I'm fairly new and am curious as to how many book requests members get on average? Maybe how many every week?

I've only gotten one actual book request since I've been here. Pretty much the only way I can get rid of books is to go into the book bazaar and do a deal for my books. I really don't mind doing this because I like helping people out and cleaning out my bookshelf.. but I do need the credits really bad :( Plus, I have to physically go to the PO when I do a deal because PBS can't take into account the postage when I add freebies to the packaging. While my 'books shipped' says 8, it's actually probably closer to 20 books that I have shipped out. And even if I do a deal in the bazaar, I normally only get 1 or 2 requests.

I'm just wondering if it's normal to not get a lot of requests.. or if I just need to wait until my books go higher up on the FIFO list because I'm so new and they are so recently posted. Or if it's just because the holiday season and people are too busy to be requesting books. I have a fairly diverse bookshelf with over 70 books posted so I think I'm okay in that department..

Hi Britannie and welcome to PBS.

You have some common authors on your bookshelf. For example, James Patterson and Nora roberts are very heavily posted authors, so you'd have to wait until all the people ahead of you have had their books taken before yours get requested.

I have a lot of books like that on my shelf, and requests do pop up for them. Some of them have been waiting since I joined a couple of years ago. It sometimes takes a while, but your books will eventually work their way up. Once they do, you'll start getting requests more often.

If you're looking for a source of cheap books that will go faster, you could try used bookstores, library sales, garage sales, and (my favorite) Goodwill. My Goodwill sells all books at 4-for-$1.00 and that includes both paperback and hardcover. It may sound strange, but I go for the more obscure authors, and stay away from the popular titles (unless they're still relatively new). The less popular titles aren't in high demand, but there are also a lot less of them in circulation here so they tend to go faster.

you need to get a small postal scale (mine's from walmart-$20), then for the postage, you can have pbs calculate it for you, if you change the weight. i also use the printable postage, so i almost never go to the post office. everything goes into the blue mailbox near work.

Thanks, Lisa, I guess I never thought of it that way! I do like to go to the Goodwill or the library's bookstore a lot and get books.. but I normally just get the authors that I enjoy. Maybe after the holidays, I'll have to go to the Goodwill and pick up a few different authors and add them to my bookshelf. Thanks again :)

Another thing that I do is post my books to my Reminder List before I post them to my Book Shelf.  That way I can see if there are just a few of that particular book, or if there are hundreds, and it's going to take some time to get rid of that particular book.  Then I can delete them from my RL.  Also you can tell if a book is Wish Listed and if you've spent quite a bit on postage that week, you can wait a few days to post the WLed book.  Good luck.  Pat

Welcome to PBS !

Sometimes it takes a while . When I need some orders I offer a deal in the bazaar.

Hi Brittannie and Welcome to PBS.

Looking at your bookshelf, I think you may have some good luck with a Box O Book subscription. BoB is a way to get some books moving, by trading with other BoB subscribers without using credits. There are members who are interested in the books you have posted, but being that they are very popular book, it will take some time to move up on the FIFO list. But with Boxing, members choose from other member's shelves directly, so you may find it a way to get some of your more popularly posted books moving and get you some books that you would like to read.

If you are able to use the computers at your local library and they have books for sale; you could take a few books at a time to the computer and look them up. This is something that I do to find WL books to add to my shelf . I also take pictures of books at the dollar store or Goodwill and go home and look them up. After a while you get a feel for those books that will move and  give your other books time to move up the FIFO. I get a book request every other week ,sometimes they come in bunches.

I almost never get a bookshelf request but I don't have a ton on my shelf and it's all category romances which don't move unless you're offering a deal on them.  I'm okay with that, I'll run deals occasionally and then clean off my shelf and donate all the books and start over again.  I have a TON of category romances to post eventually.

Hi and welcome to PBS!  I have found that a lot of the requesting business depends on the books you are posting.  Authors like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, Nora Roberts are very very popular and so they get posted all the time.  Then you have to wait for all the books posted before yours to be requested before yours will be requested unless someone gets it directly from your shelf.  But if you are posting newer books that don't get posted very often then the chances increase greatly that someone will request it fairly quickly.  I remember the first day I signed into PBS and posted 6 books and immediately 3 were snapped up from people's WL.  I was stunned and thought, my god I'll never be able to afford this!  But it has slowed down since then and it was simply based on the types of books I posted that first day.

And PBS postage can take into account more than one book.  You just need to add the total weight of the books and where it says "weight" on the page to buy postage, you adjust it to the total weight of all the books...and then it will adjust the postage accordingly. 

And also posting in the forums helps.  It allows people to see your profile and then they are more likely to go directly to your bookshelf and look around.  I know that I have clicked on many people's bookshelves from the forums because I liked their icon, or I thought their post was interesting, or whatever reason.  And if they decide to click on something in your bookshelf, its an order directly from you.

Brittanie,

Many have suggested ways and types of books you can buy to 'beef up" your book shelf, with the aim of getting more requests/credits through FIFO.

Personally, unless it is a book i want to read, I no longer buy books just for the purpose of posting - since it's cheaper to buy a credit in the book bazaar than postage. JMHO.

Welcome to PBS, Britannie!

Although I'm sure your books will be requested eventually, some of them are from popular authors so it may take a while. If you really need credits fast, you can always buy credits from other members in the Book Bazaar. There you can find them for around $2.50, which can be cheaper than buying a book to post (cost of the book + postage is usually more than that.)

If you want to learn how that works, just read this thread: Credits through PayPal

If you do decide to buy books to add to your bookshelf, before you go check out the Top 100 (under Community) and look at the most wished for books, most requested books and more importantly look at the most posted books and those are the ones you don't want to buy! Welcome to PBS, it's a great place!

Welcome to PBS! If you have an Android phone there is a free PBS app that will scan a book's barcode, pull up the book info and tell you how many (if any) people have the book on their wish list. I made good use of that app at my local Goodwill store when I first joined. :)

I get 5 or 6 a month just from my bookshelf which is usually mostly romances.  I will post heavily posted books before I've read them to work their way up FIFO.  I don't do it with a ton of books because you don't want ot get caught with too many to read. But I can read a book in a day or two and usually I've read it by the time it's requested.  But it gives it a head start.  I rarely have more than 60 or 70 books posted at anyone time. 

I posted maybe 5 or 6 WL books a month. I used to post more but I don't have the budget anymore to buy books just to post.  You can get credits cheap in the book bazaar. 

You just joined so you might just have to be patient. 

Thank you everyone for your helpful hints! :)

I agree with the buying books from thrift stores to trade to beef up your shelf...at my local goodwill, they have a bin where I can buy books for 15 cents a piece, so I go there once a week to purchase random books.

My local thrift store charged $1.99 for small paperbacks and more for trades and hardcovers.  So I don't buy anythere just to post.  I frequently find WL books that I want to read there though.

I would look up a few books I want to read that might be wish list and then maybe get them on Amazon new or used. Many of their mass market paperbacks are 4 for 3 new with free shipping if they add up to $25 or you have prime. You can get a lot of books in the marketplace for fairly cheap plus shipping.  I know the purpose of joining PBS is to trade books but we also have to post some WL books sometimes or the lines won't move at all.  So buying a couple WL books that you want to read is a good way to earn a couple of credits while waiting for your bookshelf books to move.  Just wanted to put that out there.

I always have a stash of WL books here that I can read and post.  Most of them acquired used and cheap.

I've had 2 books requested from me recently.  However, one of them had been on my shelf since 12/12/2010 so I had to wait over a year before it was requested.  I've posted about 10 WL books lately too & they've all been requested also.

If you have any books that people are wishing for, those will probably get requested from you rather quickly!

Not all that many, but I have been getting a  couple a month. I checked ot your shelf and there are a lot of good authors, but there is a glut of them so they have to go through ALL of the other cpies before they get to yours. I recommend BOX of  BOOKS. i belonged to that for a year, but after being in PBS since 2005, I don't NEED MORE books. I get books at  rummage sales, or any used book store I happpen to be in, especially when they are selling for .50-$1.00. I have books for swapping that I have had since I joined. I am thinking it is time to weed those, as well as the moutain of books still to read.

I have had 237 requests in 34 months. That works out to be 1.7 requests per month.

I get them daily sometimes but at least several a week. But I rotate my shelf a lot. I add books frequently and that helps as well. I have an amazing stash of books (read as: compulsive buyer, reader and swapper of used books! lol) so it's easy for me to add to it weekly if I want to. After you've been here long enough, you'll have plenty to swap.

ETA: Hang out in the forums and offer deals in the Book Bazaar and then your shelf becomes a known quantity as well -- people will purposely go look at your shelf. I got an order for 6 books last month from someone who is known in the forums -- she just randomly checked out my shelf and saw several she liked.