Paperback Swap: A Great Way to Get Books for Almost Nothing

PaperBack Swap is a great way to trade books for only the cost of the postage to send them. There are currently more than two million books available with new books being added all the time. Even though it's called PaperBack Swap, hardcover and audio books are also available. The site makes it extremely easy to trade books.

I've been a member for over a year now and I think Paperback Swap is great. I've received 35 books so far. Most of them have been in almost new condition. I've only received two books that I felt were not in satisfactory condition. I have since updated my "requestor's conditions" and have not received any more unsatisfactory books.

Here's how it works. You sign up for free. You can then start entering the ISBN numbers for the books you would like to trade. After you finish posting the first 10 books, you will receive 2 free book credits. You can then start searching for books and request them. If there is a specific book that you are looking for and it's not available, you can add it to your "wish list." When it becomes available, a notification will be sent to your email. The book will be held for two days to allow enough time to respond to the request. There is also an option to designate books on your wish list as auto-request. With auto-request, as long as you have credits available, the request goes through automatically as soon as the book is listed into the system.

When someone requests one of your books, Paperback Swap provides a template for a wrapper that can be printed to wrap the book in. The wrapper consists of two sheets of paper and includes the requestor's address, your return address and the amount of postage needed. You then wrap the two sheets around your book, tape it closed and affix your postage. The current rate to send a book which is less than one pound is $2.23 which is the media mail rate, but this rate can change as postage costs change. If someone doesn't want to be bothered with stamps, there is an option to print the postage right onto the wrapper for an extra cost.

Once the book is wrapped and has the appropriate postage attached, it can then be mailed. Any book less than 13 oz can be mailed from home or in a mailbox. As soon as the other member receives the book, a book credit is applied to your account and you can order another book. You can also receive free credits for referring friends or family when they list you as the person who referred them. There is also an option to purchase book credits for about 1 ½ times the cost of the postage to mail the book.

I think Paperback Swap is one of the best things I have found since being online. I've received a lot of great books which were in excellent condition and paid almost nothing for them. The thing I like most about it is how easy the people at Paperback Swap make it to trade. I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to be bothered with packing things up and mailing them, but with Paperback Swap, it's so easy because the wrapper is pre-addressed and the postage is calculated. I make it easier for myself by keeping few books of stamps at the current postage level, and a couple of sheets of 5-cent, 2-cent and 1-cent stamps on hand for affixing to my packages.

I would highly recommend this site as a great way to obtain all kinds of books, while saving money and helping the environment by recycling.