A while back I remember reading something about how if you're out of credits, you should put a hold on your wish list because if the system sees you don't have credits, you'll automatically be passed by when the book becomes available. Is that right? It just doesn't make sense to me that when we can buy credits, a book that becomes available would not be offered to us if our account balance shows at -0-. Can anyone verify this for me? 

Thanks! 

I don't know if the've implemented that.  I think the opinion of many is that the person posting the book shouldn't have to wait for you (or whomever) to go out and buy a credit or wait for a book to be marked received.  Especially now that we can individually hold WL books to help plan our credits better

Hmmm. That theory doesn't make much sense. In the amount of time that it takes for me to go buy a credit and request the book that's been offered, the obligatory 48 hours would have barely counted down for me to have accepted the offer regardless of whether or not I had the credits. 

I wish that plan was in place. I only post WL books and you can't believe how many I've watched roll-over and go to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th member before being accepted. My thoughts are if you have a WL, you should have a % of credits banked to cover and the books should be on auto.

If you put the book on Hold on your Wish List, no matter how many credits you have, you will be passed over.

If you put your Bookshelf on Vacation Hold you will get offers on Auto-requested books as long as you have credits, but will not receive offers on books that are set to No for Auto-request or are on Hold (on your Wish List). If you have no credits, you would also be skipped on the Auto-request books while your shelf is on Vacation Hold so you would not get offers on anything. I think the theory is that if you are on Vacation, you may not be checking your account to see the offer to get the necessary credits and respond. 

eta: this is the Help Center doc:

How does the Vacation Hold affect My Wish List?

@Linda/SassyLady - I have usually 140-160 books at a time posted. I'd be glad to have just one of those go within a 6 month period of time. How people manage their credits (e.g. money) varies and I'm okay with that. Sorry it rubs you the wrong way. I can't wait for digital to become so big that waiting for books to be mailed will be a thing of the past! 

@Melanie - perfect answer! Thank you! Now can we close this topic? :) 

Unfortunately there are many who just  let the WL offer sit and don't immediately go out and buy a credit. They either let it time out and just go back at the end of the line or they wait until the last minute hoping a book will be marked received.  48hrs doesn't seem long until a book is going through it's 2,3, 4th or more person with no response.  I've seen  forum posters say that they let WL offers time out when they don't have credits because they don't want to buy one.  They're hoping they'll have a book mark received before hand but don't feel like it's a big deal to let the request time out and just go to the end of the line (short WL lines).  There's really no excuse for that now that the WL can go on hold while the bookshelf stays open. 

Afterall-if you are willing to buy a credit when a WL offer comes then you could buy them when you get to 0 and keep a few for WL offers-if you don't have any book orders pending.

My thoughts are if you have a WL, you should have a % of credits banked to cover and the books should be on auto.

Well I for one am glad we aren't required to be on Auto-request. I have several different versions of books that I want. I don't care which version I get, but I just want one, not several. There is one book I'm estimated to get in the next week for two versions. If they both happen to come up at once, I'm glad to be able to decline one and accept the other. I don't think I should have to put one on hold just in case the other comes up. I have a better chance keeping them both open to actually get the book offered sometime this week. If I was forced to be on auto-request, I might choose the wrong version to keep off hold and have to wait a couple extra weeks to get it offered to me.

It must be nice for those who actually have a high volume of books to trade (ones that are actually being requested instead of sitting on the shelf) to have enough credits to put all their WL books on auto-request. With a WL of 142 I highly doubt even if I did have a lot of in demand books that I'd be able to do that.

I almost never have credits banked. I spend them as fast as I can get them. In fact, I'd probably spend them faster if I could! :)

Anyhow, I never get passed over when a WL pops up. Having no credits shouldn't (and luckily doesn't) change your place in line.  I am glad the system gives me a chance to make a credit happen when I need one. I know if I don't accept the offer, it could change my place in line and should. But, for those who buy as they fly, they should have the same opportunities as those with a big bank full of credits. I'm glad they do and that shouldn't change.

On the lighter side: when I have credits banked, WL books never pop up! I then spend them on RL books instead. Then sure enough--when the credits are gone, I get WLs for three days straight! :)

That would be absolutley horrible if they passed people by because they don't have the credits. I rarely have credits banked. I spend them shortly after I get them. I have so many in my RL and new ones I see I just can't let credits sit around.

 When one of my wishlist comes in PBS sends me an email letting me know and I immediatly go and buy a credit and get the book. If for some reason I don't have the money or can't get the book for any other reason I equally immediately go and decline the book.

People should not be discriminated because they don't have endless money or endless popular books to post for credits.

Melanie nailed it.  The system only passes over you if you have your bookshelf on vacation hold.

And a nice feature that has come in handy for me -- if I have several copies of the same title on my wish list (and if the server recognizes that they're just different versions of the same book) as soon as I'm offered one version of the title, the others are automatically placed on wish list hold. 

I can leave them on hold there until I receive my book.  If my book is ever lost in the mail, I haven't lost my place in line for the other editions.

I appreciate everyone's response to my questions. As you can see, we all have different ways we use PBS. Hats off to TPTB for due diligence in finding a relatively happy medium!

And since I see some kvetching about the tardiness in accepting or passing on a WL offer, I'll add that from the offeree's side, it's just as frustrating to have a book offered, log immediately in, accept the offer and then wait the maximum amount of time before the item you've been waiting (oft a very, very long time) for finally slugs off in the mail. Post a wish list - especially an auto wish list - item, at least have the courtesy to be prepared to ship that puppy right on out. /soapbox 

Again, thanks everyone for throwing their 2¢ in, and a buck of Monopoly money to Melanie that cited the actual agreement terms that apply to the debate. That helped - immensely! 

Anyone for that lonely ARC on my bookshelf? Perhaps one, two, or even a dozen from my bookshelf? I promise I'll ship right away! :D 

G'nite y'all! 

In many of those cases when the person posted the WL originally their intent was to mail it right away. But after it timed out on a couple of people-they no long had as much time so by the time it gets to you (or me or whomever the 1st person to accept is)-they've gotten busy and now need a few more days.  Or they posted several WL books and hold on accepted the ones requested right away because there's one that'sjust sitting and sitting. 

It used to be, if your WL item was on Auto Request and you had zero credits at the moment a WL book was offered, you would be passed over and the next person would get it, if there was a next person waiting.  When I lost out on a couple WL books that way, I switched all my wish list books to 48 hour request, so when I'm offered one and have no credits, I can buy or transfer some.  However, I think that has been changed and you will still have an opportunity to obtain credits if your wished for book is on Auto Request.  But I still prefer the control of having my WL on 48 hour hold.