Go Online And Trade Your Paperbacks
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Newspaper) - 6/11/2006 by Sarah Sabalos
As a casual paperback reader and serious hardback collector, Walter Best is usually surrounded by books. And during the last four months, Best, 45, has had 100 volumes shipped to his house for free.
Best is a member of PaperBackSwap.com, a book-trading Web site with a library of almost a half-million titles. Members put their used books on the site and pay the postage to ship them to other members. They browse for new (or gently read) others, searching by author, title or genre, then request the ones they want to read – for free.
"It's a great venue for exchanging many, many books with other people," said Best, who has widened his collection of first-edition Scott Turow hardbacks through the site.
Richard Pickering created the site a year and a half ago, when he (a frequent business traveler) was drowning in paperbacks purchased in airports across America.
Paperbacks that didn't resell well on eBay or Amazon.,
"I thought, ‘There's got to be a better way to do this," said the Atlanta-based real-estate investor. ‘"What if we had a virtual library online, where people could swap one book for one book, free of charge?"'
His idea worked. Thousands of people (mostly women) come online to search and trade thousands of new books a week ("We're as big as any library around," Pickering said).
Romance and mystery are the most popular genres, but Krista Persing, a Columbia stay-at-home mother, finds plenty of titles to suit her non-romance, non-mystery bent.
At first, Persing was skeptical of having to pay to send books but receiving them for free.
"Now I realize this is actually one of the great perks of the program!" she said. "This way, you aren't sending money to someone and hoping they will actually send you the books you are asking for (unlike online auctions). I also like the idea that the books I'm sending out are books someone had requested and really wants to read."
The site also has a "wish list" feature, a feedback button, discussion forums, live chat and lists of the "10 Most Recently Posted Books" and "All Books Posted Today."
Liz Dolinger, 20, an English literature major at the University of South Carolina, also found a surprising level of customer service.
"It's fantastic- I had a couple of small problems, but when I reported them, the Pickerings called or e-mailed me right away," said Dolinger, who uses the site for textbooks as well as for finding her out-of-print favorite childhood series- "Dorrie the Little Witch" by Patricia Coombs.
"I'd been looking for it forever and a day," she said.
Members can also choose the "Box-O-Books" option and go offline to trade large numbers of titles at once. Valerie Hostos, 47, has traded more than 100 books in a year.
"I still have 40 books that I have to read," she said. "And then I can trade them again."
HOW IT WORKS
List at least nine or more books in the system to become an active member and receive three free credits to get you started trading.
Browse the online list of books posted by club members and use your credits to order books.
Selected books are delivered to you.
When other members order books that you've listed, you mail them and pay the postage (usually $1.59).
You get one credit (good for one book) for every book you mail after it is received.
Best is a member of PaperBackSwap.com, a book-trading Web site with a library of almost a half-million titles. Members put their used books on the site and pay the postage to ship them to other members. They browse for new (or gently read) others, searching by author, title or genre, then request the ones they want to read – for free.
"It's a great venue for exchanging many, many books with other people," said Best, who has widened his collection of first-edition Scott Turow hardbacks through the site.
Richard Pickering created the site a year and a half ago, when he (a frequent business traveler) was drowning in paperbacks purchased in airports across America.
Paperbacks that didn't resell well on eBay or Amazon.,
"I thought, ‘There's got to be a better way to do this," said the Atlanta-based real-estate investor. ‘"What if we had a virtual library online, where people could swap one book for one book, free of charge?"'
His idea worked. Thousands of people (mostly women) come online to search and trade thousands of new books a week ("We're as big as any library around," Pickering said).
Romance and mystery are the most popular genres, but Krista Persing, a Columbia stay-at-home mother, finds plenty of titles to suit her non-romance, non-mystery bent.
At first, Persing was skeptical of having to pay to send books but receiving them for free.
"Now I realize this is actually one of the great perks of the program!" she said. "This way, you aren't sending money to someone and hoping they will actually send you the books you are asking for (unlike online auctions). I also like the idea that the books I'm sending out are books someone had requested and really wants to read."
The site also has a "wish list" feature, a feedback button, discussion forums, live chat and lists of the "10 Most Recently Posted Books" and "All Books Posted Today."
Liz Dolinger, 20, an English literature major at the University of South Carolina, also found a surprising level of customer service.
"It's fantastic- I had a couple of small problems, but when I reported them, the Pickerings called or e-mailed me right away," said Dolinger, who uses the site for textbooks as well as for finding her out-of-print favorite childhood series- "Dorrie the Little Witch" by Patricia Coombs.
"I'd been looking for it forever and a day," she said.
Members can also choose the "Box-O-Books" option and go offline to trade large numbers of titles at once. Valerie Hostos, 47, has traded more than 100 books in a year.
"I still have 40 books that I have to read," she said. "And then I can trade them again."
HOW IT WORKS
List at least nine or more books in the system to become an active member and receive three free credits to get you started trading.
Browse the online list of books posted by club members and use your credits to order books.
Selected books are delivered to you.
When other members order books that you've listed, you mail them and pay the postage (usually $1.59).
You get one credit (good for one book) for every book you mail after it is received.
