From what I can see in the many posts about selling credits it seems that a lot of people send way more books than they receive. Apparently many people do not find stuff they want to read here. This is my problem also. I always accumulate more credits than I use. If this is true for many people the conclusion must be that the overall quality of the reading material is sort of low here. or maybe not. What do you think?

I disagree. I read pretty heavy duty books and I have recieved several books on my wish list. Granted I may have to wait a bit but I have been extremely pleased what I get. We just have to remember that what we like to read may take a bit longer if it is not necessarily the standard reading material.

how is your credit situation. are you even all the time.

I find a ton of stuff I want to read here. I sell credits periodically for postage. I think it probably has more to do with reading speed than quality of available books. Faster readers will send books out faster and always end up mailing more out than they receive. I probably mail out around 15-20 books per month but I also receive 8-12 wishlist books per month so I'm pretty happy. However, this still leaves me with a credit surplus so I'm able to sell my extra credits for postage money so I can send more books and get them churning through the system for others to read. The quality of the reading material is great. I'm getting all the books that I'm excited to read and saving a fortune off the bookstore prices.

I also disagree, I had 3 WLed books offered to me today for a total of 16 books this month that I've either received, ordered or are enroute. I've sent out 30 books so far this month, so I do send more than I receive, but some months I order a lot of books.  I love PBS as I've discovered authors I wouldn't have otherwise, and have received books much more timely than if I'd bought them. Pat

The most credits I ever had was 80 credits.  Took a couple of months to sell the excess credits.  There was competition to sell credits at that time but today there is more competion.  So I decided not to have a big credit stash.  I like to have 15-20 credits available for DVD's but since I joined SwapaCD and PBS   I like to have 20-25 credits available.   When I start spending and get low on credits, I panic.   I figure out what to post to get more credits.  I'm currently trying to determine how many credits I need per year so I can stock up.  

I'm not interested in the available books but I don't think the quality is low.  I have never read Janet Evanovich and maybe she's fabulous but I'm not interested.  I like thrillers and suspense but I'm not interested in mysteries and time traveling vampire cupcake murder mysteries.  Another thing is I do not want paperbacks.  When I joined I was surprised to find out that my hardcover books by bestselling authors where common on PBS.  My observation is that the people who want the available books don't have enough credits or things to trade.  The people who have enough credits and things to trade DO NOT want the available books.  So the first group of people can buy those excess credits from the second group.  

EDITED:  I recently got a wl offer for a classic book.  

While the total number of books available on PBS has declined about 25% in the last year or so, the number of unique titles has actually increased. And today, that number is higher than it has been in the past several months.This is important to me as I don't care, like Valarie above, if there are hundreds of each of Janet Evanovich's books available. I'm more interested in the books for which I am the only one listed as WLing it on that book's page.

I follow the Pulse of PBS (under the Community drop-down menu), and for many weeks now the total number of books mailed "in the last week" has listed between 15,000 and 18,000.

In the last 18 months, I know for a fact I've received at least 230 books through PBS. This is because I know how many credits I had 18 months ago at AMF (after membership fee) and how many I have on hand now. AND.... this doesn't take into account all the credits I've earned during that period and then 'spent' requesting more books.

To paraphrase the "car mileage" statements, "my experience may differ from others." I think the reason I have so many books coming and going is due to my wide range of interests in reading material. A simple glance at my Bookshelf confirms this.

I have, and have had an excess of credits here for years, not because I can't find books to request (I've requested over 4,400 books in my 9-1/2 years here) but because for years I used to pick up WL books at my local thrift store, where they sell books 10 for a dollar, just to post here and I became a top 100 swapper...those were the days when you could mail a book for about $1.50 and I quickly amassed 400 credits. I have only sold credits once. I have used my credits as well as the ones I continue to earn to request books for myself and a few friends. Recently dropped below 100 credits for the first time, but as I am receiving more WL books since the 500 WL, I will never be one of those people who only keeps 5-10 credits on hand...I've been granted 5 WL books in a few day period more than once. Everyone uses PBS slightly differently and I imagine there are dozens of reasons why people sell credits, only one of them being that there are members who find it easier to buy a credit than earn it thru swapping.

Charles, Depending on the month I will have anywheres between 5-30ish more that I have sent than I have recieved. Granted I do get books for some of my family members but I usually get enough wish lists or books I find to read that I am more than satisfied. I actually have had an increase of wish list books granted over the last couple months and some suprising.

When I have bought credits I used them to order books.  While you may not be ordering books with your credits, someone is.

I came here to get rid of my books, as I no longer wanted to keep them. I seem to be one of the few that has stuck to that. I no longer save any books and have sent a bunch. I have no idea how many, since I have mostly sent out multiples in deals. I no longer read print books; I only listen to audio books. I get a lot of those from the audio swap (no credits required). I order a few but not a lot. I borrow a lot from my library and sometimes find them at FOL sales and thrift shops. I sell credits to cover postage and membership fees, as I'm on a very limited fixed income.

I always carry extra credits, but I neither sell them nor do I buy books to list here. I've sent more than I've received across my years, but still receive over 100 books/yr, even after the change to fee for membership. Excess credits come from transfers from the DVD site where I have mostly sent out DVDs but have received only 2 WL DVDs this year. When I first joined I got loads of DVDs off the sister site but no more as the fees there, the games, WL multiples keep a great number of DVDs out of FIFO.  There was a time when that transfer got me 3 book credits for 2 DVD credits. Excess credits also come from the occasional clearing books which won't be reread or kept for reference  from our extensive personal library. I've had over 60 credits here at times, use them to order books for friends. Despite having some unusual books on my WL and a number of 1/1 in the queue, there are the times when I get 5 or 8 WL offers per week and so I'm glad to have the extra credits.

>> time traveling vampire cupcake murder mysteries

HAHAHAHAHAH! Best comment award of the day!!! I want some of these cupcakes!!!

 If this is true for many people the conclusion must be that the overall quality of the reading material is sort of low here. or maybe not. What do you think?

I don't believe that is a "must be" conclusion at all. Many of us have many sources to get books from, but we offer books on PBS first when we are getting rid of them. That results in excess credits. It doesn't mean that the quality here is low, it just means that we all like to shop regardless of what we can find on PBS.

'cause they got too many!

(about) 60,000+ members here (well maybe 50,000+). That gives you 50,000 reasons why people want books and want 50,000 types of books. I go out and find anything and everything in the way of books and post them here - why? - 'cause members want anything and everything! Some folks want Romances full of fluff, others want Romance filled with Vampires and creatures of the night. Others want Romances about family life and an uplifting happy ending. I like SciFi - I REALLY like Comics and Comix (Foxtrot, Addams Family, Heathcliff, Garfield, Blondie, Calvin & Hobbs. I love to look at Picture Books (Trains, Airplanes, Gas Stations, Guitars, Places, People - Love Military History books - I find them here!, and the Price? only a book credit! Just add them to your Wish List or Reminders List or do a search or just look at what folks have posted today (or yesterday) - I browse others Wish List for inspiration for other books to look for - I'm always surprised by what is out there in the world of books. Reading is about everything under the sun - wanna' learn? get a book that teaches you stuff - wanna' be entertained? find a book that makes you laugh or makes you cry (or makes you so angry you want to hurt someone - mostly the bad guys in the story!).

I maintain Credits in the 3 digits - why? well it's like money in the bank ( a savings bank) with interest paid by my Wish List fulfillment. Sometimes my credit balance gets too high and I sell some off for a Amazon Gift Card - occasionally I will buy a hard to get book (or DVD) off of the internet using my Amazon Gift Card balance...others here will sell their excess credits for a PayPal account so that they can use their Postage feature without dipping into their cash accounts (meaning their home budget) - some will do it because thay will also buy a hard to find book soewhere on the internet. 

And remember, outta' 50,000 possible members how many are actually selling their credits 50? - 100? - maybe 200? it's not that earth shaking - just seems that way for those of us who haunt the Book Bazaar on a regular basis. 
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RE: "...the conclusion must be that the overall quality of the reading material is sort of low here. or maybe not. What do you think?"

 - have to say "...maybe not..." - overall book quality is everything under the sun....I've never cared to read any of the classics - had to do some of that back in the school days - I understand the reasoning behind it, just never cared for the high brow stuff. I was reading Micky Spillane and Carter Brown books in the 5th grade along with Doc Savage and Tarzan series books - it's what I want to find here, along with te Addams Family and Japanese Manga's (in English of course). I post books on Zen, Yoga, any religions, histories of people/places/events, how to books, Dictionaries of all kinds, kids books, old fuddy duddy books, cookbooks, SciFi, Sword and Sorcery, fantasy, romances of all types, horror, dogs, cats - you name it - some of it is what would be called high overall quality, most is just entertainment. Its what books are all about - something for everyone! 

  Sorry for rambling on - sometimes I get carried away when it comes to books and what this place has to offer!

Danny N (Alameda) - Havelock NC 

PS - Like Sally above, I've been here coming up to 10 years next January, and am also listed as one of the top 100 Swappers - I've ordered over 4,000 books and mailed out a lot more that that - most of the books I've ordered are still here - I turned the useless fancy front room into my own library - my TBR list is way too high and even though I'm retired now I don't seem to have enough time to read all I want to read ( I usually have 5 or 6 books that I'm reading at any particuler time and reread my cartoon books often). I've adopted two schools that PBS generously promoted - one that I had recommended - and would glady adopt them over again if they ever came up for renewal (hint hint PBS). Overall I'm very pleased to be a member here and really enjoy the vast variety of people who are members here as well. We seem to have everyone under the sun - it's a wonderful country, eh!

PSS - I'm constantly having to Edit what I write - doesn't help that I can't spell worth a hoot, but it seems my 2 finger typing is the pits when those two fingers are my thumbs (I got 10 of 'em).

Danny.   Great answers!!

I've only sold credits a few times in my  , little over 8 years here and its because I dont get many Wish list offers  so when I sold them I sold for an amazon Gift Card to buy books.