I know you get a certain amount of initial credits after you first post a certain amount of books, but is there another way without having to buy to get more credits? I know you can also get some credits by sending books, but what if no one is requesting any of your books? Is buying 1 credit for $3.49 the only other way to get credits? Thanks!

Stephanie,

You can buy discounted credits from members through the Book Bazaar forum.  Credit prices are as low as $2.50.

Other than what Mary said, the only other way to get "free" credits (yes, the word is in quotes to avoid the dispute on the word free) is to refer people to the site. When they join and post books, you'll get a referral credit for them. Some people do things like tell their friends and family, others post on Craigslist, etc. As for no one requesting your books, you can do a deal in the Book Bazaar (request a book, get one free, get four free, etc) and that may up your credit flow too.

ETA: I just checked your bookshelf, and only having 7 books (and them being some of the most highly common books on here), your best bet may be to try to read some more if you have them and post more books. More books on your shelf could lead to more requests.

The site also charges a 50 cent fee to purchase a credit using pay pal. I know pay pal has their fees which probably get charged to paper back swap but I think 50 cents is a bit much.

Donna, that .50 fee is for any credit or PayPal transaction though, regardless of how big or small. It's a PER TRANSACTION charge...not .50 per credit charge. I put PBS money in my account in $50 increments for the PBS postage, and am only charged that same .50 fee...so if you know you are going to need more credits, it's certainly more cost effective to buy a bunch at once rather than in smaller amounts to minimize that fee.

Edited to add--for the original poster, another thing you can do is to "beef up" your bookshelf by checking out local "Friends of the Library" sales, thrift shops, garage sales, etc. for books...you'd still be spending a little money to get a credit, but not as much as buying a credit. My FOL sale, for example, lets us fill up a grocery bag for $3 on the last day of the sale, and even on the first day of the sale, paperbacks are 50 cents...even the nice trade paperbacks! Take a look at people's wishlists and see what types of things are wanted. There are several threads that address what types of books to buy that often get chosen quickly or are wishlisted.

If you don't want to buy books for your shelf and don't want to buy credits, about the only other thing you can do is either run a deal in the book bazaar (get 2 books for 1 credit, or 3...but if your shelf has a lot of really over-posted books, that sometimes won't even help as there are just so many deals out there....) or you can be patient. That's about it!

Cheryl

Take a look at the top 50 book requests if you decide to do a bit of FOL or UBS shopping.  That's Friends of Library or Used Book Store.  Also, the other places Cheryl mentioned.

I went to the library sale and bought a pile of erotica.  The money went to the library. The books have flown off my shelf.   There are certain books that are highly wanted.  Craft books and cookbooks also.  It takes a while to watch what moves.  Check the lists for top 50s under community. 

Wow you bought a bunch of erotica books from your library?  I dont think our library even carries those books.  LOL

The friends of the library takes in donated books and then sells what they do not use to stock the shelves.  Someone in my county buys a lot of erotica and donates these like new books.  (These are not ex library books.  And our UBS doesn't buy them.)  For some reason, the erotica does not end up on the shelves.  Most of the donated new mysteries do show up on the shelves.  Not the erotica.  So I bought some I wanted to read, and a lot to just post.   I really like giving money to the library for books that move off my shelves fast.