Thanks to my friend Mark I have a new favorite website, PaperBackSwap.com. The idea behind PaperBackSwap is simple. You have books you want to get rid of, and people have books you want. PBS acts as the middleman to help you find and unload these books. A simple yet awesome idea and it works extremely well.
You get started at PBS by posting 10 books you want to rid of. Once these are posted other members of the website can request books from you. When you get a book request you print out a mailing “wrapper” that you tape around the book and drop in the mail. When your book is received you get a credit for a book of your choice from the PBS website. The only cost is that you have to pay for shipping. But considering that most of the books you ship out meet Media Mail requirements your not going to pay more then a couple bucks a pop. In my opinion this is a sweet deal considering you get something you actually want in return. It’s also worth mentioning that even though it’s called PaperBackSwap, you can also swap audio books and hardcovers as well. Did I also mention that you get two free credits for the first 10 books you post?
Another great feature of PBS is their Wish List. You can look up books that are not currently listed on PBS, and then add them to your Wish List. When the book your looking for is posted you get a e-mail letting you know that the book will be held for 48 hours. More popular books have a longer wait, but I was able to score a couple mangas I need by putting them on my Wish List.
In the past month I’ve gotten six books I’ve wanted or just looked interesting. If your like me and have too many unwanted books lying around you should definitely check out PaperBackSwap. Especially with garage sale season coming up as I tend to go crazy on cheap books. PBS is also a great place to find graphic novels. So far all but one comic or manga I’ve posted have been snatched up, and I’ve found a few that looked interesting or was something I’d be looking for.
I used to just donate my unwanted books to the thrift store, but no longer. The fact that you get something you want in return for your books makes PBS a much more satisfying experience. If you like to read, and like cheap books, you should definitely check out PaperBackSwap!
6 Comments
March 25, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Since you sound like an anime junky, you might be interested in http://oldswitcheroo.com. It works like paperbackswap in that you can trade books, but you can also trade movies, music and video games. Hope this is helpful.
March 26, 2009 at 11:43 am
This sounds like and awesome site. I’m just haven’t got back into reading a lot yet. I’m working on Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” right now. It should keep me busy until I either, A) spoon my eyes out, or B) actually finish it. Nice update sir.
March 27, 2009 at 12:17 am
Too bad they don’t have graphic novels or manga. I don’t read regular books. Neat idea though. I know there are sites like this for video games and movies.
March 27, 2009 at 3:26 am
Hey Derek, they totally have graphic novels and manga. I scored a couple different volumes of Battle Royale, Batman Year Two, Ronin by Frank Miller, and A History Of Violence. I also grabbed a couple early Neal Stephenson novels I’ve been meaning to read too. Just the more in demand titles are harder to get and that’s where the Wish List comes into play. It’s really a great site!
March 27, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Interesting site. I am definatly bookmarking this.
April 2, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Thanks for the find and the telling!