I am new to paperback swap.  I only joined 1-1/2 weeks ago.  I've been reading the forums some tonight and see that some folks get rather testy if they offer a wish-listed book and it isn't accepted.  I turned down a wish-listed book today.  I would like to apologize to whoever offered me the book.  I totally forgot (remember I'm am a newbie) that you do not get the credit for mailing a book until that book is received and marked as received.  I used my initial 2 credits already, but was assuming that I had 3 more from the books mailed this week.  When in actuality I had 0 credits.  So, just cut us newbies a little slack please (pretty please?), until we get used to this system.  I was perplexed when the screen asked if I wanted to buy some credits?  Buy credits? I should have 3 left.  Oops, the books I sent weren't received yet.  I'll get the hang of this soon.

Awww...don't feel bad....yeah it may be frustrating to wait for a wishlisted book to be taken (I posted a book a few days ago and it's on the 3rd wisher now) but in the grand scheme of things it's not a huge deal (though I would like this book to get requested tomorrow so I can make just one trip to the PO :)

Don't worry, that happened to a lot of us when we just started. Sorry you missed out on a WL book already. I'll send you a credit to help you get started.

And just in case you didn't notice the section in Help on PBS postage, if you send using the full PBS postage, as soon as you mark the book mailed, you get the credit. With PBS DC only, as soon as its first scan by the USPS is transmitted to PBS, you get the credit. There are fees, but sometimes its worth it to get that credit sooner.

Welcome to PBS

I would rather have someone cancel a wish listed book if they didn't have the credits for it instead of just letting it sit there till it timed out. I am sitting on a few right now and I am feeling impatiant because I would really like to only have to go to the post office once.

Wow!  Thanks, Melanie!  That is really sweet of you. 

Thank you also for the information about the PBS postage.  I saw something on it, but didn't fully understand.  Plus, since I was new to all this I felt more comfortable going to the post office to get my books weighed, especially as they were not the usual size.  But I may try the PBS postage next time.

I must say that so far I am finding paperbackswap club members to be a real nice bunch of people!

You might want to put your wishlist on hold until you get new credits.  Welcome to the club! :)

Don't feel that you need to apologize. (Many people DON'T!) People cancel out on WL books for all sorts of reason. It's a bummer if you're itching to go to the PO (I know that feeling). But hey, it's commerce, it's life. Eventually, you'll probably have a pile of credits you can keep as a reserve for those WL books that come up (I haven't gotten one in a while, and I have 150 on my list!). PBS is full of really nice awesome people. It's a very few that'll rake you over the coals for something, And refusing a WL book (for ANY REASON) is well within your rights to do so. I hope your books (and credits) are received soon.

Don't feel bad if you were talking about my comments. I was getting PO'd at that thread not because people turn down WL books but because of a different reason. I would apologize to her for getting so upset and venting on her but it wouldn't do any good at all, i am sure. The reason i was getting upset was because i felt like a certain person was saying that it was okay for her not to have the money to buy new books for herself, but not okay for ME to not have money to cover immediate postage on a book and having to wait a few days to send it.

Some days i should keep my trap (or fingers, as it were) shut.

You can't just put the WL on hold, it'll also put her shelf on hold.

You can effectively  put the WL on hold by creating a suitably worded Requestor Condition.  Something like

"I will only accept books that are accompanied by a box of fine-quality milk chocolates, of at least 2 lbs, creams only, no nuts, no coconut creams."

It is very unlikely that anyone will accept these conditions.  If they do, buy a credit and enjoy the chocolate - it is a good price for good chocolate.

LOL!

i felt like a certain person was saying that it was okay for her not to have the money to buy new books for herself, but not okay for ME to not have money to cover immediate postage on a book.

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Those who are unemployed are not necessarily without money to purchase a book.

It happens. Don't worry. I had to cancel a wishlist book this week too. That's because a day before, I found the same title available on my bookmooch wishlist. It was very late in the evening when I accepted, then I went to bed forgetting to remove it from my PBS wishlist. There were a few others behind me, so someone will grab it eventually

I cancelled a WL book after waiting 4 days for the person to agree to send the book. Why post it, then not accept ?

If you cancelled don't you lose you place in line?

I had to turn down a WL book the other day too :( I bought a bunch of books to take on vacation with me, and then went through and deleted them from my WL, but apparently I missed one. I felt really bad about it. Luckily it was a popular book, so I'm sure there were other wishers behind me.

Yes Tracy cancelling a book removes it from your WL.

That's my question... Why wait four days and then cancel?

I thought I was correct in that assessment. I just don't understand why someone would cancel.

Wellll.... reasons why I personally have cancelled a wishlist book:

1.  I only ordered it as part of a deal, then the person offering the deal backed out and refused to mail, so it went automatically to my wishlist and someone posted before I realized and removed it.  It was a book I really didn't care about, and didn't want to spend credits on...

2.  Book was marked "lost in transit" and went to my wishlist because there were no copies on the system at that particular moment, but was posted again quickly by someone else.  I've only had ONE shipment to me truly go lost... I think (still hoping it might turn up one of these days!!), but almost all of mine are "declared" lost because typical media mail shipping to me is 5-6 weeks and PBS only allows for 4 weeks.  I've asked TPTB to change the system to go to reminder list and never wishlist, or give us a choice of settings, but they are just a little busy (grin) and haven't changed ityet.

3.  I had multiple ISBNs of the exact same book on my wishlist, one came in and I didn't really need a 2nd of the same title.  :)- 

Like Liesl said, I try to cancel immediately when I see the request so as not to make the lister wait and wait for it to time out.  :)  The only way I would let it time out is if I just didn't have the credits, in which case I'd try to get some quick!  :)

Sherry: the person who posted the WL could have been waiting until close the book timing out so they could have a extra time to mail it out. Some people need to wait until payday or a day off to mail.  When you cancelled the book offer you lost your place on the WL line.  Not a big deal if the line is short.  Next time let it time out then you'll go back to #1.

I had a WL book offered recently. It was accepted and printed but never marked mailed.  When the mail by date passed I looked up the person's profile-saw they were a new member and PM'd them thinking maybe they forgot to mark it mailed.  She PMs back saying she can't mail it because she doesn't have the money right now. I PM'd back saying then cancel it so it'll go back on my WL and I'll get my credit back sooner. She didn't and it timed out.  That was rude.  If you know you can't mail it out then cancel. Don't just let it time out.