page.
    • When the sender marks the book mailed, the request will move to your En Route to Me tab in My Account, and you will be sent an email from PBS telling you the book is on its way.
    • If the sender does not mark the book mailed by the deadline, 
      • your request will time out and cancel, and will be passed to a NEW sender.
      • You will see that the "Requested on" date on the request will change. 
      • This will happen without any emails from PaperBackSwap to you. 
      • Note: If there are no other copies in the system and the sender does not mark mailed by the deadline, the request will cancel, the book will go onto your Wish List and you will get credit back.  You will get an email from PaperBackSwap notifying you if this happens

To check on a book that has been mailed to you:

• Click the En Route to Me tab on My Account (*scroll down if necessary to see this*). This tab shows books that have been marked mailed to you.
• Click on any request.  You will see:
  • The address of the requestor
  • The "Request Date" the date the request was submitted
  • The "Will mail by" date or the "Accepted on" date
  • The date the requestor's address was LAST accessed by the sender ("Label Printed" date)
    • If the sender reprints the address, this date will update.  The latest date the address was accessed will show.
  • The date the book was marked mailed ("Date Mailed")
  • The "Estimated Arrival" date. 
    • This is a date 2 days after the system will take action if the book has not been marked received.
    • The system will take action on the 26th day (the 35th day if the sender or requestor is outside the contiguous US) after the "Date Mailed"
  • The tracking # and scan information, if Printable Postage was used to send the book
    • "Electronic Shipping info received" under scan information does not signify a barcode scan - "Electronic Shipping info received" is the date that the tracking number was generated by printing the wrapper.

Related Links:
What if the sender does not respond to my request within 4 days?
What if the sender agrees to send the book, but doesn't mark it mailed before the deadline?
What if I want to cancel a request I made?
What if the sender is taking too long to respond? Can I cancel and reorder from someone else?
How can I tell who's sending me a book? (or to whom I am sending a book?)
When will I get my book?
I got a book I requested, but I can't mark it received!
Marking an incoming book received