Just was curious as to who is signed up for this.. Do you like to do this?? Is the money that you pay for the Box-O-Books a year given to the PBS website to help keep it running?? Are the books you recieve new and postable again, or are some not postable??

Just curious as to if I want to do this feature or not!

Thanks for any suggestions/comments!

Trisha

I am a "Boxer" and yes the money goes back to PBS to help maintain the website.  It's useful if you or another boxer are out of credits, because then you can swap via the BOB and no credits are exchanged.  The books received and/or forwarded should always follow the PBS guidelines ... no matter what.  If it is unpostable for a credit, it should not be available on a bookshelf.  The majority of books I have received have all been within the postable guidelines of PBS and were all acceptable and were (are) able to be reposted.

I've only done a few trades and so far I've been pleased.  BOB is good for trading those books that are common in the system that you might have to do a deal to get rid of otherwise.  The money goes to help run the PBS site.  I've only done small deals.  When I first signed up I got a lot of offers for 10-20 books including some audios.  I had to turn those down as I couldn't find anything I wanted on their shelf. But I've done a few small ones for 1-5 books.  Some people only do larger swaps. I like to keep it smaller because it's easier to pack them up and less risk of losing a bunch of books at once do to postal loss, damage or a bad boxer on the other end.  Don't feel bad turning offers down if you don't find a book you want.  

I've been thinking about becoming a boxer to and am wondering how many books is it best to have on your shelf. I haven't done it yet because I seem to average around 25. What would be a good number of books to have on your shelf?

The number of books doesn't matter much.  What matters far more is whether the books you have are common as mud or not.  You might move Grisham, Clancy, etc. faster through BOB than via FIFO, but they won't get much interest.  I had a look at your (Christina's) shelf, and I think you would have no problem finding some trades.

I rarely have more then 35-40 books on my shelf, and I'm still offered trades.  Not all the time, but frequently enough to keep me busy!

I signed up maybe about a year ago or so.

I LOVE it!! My favorite thing is you don't have to use points in the trades. Plus it is great getting boxes of books! lol

I'm a homeschooling mom and during the summer months I used the Box o Books as a way to stock our homeschooling bookshelf. You will not believe the wonderful books we got! Plus one a lot of people learned we were a homeschooling family they tossed in extra books. I was moved to tears. People are so kind. I requested 6 books from one lady and she only saw one on my bookshelf she wanted. The normal outcome for that is either cancel the swap or I only pick 1 instead of the 6. Well, she was told me I was more than welcome to have the 6 books for my kids. I was blown away.

My 11yr old daughter for years has loved the series Babysitters Club Little Sister Books. There are over 100 in the series. We've used Box of books as a way to add to her collection.

Now I was worried that it would cost a lot more in shiping but it doesn't. Plus it is well worth maybe the $3.50 or so for a bunch of great books.

I've only had one problem out the almost 100 swaps I've done. One lady requested 4 books from me & I mailed them right away. She has yet to send me anything in return. These were NICE like new books too. This happened in August I think.

Other than that it has been a real joy and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Ashley

One thing: I recommend that you don't go out and by a bunch of cheap books that you wouldn't read yourself and post them just do have more books to offer on a BOB. Because the BOB offers you get will probably have similar books on their shelf.  So if you don't like romance (or mystery or whatever), don't post a bunch of romance books because that's most likely what you'll be offered. Not necessarily as some people have really huge shelves w/just about everythign on them.  But that's what I found.

Wow, some great advice on here. I'm going to check in further to becoming a boxer.

My complaint with the Box o Books is that there is no hard deadline for mailing out the books.  I'll probably renew when the time comes just because I feel that we all should be paying a fee for using PBS, but I'll keep that feature turned off.

I LOVE BOB!!!!!!

I usually have 40-50 books on my shelf, and have had many very positive swap experiences.  Sure, I've had people tell me that they didn't find anything they liked on my shelf, but that's fine, as everyone who said that was very nice about it.  I have found my box swaps to be super friendly transactions, and it's great to be able to just out and out trade my used books instead of waiting for someone to want them enough to spend a credit.

I used to be a boxer.  It was a good program.  I had a couple problem swaps, but the vast majority were fine.    If you join, please do not feel bad for declining requests!

I'm not a boxer right now because I realized when we moved just HOW MANY books I have to read.  So I'm pretty much only requesting wish list books, and those I won't find in boxes.  Since I became a lot more picky as to the books that come into my house, I decided to drop BoB rather than decline them all.   If I found someone with a bunch of books on their shelf I was interested in who was a boxer, I'd rejoin. 

It's a great program, I really enjoyed it.  I just don't want boxes of books right now--I want boxes leaving, but not coming, so I'm not a member.  But I do recommend it. :)

Just be prepared for LOTS of requests right after you join. It will taper off. :)

Good point, Kayote. I use to feel bad about delclining requests. I seem to be a push over and hate to have others upset at me. lol So I use to accept all the time even if I didn't see books I really wanted. I requests book from the person and usually end up reposting them.

I love being a boxer! I've done large boxes and single book orders. The no-deadline-thing doesn't bother me. I usually wait a week before PMing the other person. I also use DC for my own peace of mind. I also don't decline requests very much, even for shelves filled with only romances or childrens. I think I've declined because I didn't have the time to trek to the post office.

Boxers, yahoo!!

this is all great information. i think i will sign up for this when i get rid of some of my TBR list. its almost to 400

I used the heck out of it when I first got it, and now not as much, but I still like having it and think it's well worth the cost.  I like being able to communicate with the person I'm swapping with all the way through the process of deciding what books we want and getting them mailed out, I like not having the pressure of a mailing date - even though I always mail quickly, and I like not having to use my credits to get everything I want.  It's mutually beneficial; I get rid of 5 or 6 books I don't want and get 5 or 6 I do, the postage costs me less, and all of my books are coming in one shipment.  I've only had one trade that I was somewhat less than happy with, and everyone who uses BOB is generally friendly and easy to work with.  I've made some great buddies through BOB, and I always check with them first when I want something.  You get to know pretty quickly who you have the most in common with as far as genres you're most interested in, general book condition, and shipping habits, and it's nice to be able to check with them first before you order something.  It's great for getting series books quickly, without having to hunt them down & order them one at a time too.

I love the BOB! It is a very good way to get some of the books that were popular and are now older without using a credit. I only had 1 problem so far and I emailed R&R who then contacted her and I got my books. Yea!!

I used to be a boxer and liked it alot.  I am taking a break from it, as I have a mountain of books to read. I might join again when I get the mountain whittled down.  It is a good way to get book, not use your credits and build up your supply...like I said, TBR mountain! It is well worth $8 a year!

This is one of my fav features!  I've had 7 completed boxes (three passing in the mail now) and only one problem.  I got a package last week with 2 of the 5 books water damaged.  Most of the books I've gotten are in wonderful shape and I look forward to reading and reposting :)

You do not need to use your Credits to be in Box O Books?!?!

nope, no credits are used when you trade in box of books.

I have come to love box of books even more than regular requests. Like they've said NO CREDITS!! I have requested more of others than they have of me and I get about 1/2 and 1/2 turn-down and acceptance rates. I keep my shelf loaded with about 100 books but have another 150 to read! I like to browse other people's books this way because if they refuse to accept I can request the book the regular way. I've also had people say they aren't interested in any of my books but they'll give me my requests for "x" amount of credits. This is well worth the $8.00 since I have about a 1 credit balance all the time.

Holly

Would it be permissible and appropriate it you're a boxer to accept requests for, say, five books but order fewer books in return--maybe even only one?  I'm always willing to send multiple books to people but I'm more interested in getting books out of my house at this point than I am in acquiring more.  That being said, there are still books that I want (right now I have close to 200 on my WL and RL combined), so if I could get rid of four books while getting only one, I would be a happy camper.

mary anne, from what i heard thats fine. as long as its ok with the other person