PaperBackSwap.com - Trade books online

Photo credit: Steve Howard, Pixabay.

Update 10/3/2016:  Please note PBS has changed it's membership structure since this was first published.  I still use the site for free but there are now different levels of paid membership.
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I recently started using PaperBackSwap.com to trade books online.  My goal over the last few months has been to clear out my bookshelves of titles I'm no longer interested in by selling where I could on Amazon or eBay and giving things away.  But for those times when it seems like there's too much competition to sell a book or it's going for a penny on Amazon, the PaperBackSwap site has proven to be a good alternative.

How it Works

Basically, you create an account and start posting books.  You receive a point for each book you trade.  You're responsible for postage, which can be printed out from the site.  They provide "wrappers" to print which is basically printed postage.  You can purchase what they call PBS money to keep in your postage account using PayPal, credit or debit cards or check or money order.  For small paperbacks, the wrappers are sufficient but for larger books, I've used padded mailers.  I've received some books that were wrapped in anything from large envelopes to used brown grocery bags and they made it through the postal system fine.

If you print postage from the site, you can place the book in your mailbox for delivery, so you save a trip to the post office.  If you find yourself using the site a lot, then a kitchen or postal scale will be helpful.  You can find cheap ones for under $20 online or at stores like Walmart or your local grocery store.

What You Can Post

Even though the site is called PaperBackSwap, you can also post hardcovers and audiobooks.  There are sister sites for DVDs and CDs.  Your credits are interchangeable between sites but some things are worth more credits than others, i.e. audiobooks so you may lose or gain points depending on which way you trade between sites.

The site specifies that the books need to be in good condition.  There's an excellent help center for any questions you might have about quality.  There can't be any writing on the text pages.  When I was a teenager and into my 20s, I had this weird idea about putting my name and address in all of my books.  I thought bookplates were cool.  Thinking I would never ever want to part with whatever book was precious to me at the time, I inked the inside cover or front page of the book.  Luckily, PBS allows books with this minimal writing to be traded, again as long as the writing isn't on the main text pages.

How Can a Prepper Benefit?

Granted, the library, yard and garage sales are cheaper places to find books, but I still think this is a frugal way to get a book you want even with shipping costs.  A new prepper can build a library on gardening, home repair and improvement, auto repair, first-aid, cooking, etc.  You may be getting some older books but they still will have some timeless information.  I recently traded for the Tightwad Gazette III by Amy Dacyczyn, the frugal zealot herself.

Visit paperbackswap.com to create an account. 

Have fun!

© P.J. Deneen