Sometimes I will read through a person's Bookshelf, then their WL and Reviews, and Profile.  This seems to give me a feeling for what they might like to read, and maybe a little of what they are like (beliefs, family, etc.)  Based on that, could I suggest a book to them through a PM, if they are not on my Buddy list?  Is it more fair to simply post it for FIFO, or give someone a heads up that you have a book they want?      D. 

Can anyone tell me what the Buddy list is for if you never contact the people and vice versa?

Edited for spelling.

Usually, you post books to members' WL only if they are ordering another book from you at the same time or if it is a Buddy that you know wants the book.  FIFO is the fairest way to get books to other people.  Some people really don't like it when members post to other members WL - especially if it is a heavily WL'd book.

Ruth

what does FIFO mean?

This is one of the reasons my WL is kept private, even from buddies.  It really irks me when FIFO gets bypassed like that, even though it's allowed under club rules.

And, as to judging what a person might be like, or what they might enjoy, based upon their shelf, WL and profile, might give you some pretty skewed results.  Many members pickup books at used book stores, just as "trading material" on here, without having any actual interest in those books themselves.  Many others also post or request books for friends or family members, who might have completely different tastes.  And, even if you don't end up with skewed results, chances are that if the book isn't on their WL already it's because they already have it or read it.

As you are looking at the detail of a book, on the right, one of the options is More Options. And the bottom one in that list is to Suggest This Book. I've never used it, but I believe you can type in the person's name and a message, and it sends it to them. And the member would find it under their lists, under Suggested To Me.

vic8 - FIFO is first in, first out.

It is acceptable to post books directly to their wishlist--just make sure you have the same ISBN as the one they have wishlisted, and only post from their shelf directly, not by going to their shelf and then clicking on "book details." If you do that, and post from the details screen, it will go to FIFO. Whether you could or should do that is a matter of personal preference--but PBS says it's okay, so you're not doing anything against the rules.

If you are looking at the person's profile and reviews, that might give you a better idea if the person would like a particular type of book. Books on their shelves or wishlist may not really reflect "them" as a person, as they may pick up books from many other sources aside from just what they read, and they may wishlist books for other family members.

Cheryl

Vic 8 -- FIFO means "first in, first out".

I wouldn't post a book directly to someone's WL without asking them first. If they're out of credits then they have to scamble to find one.  If they don't want to buy one at that moment then they lose their place in line. Or if they're low on credits they may want to save them for books where they are near the top of the list incase one of those comes in before they get a book order.  

This is what I usually do: I read a WL book. I post it to FIFO. While it's on WL hold I'll check out their WL and see if they are wishing another of my TBR books. Then I'll PM them and ask them if they want that one too if I have time to read it before the mail by date. It helps me cut down on postage costs and the 1st book still went to FIFO.  I think being able to send more than 1 book to people is the only way some people can keep doing PBS. 

I would be annoyed by people sending me PMs suggesting books to me. My bookshelf doesn't reflect me at all, since mostly they are first-run books I got when I worked for a publisher. They aren't anything I wanted to read, so that's why they are on my PBS shelf and not the shelf in my home library. I have about 70 Harry Potter books on my wishlist. If a book isn't there, then that means I already have it. I don' think that looking at someone's public information says much about them as a reader (as others above have said too).

You certainly can PM someone if you want to recommend a book. If it looks like it is just advertising a book sitting on you shelf it very well might tick the other member off. If it is a newer WLed book, suggesting it might be welcome.

If you want to post directly to someone, I agree with Mary that I would check with them first so that you don't end up making them lose their spot in line if they can't get it/don't want it at that moment.

You can always post a book to anyone's WL you want to, doesn't matter if you know them or have them on your buddy list. I do this once in a while when I see an active new member that has a lot of long WL line books; just to give them a little pick-me-up by getting a book right away. Just because some members don't like that you can post directly to people doesn't mean you can't, the site leaders gave us the ability to do it so go ahead and use the feature if you want to. 

I don't see any problem with posting a book to whatever WL you want to.   

I'd agree that using a person's shelf to get a feel for the type of books they'd like isn't a good idea.  Too many people post books they get randomly.

Profile, reviews are great sources of info.  WL is fine too--I'm guessing most people have most of their WL books for themselves.  If they are wishing for a family member, they might be interested in a similar book anyway.

The buddy list can be used in many ways.  I have a few folks on mine I met on another site, so I can keep a way to find them.  Some I have b/c they consistently have one particular genre on their shelf that I like.  Some I have b/c they did something nice for me and I want to remember.  Others I have no idea why they are on my buddy list--I have mine set to auto-accept buddies.  If someone wants me as their buddy, I don't see any reason to object!

Suggesting books doesn't sound horrible to me. I'd be intriqued if I recieved such a PM.   If you guessed correctly, you'd get an order. If not, I'd politely decline.   I'd only get annoyed if I started getting piles of them.

Hmmm...I wouldn't really like people giving me books to check out unless I asked for recommendations.  I do like mostly one type of book genre, but still...I would rather ask for recommendations than have someone trying to pawn their book off on me. 

I would have no problem with anyone suggesting any book to me.  Afterall, I'm not obligated to take them up on their suggestion.  And who knows?  It might end up being a book I really like. 

Thanks for all the feedback - guess it could go either way.  After posting the question, I also found lots of books at thrifts and yard sales.  Most of them would interest me, but not all of them, so I do understand how reading a Bookshelf alone probably couldn't reflect who a person is or their particular likes.  The reviews and profiles are better indicators.  But I have read in some threads that people say they only post WL'd books, so that is why I asked.  How is that possible?  And doesn't that guarentee that you get a credit pretty quick?  I also agree that FIFO seems more fair to everybody.  It happens that I have a rather obscure book that may not move ever, and one person seemed to read quite a variety from that genre.  Thus the idea to suggest it.  Sure don't want to be unfair, or pushy, or whatever.

Mary, not sure how this works :   <<<<I read a WL book. I post it to FIFO. While it's on WL hold I'll check out their WL and see if they are wishing another of my TBR books. Then I'll PM them and ask them if they want that one too if I have time to read it before the mail by date. It helps me cut down on postage costs and the 1st book still went to FIFO.  I think being able to send more than 1 book to people is the only way some people can keep doing PBS.>>>>      Does a WL book automatically go on hold ?  Does FIFo then take you to the wisher's list?  There are so many tricks to learn about this site!  And I'm trying to learn them all yesterday...boy, this is confusing!  Probably just a little slow, but I hope you (or somebody!) can straighten me out.  :-}       D.

Right, you can do FIFO than look at their wishlist and see if you have anything else they want, and post it directly to their shelf to save on shipping. I love it when people do it for me (which isn't much lol)

Does a WL book automatically go on hold ?  Does FIFo then take you to the wisher's list? 

Yes, any books that are WLed will be placed on hold when you post them and offered to the first person in line. Once the request shows up on your account page there will be a PM button there. From the PM button you will be able to link into their profile (if they have one) and access their WL from there (unless they have it private).

WL books or those without many copies in the system do usually get you a credit to use faster because you don't have to wait or all the copies ahead of you to get ordered. Sometimes though, the WL book doesn't get taken by the first few people in line so you end up waiting a while to get it accepted.

I tend to post pretty much all WL books because I have so many of them that I pretty much only read those and my keepers.

While FIFO is best for everyone sometimes it does work out to pass by the system.  I recently got a book through FIFO and in the process of exchanging PM's about that author, the sender menitoned she was reading something else by a similar author, also WL'ed, and would I be interested when she was done with it. I said that I was, made her my buddy, listed the book on my WL, and then she posted directly to my shelf. But the direct posting was after an exchange of PM's and a previous trade.

When a WL book is on the 48hr WL hold there's a PM button there. If you click the PM button then click on the link to their profile you can see their WL.  If they don't have a profile then this doesn't work.

Thanks, everybody!  I'm saving this thread so I can look at it again.   OOOOOH, Mary, what naughty pics in your sig!  LOVE it!   :}    D.

If you like mine go see some of the pics in the games, paranormal and love/romance forums.

I've done what Carolyn described in her post.  It's much safer that way because you're going through the FIFO system to start and you have already got some contact with that member.  I made a 3 book deal (mailing together for 3 credits) to a member who wanted the first in the trilogy.  It saved me money and he got the books earlier.  Win-win.  I'll take saving money on postage over FIFO anyday!

Ruth

That's why I do it that way. I figure the 1st book goes through FIFO and then the 2nd still moves the line but saves me postage.  I just did this last night. I posted a WL book through FIFO.  I had another of her WL books.  She said to post it to her as well. So I'll read it this weekend and mail them both out on Monday. 2 WL lines shortened. 

This time around I got to be on the sending end of a goood deal. I'm sending Book 11  in a mystery series to a person that was first in the WL and went through the regular FIFO. I looked at her wishlist and saw that she had Book 10 listed -- which I happened to have as well, but  had not posted yet. It didn't have the same ISBN as the one on her WL, but  I offered it anyway. Strangely, there are 60+ wishers for the ISBN she had for this paperback, but there were NO wishers for my version. (There was actually one other in the system.) I posted it and she went to my shelf to get it. The other option was for her to list it and then for me to post directly to her, which would have been the way to go if it was a WL'ed version and I didn't want my copy to end up with someone else. (You have to make sure you're either ordering from or posting to a list directly if you want to double up on shipping.) WL books -- Let the receiver list and you post directly to them. Non-WL books: You list and let the person "Order More from Your Shelf."

Word to the wise hint: Check for the books by title and author. I got one book by searching on the title, as one copy -- the long WL'ed one I received -- was listed with the wrong spelling for the author's last NAME, of all things..

Carolyn, I think that happens a lot when people are adding books that either are older without an ISBN or they're a version from a different country where the ISBN doesn't work. They add the book without an ISBN and have to type in the book data themselves, and if there is anything misspelled (author's name, a word in the title, etc) it's very hard for people, even people who are checking for other versions by title/author and not just ISBN, to find those books. So just a reminder to enter the information CAREFULLY when you're entering books without an ISBN if you want other people to find them.

One time I found a book in the system in a different version  from what was on my wishlist (and I'd had it wishlisted for over a year!) that had not only a letter missing from the author's last name, but the word "An" was used instead of "The" in the title...so I found that book totally by chance while browsing.

Cheryl