I was first in line for a book on my wish list.  I had it on auto-request.  It was posted today and the auto request went through.  I just received a message from a member saying that someone "responded before me".  How can that happen?  I'm fairly new to the site and this is a new one for me.

Thanks!

They may have posted it to more than one book swapping site. Which in my opinion, isnt the best way to be a popular swapper at either site.

And per the PBS Terms of Use, prohibited here at PBS.

Here is the portion of the TofU that addresses this:

 Item 4

Listing or Posting
By listing or posting items for selection by the exchange community, you aver that you are the sole owner of the items and have the unrestricted right to transfer ownership thereof. By posting or listing an item for exchange with the Site, you agree to ship the item when requested. The posting or listing of items without the intention of exchanging them when requested is expressly prohibited and may constitute wire or mail fraud in violation of U.S. and state law. The listing or posting of items for exchange that you do not have in your physical possession is expressly prohibited

Most members dont do this and the good thing is, you have been returned to the top spot for the book as soon as someone else posts it.

Welcome to PBS Johanna!  Unfortunately, that's a bogus answer.  Since the book was wishlisted, soon as another member posted it the computer offers it to the first person in line (you).  There is no way for PBS FIFO to 'offer' the same book to multiple members at the same time.

Either the member decided not to send the book for some reason (other than the one stated), or the 'member responding first' was on another book swap site.

Hope the book is posted for you again soon!

Could it have been related to the multiples only wishlist thread? Maybe she posted it in that forum and someone took her up on the multiple shipping deal, then she posted it into the system wrong? I only just discovered that thread and wasn't sure how to use it.

I'd PM and ask the member your question.

It could be that the member had offered it in one of the Wish List threads or to their Friends list and was trying to post it to the person from there, but screwed it up and the book went to FIFO instead. Since it was promised to someone else already, they needed to cancel with you and repost it to the person they told would get the book first.

Or this, from the Help Center:

My book got posted into the system twice!

This happens when there is a server hiccup, or when the posting member clicked "Post book" or "Refresh" while the book-posting was in process.

• You can simply delete the extra copy from your bookshelf

• If the book is on a WIsh List and involved in a pending offer:
  • Wait for the book to be requested. 
  • Accept the first request
  • Decline any extra requests by clicking [I Cannot Mail]
  • Doing this will remove the extra copies from your account. 
  • You will have a chance to explain what happened to the requestor when you decline a request.