Bookmooch.com

{ July 3, 2009 @ 8:12 pm } · { How Tos and tips, Try it, Buy it, or Skip it }
{ Tags: books, recycle, reuse, trade }

Bookmooch.com is one of my favorite places on the web, combining books, thrift, reusing, and for me the thrill of recieving packages in the mail! Book mooch is completely free to join and matches up people who want particular books to those willing to mail them away. New members must establish a network name and password as well as the mailing address that they wish to recieve to. An Email adress is also needed to allow other members to contact you to initiate transactions or discuss pending transactions. Trades are done via a point system new members must have a minimum of  10 books that they are willing to trade and they list those in an inventory using the ISBN number assigned to the book (or Title or Author can be used if ISBN not available) as each book is entered the member is encouraged to make any additional notes regarding the condition of the book (torn pages, cover damage, strong odors, ect) each book added to an inventory is worth 1/10 of a point. One full point is needed to request another member’s book. When a title you are interested in is available you will see a “mooch now” button on the upper right side of the screen.    When a mooch is initiated you  will see a confirmation word (usually an author’s name) that must be entered to verify the transaction. Your address will be shown in a “ship to”  box and there will be an additional box for comments. Then if there are multiple copies available you will be able to see some details on each member offering the book as well as any condition notes. To complete the request you only have to select the member you would like to mooch from (when only one book is available that member is the default choice) and submit request. An email will be sent to the sender with your information and they will be able to accept or decline your request. If your request is accepted you will recieve an email confirming and it will be listed under the “pending” tab of your Bookmooch screen.  Once a request has been accepted the member sending the book is transfered one point from your balance and he or she will cover the shipping costs. When the book is recievied you update the pending transation by giving the sender a feedback rating. The feedback rating is visible to all members and indicates whether they conduct timely transactions and if their book arrived in the condition as it was expected. Members with multiple negative feedback scores can and often  are declined when they request to recieve books. Recievers are awarded 1/10 of a point to provide the feedback information. Although there are special proceedures and different point values many trades can be conducted with members in other countries, often resulting in books that are hard to find in your country.

I have been very happy with the transactions I have conducted and with the other members I have dealt with. Being able to trade an unwanted title for just the cost of shipping and in turn find a book I wanted is often cheaper than going to a used book store and definitely easier.