I took advantage of a 3/1 offer in Book Bazaar on May 22.  The person told me she had all 3 books packaged on May 24.  She mailed the package June 1.  When I received the packagethere was only 1 book inside -- the one ordered but not the 2 freebies.  I wouldn't have used a credit for the one book.  She has not answered my PM (it's only been a few hours though).  I wanted to buy some credits on Bazaar but now I wonder if you can trust offers.

I've taken 6 or 7 deals in the BB and they have all come out fine, so far.

I do tend to check to see if they are brand new members before I order, though. And, if they are actively checking back to the forum, removing freebies from their shelf, etc.

Hope she PMs you back.

I don't think that there is any way for PBS to enforce the deal. You could let them know about it, so that if she has other problems with other members, the evidence accumulates ....

In terms of buying credits, if you are afraid to trust someone, I would check into their profile and see how long they have been a member, how many books they have sent/received; how many forum posts they have ... etc. I can think of a few in the BB that I have seen other people give good feedback to, and that I see selling credits pretty often. 

Check and see if you got the book from the same person who ran the deal in the bazaar. One of these things may have happened:

- you didn't order the book from her. If you ordered from the book details page rather than the member's shelf, your request would have gone to the first person who had posted it instead of to the member offering the deal.

- you did order the book from the right person, but she either did not mark it mailed, or she canceled the request. Sometimes senders do this if you have requestor conditions that their books do not meet.

I have never taken a deal in the Bazaar.  In fact, I've only ever ventured there once and that was more than enough for me.  I think one book for one credit is an awesome deal.  Between my WL, the library and my local bookstore, I have all the books I'll ever need.  I don't need the headache of the Bazaar.

Honestly if you didn't get the deal, take your PM's and the post to the powers that be here.

I'd also be tempted to out this member on the forum!

However, maybe the person did make a honest mistake. I sure hope they answer you soon. I would die of embarassment if I forgot the other books in a BB deal, ya know. lol

I've bought and sold credits and so far, those transactions have gone well.  I'm always a little nervous when I'm buying, though--since I have to send the money first.

There isn't any PBS enforcement of deals--they are considered outside the system.  Unfortunately, that means people sometimes don't follow through for one reason or another.  Most of them seem to go smoothly--most people are honest, most situations are as expected.  It does happen, though.  I've not had a problem here, but I don't take advantage of many deals (I'm usually offering them--I want more books OUT than IN), but I have just had a SaCD deal show up wrong.  I need to deal with that tomorrow.   First problem I've had, though.

I've taken advantage of deals and bought credits several times, and have never had a problem. So generally, I think the odds of it all going smoothly are strongly in your favor. Just like requesting a book, it MAY arrive and be an unpostable, but odds are that it's a nice, postable book.

That  being said, sometimes things do go wrong. As someone else said, the first thing I'd do is check my transaction archive and make sure the book I received IS in fact from the person holding the deal. That's the most common problem, followed by simple forgetfullness. Cheating is a distant third on this site I think. Give the person a chance to reply. It may all be a mistake. Though, also, I notice something funky about your dates. If you made the request on the 22nd, did she actually accept your request on the 22nd or the 24th? Because, from her acceptance, she'd only have five days (plus two days grace) to mark the book mailed, or it'd roll over to another person. If it wasn't marked mailed until June 1st, are you SURE this didn't happen without you noticing? Because the odds are strongly in favor of that being the case.

I'd definitely check my Transaction Archive and see. It's very possible that the deal box of books is still enroute to you.

Outside of that, though I can understand your wariness, I can assure you that the vast majority of people on PBS have proven to be honest. In several BB transactions of various types, I've never been burned. There are some people on here whose attitudes or opinions I don't agree with, but even them I wouldn't hesitate to do a deal or credit sale with. No matter the attitude, they do tend to be honorable in their agreements. There are a few exceptions, of course, but they tend to be weeded out fairly quickly in one way or the other. So, please, don't be afraid of giving it another chance. Do a small transaction if it makes you feel better, so there's less risk on your part.

I've gotten a lot of books from deals in BB, and generally have not had any problems with the exception of getting some unpostable books, but since they were freebies, I technically got what I paid for. 

If you've gotten burned in a deal, there's nothing that TPTB can or should do, so don't bother to PM them about it.  It's "caveat emptor" in those situations.  

- you didn't order the book from her. If you ordered from the book details page rather than the member's shelf, your request would have gone to the first person who had posted it instead of to the member offering the deal.

This is very easy to do by mistake.  I did it a few times in the past and had to cancel the order (and sent a PM explaining why).  Double check this first. 

I'd also be tempted to out this member on the forum!

Yes, it's tempting but please resist that temptation. The site owners do not approve of this and it could cause you problems.

Actually if it turns out to be the same person-If she doesn't respond to your PM within a week I would contact PBS about it. THey won't give you credits or the missing books.  But if she's done this to other people they can look into her account and maybe give her a warning if this has been a problem before. 

I've taken advantage of quite a few deals in the BB and have never had a problem.  Well there was one where the book went lost but it showed up 3 days later.  I double check the person I'm ordering from by using the ORder MOre button and having 2 pages open. Then I keep a close eye on it and if it looks likes it's going to time out from a no response (hasn't happened yet) then I can cancel the new request before it gets accepted. 

Thank all of you for your responses.  I did hear from the swapper who made the 3/1 offer.  She said she wasn't able to get the package mailed on time and, therefore, the club cancelled her order, deleted her emails, etc. and I received the book from another swapper without being informed by Paperback Swap.  I find the part about PBS deleting emails a bit dubious.  I'm relatively new to this and learned a lot from your posts.  Really appreciate it.   Will chalk it up to a learning lesson and am going to go cancel another Book Bazaar order that only has until tomorrow to be mailed so the same thing doesn't happen again.

PBS won't delete a member's e-mails. That part is pure bunk.

The biggest lesson learned on Bazaar deals is to watch the transaction closely, checking the name on the request frequently, right up to the end to make sure it stays with the deal offerer. Sorry you got burned on this one.

Katie,

I just had to chime in though I am not a regular poster on the forums (more of a reader, it's so interesting and sometimes humerous) but now that you've got me started...

Anyway I am really new to PBS like 5 weeks I think. But right away I got some great advise and ideas from the forums and have used the Book Bazaar both to post "deals" to move my books along and consequently ended up having credits to sell. Both have went really well so far.

When I do a deal I physically get the books and check them (again) to see that they are ready to send,etc and then I accept the order and answer the PM. I don't feel comfortable doing that before I actually make sure I have the order they want. I delete the freebies right then too. Because I know you experienced PBS'rs may notice if that freebie lingers, plus I don't want the hassle of it getting requested again.  

My point is - there are some good people and good deals on the Book Bazaar.  I hope you don't give up on it completely, it makes PBS even more interesting. Speaking of interesting - where'd you get those pictures Mary L?