So I was wondering. I see a lot of people post to sell credits for low rates $2.30-$2.50. I was wondering are they doing this to make money? And if so how are they making money being that to get credits themselfs they have to buy the book and then mail it. Unless I'm missing something there is no way to make money doing that,

I sometimes sell credits. It's definitely not making me any profit, since it costs more on average to mail the books. Especially since I usually purchase PBS postage and DC. I just like sending people books and I don't like amassing a large amount of credits that are just going to sit there.

I've sold credits. I had a glut at one point from trading multiple DVD sets on swapadvd and from deals. I don't think I made much of a profit, but the number of credits I had was borderline ridiculous and it made no financial sense to keep them sitting there, unused, and therefore basically worthless.

I've sold credits before too, and nope - didn't make a profit!  I just had a bunch and needed some money ;-)

I sell them every now and then but I've never made a profit from it. I figure it's better to let go of the excess credits and use the money for something else, rather than to just accumulate them.

At one time, some people were transferring credits from the dvd site (2 dvd credits=3 book credits) and they may have been making a profit. I think that might have had something do to with the limit on credits per month that you can buddy to other members now.

Most credit sellers are just looking to get their postage money back out in order to send more books!

I think we have had a member or two try to buy them cheaply and resell them for a little bit more, but the most they are going to make is maybe 50 cents on 150 credits per month. Hope its not their only money maker at that rate.

I know a couple of the regular credit sellers have massive bookshelves and send out tons of books.  They do a lot of multiple book/multi-credit deals and their per credit cost is lower.  They sell credits to recoup postage and probably because they earn way more than they can spend.

I used to sell credits. Not for a profit. But I was posting a lot of WL books that I got cheap just to post them.  I sold credits to recoup the postage and maybe the .25 I spent on the book.  But credits were reselling for $3.00 then or maybe $2.75 if someone bought a huge chunk at once.   I don't do that anymore.  $2.25-$2.50 doesn't even cover postage and I can no longer get books for .25. 

If you go about it in a systematic way it is possible to make a (small) profit off of selling credits. You just have to work the system right.

1. Let's say you are buying books to mail on PBS instead of getting them free. 10 books at 50 cents each (although its quite possible to buy books for 25 cents or less) = $5.00
2. You mail the books out in a multi-credit deal (5 books for 3 credits). The cost of mailing that package is quite likely 2 pounds, certainly under 3 pounds. 2 packages at the 3 pound rate = 3.31 x 2 = $6.62

Let's add 25 cents for packaging supplies. (that's what my actual cost would be).

So the total cost of obtaining 6 credits is $5 plus $6.62 + 0.25 = $11.86

If I sell those 6 credits at $2.40 each, I would make $14.40 on them, minus my cost, $11.86, giving me a profit of $2.54

So ... .nobody is getting rich off this, but there is no reason to be losing money on it, either. And, I used examples of prices that I think are high, personally. I find tons of books for 25 cents or less at FOTL sales, many of them brand new looking and quite a few wish listed.

If you enjoy finding and mailing books out .... it is a cost neutral hobby which pays for itself.

And, when you boil it right down, the way to make a profit from PBS is:

1. Have lots of books ot choose from on your shelf.
2. Give some of them away for free.

You cannot make a profit from mailing one book for one credit.

If you buy Audiobook CD's cheap you get two credits for each trade. The weight is less than a book so postage is minimal. The other day I bought 50 Audio CD's at a library sale for 25 cents each. I will post them and they will fly off the shelf ( I am on vacation hold now ).  Audio cassettes are just about dead.

When I got my iPad and knew that I was going to stop requesting as many books, I sold most of my credits. Of course I didn't make any money but I converted the credits to currency so I could get ebooks.

I have sold a few but no, I didn't make any money.  At one point it was just to have a little money in my Paypal account to cover something I'd bought on ebay without having to pull the money from my bank account.  It usually costs me more to mail a book on here than what I sold the credits for.  I guess if you worked the system like Sara said, someone could make a little money but it's not going to instantly make someone rich I don't think!

I like what Sara said - this can be a cost-neutral hobby. It's probably not worth the time you put in, doing it for profit, but it makes a nice free-ish hobby.

Sewing is my cost-neutral hobby: I don't think many people successfully sew to save money today (because clothing is very cheap now), but lots of people can sew and end up with nice stuff, spending no more overall than they would have without sewing. In both cases, money is not really the motivation.

I do it because I have extra credits and I hope to break a little closer to even. I also charge $2.50 flat.

I've been mailing out more books than I've been receiving and don't need a "credit stash".

I find tons of books for 25 cents or less at FOTL sales, many of them brand new looking and quite a few wish listed.

I've gotten some good paperbacks at a local thrift that holds a sale once in a while of 10 books for $1. And some people get a lot of books from Freecycle, so they don't cost anything.

I once got about 8 boxes of books from a guy who was on Freecycle who was moving and didn't want to bother trying to fit them into a smaller space.

"The other day I bought 50 Audio CD's at a library sale for 25 cents each. I will post them and they will fly off the shelf ( I am on vacation hold now )."

Alas, all the libraries and thrift shops here charge $1 (or more) for audiobooks.  And just for laughs I jotted down the 9 titles currently on the sale shelf locally.  Four have copies sitting in the system, four have no copies and no wishes, and only one would "fly off the shelf". :-(  You clearly get a better selection than we do.

I find audio cds move quickly even if they aren't WL.  I rarely have one sit for long.  I never find them at my library sale shelf or my thrift store. Just old cassette ones.