Swap And Trade Used Books Online : Book Trading Sites Including Paperbackswap, Bookmooch And More77
HubPages (Website) - 6/22/2010 by wampryii
Why Book Swapping Makes Sense
If you're an avid reader like I am then you'll know your passion can become as expensive as it is enjoyable. At a retail price of $8 for a paperback and up to $25 for a hardback, a fast reader can easily spend over $1000 a year on books.
Of course, you can join a library and make do with the limited selection they have available, troll through yard sales, used book stores and ebay auctions looking for bargains and this will save you money, but I found book swapping makes more sense.
Why? Well, first off, I get to declutter my crowded bookshelves, passing on books I wasn't too impressed by and those I will never read again (I'm not much of a re-reader) and in return receive fresh books ready to be devoured and passed on to the next reader. Basically, for the price of postage and an unwanted book, I get a book I do want and free up a slot on my bookshelves.
Secondly, it saves me time - a lot of time. I don't have to go browsing through pages of ebay auctions, have to get up early on a Sunday to go digging through garage sales or have to jump in my car and browse the local library which invariably doesn't have what I want anyway. Now, for example (and each site operates different, so this is just one scenario) I simply make a list of the books I want and when one becomes available and assuming I have enough trading points, the system sends it to me. Easy!
Thirdly, it saves me money. It cuts the cost of the buying a new book by a least half and it beats trading with my local used book store because the selection at an online book trading site is massive by comparison and can be done from the comfort of my own armchair and laptop.
Finally, it feels good to 'recycle' books throughout the reading community. Think how many trees are being saved through sites like these and this is also a great way to find out of print books and hard to find books or to provide such a book to someone who has been searching for it.
Where Can I Swap My Books Online?
So, now you've got the bug, where are the book swapping sites? I'll list a few with brief reviews below. There are lots of sites like this now so this is just a selection of some of the better ones I have come across (mostly aimed at US residents although some allow for international swapping).
PaperbackSwap
I like PaperBackSwap a lot. It feels a lot more professional than many of the other sites out there, has more books on offer and generally a larger community of book swappers. At the time of me writing this, there are 2.5 million books available for swappin according to the homepage stats and 1500 logged in users currently browsing the site...that's a busy community!
PBS currently allows you to swap paperbacks, hardback books, textbooks, audiobooks and cookbooks using a credit system which basically gives you a credit for each book you swap which can then be used to 'buy' another book for a credit. A one for one exchange (audio books cost 2 credits).
Credits can also be bought here, but at $3.45 a credit I've not yet been tempted to do so. Besides, it somewhat messes with the whole idea of swapping if you can just 'buy' the book.
PaperBackSwap.com has slightly stricter quality guidelines than some of the other book swapping sites out there which is great for receiving books but can make you a little nervous about listing your first books on the site. Ultimately though, a common sense approach combined with the guidelines on the site works great. These are used books after all, no one is expecting perfection.
Join Here - It's Free and You Get 2 Book Swapping Credits When You Register Your First 10 Books For Swapping!
If you're an avid reader like I am then you'll know your passion can become as expensive as it is enjoyable. At a retail price of $8 for a paperback and up to $25 for a hardback, a fast reader can easily spend over $1000 a year on books.
Of course, you can join a library and make do with the limited selection they have available, troll through yard sales, used book stores and ebay auctions looking for bargains and this will save you money, but I found book swapping makes more sense.
Why? Well, first off, I get to declutter my crowded bookshelves, passing on books I wasn't too impressed by and those I will never read again (I'm not much of a re-reader) and in return receive fresh books ready to be devoured and passed on to the next reader. Basically, for the price of postage and an unwanted book, I get a book I do want and free up a slot on my bookshelves.
Secondly, it saves me time - a lot of time. I don't have to go browsing through pages of ebay auctions, have to get up early on a Sunday to go digging through garage sales or have to jump in my car and browse the local library which invariably doesn't have what I want anyway. Now, for example (and each site operates different, so this is just one scenario) I simply make a list of the books I want and when one becomes available and assuming I have enough trading points, the system sends it to me. Easy!
Thirdly, it saves me money. It cuts the cost of the buying a new book by a least half and it beats trading with my local used book store because the selection at an online book trading site is massive by comparison and can be done from the comfort of my own armchair and laptop.
Finally, it feels good to 'recycle' books throughout the reading community. Think how many trees are being saved through sites like these and this is also a great way to find out of print books and hard to find books or to provide such a book to someone who has been searching for it.
Where Can I Swap My Books Online?
So, now you've got the bug, where are the book swapping sites? I'll list a few with brief reviews below. There are lots of sites like this now so this is just a selection of some of the better ones I have come across (mostly aimed at US residents although some allow for international swapping).
PaperbackSwap
I like PaperBackSwap a lot. It feels a lot more professional than many of the other sites out there, has more books on offer and generally a larger community of book swappers. At the time of me writing this, there are 2.5 million books available for swappin according to the homepage stats and 1500 logged in users currently browsing the site...that's a busy community!
PBS currently allows you to swap paperbacks, hardback books, textbooks, audiobooks and cookbooks using a credit system which basically gives you a credit for each book you swap which can then be used to 'buy' another book for a credit. A one for one exchange (audio books cost 2 credits).
Credits can also be bought here, but at $3.45 a credit I've not yet been tempted to do so. Besides, it somewhat messes with the whole idea of swapping if you can just 'buy' the book.
PaperBackSwap.com has slightly stricter quality guidelines than some of the other book swapping sites out there which is great for receiving books but can make you a little nervous about listing your first books on the site. Ultimately though, a common sense approach combined with the guidelines on the site works great. These are used books after all, no one is expecting perfection.
Join Here - It's Free and You Get 2 Book Swapping Credits When You Register Your First 10 Books For Swapping!
