Am I right to think that "trading" will slow down in DEC due to holiday budgeting?  I mean, those on strict shopping budgets for the holidays won't have funds to ship us books and thus will put their shelves on hold and take those books out of the ordering process.

It varies. I have some time off coming up, which I'll be spending at home. That means more time to read, which means I'll be posting and sending more WL books.

Some members also go on hold during the holiday season because media mail books take longer to arrive and are more likely to be marked lost during increased package volume for USPS during this time of year. 

Me, I go on vacation hold as soon as I've sent out as many books as I can afford at one time, no matter what time of year it is. 

Well, last year I noticed that the packages took much longer to arrive in Dec.

I myself was just as busy with ordering/mailing, but there was a big difference in receive time.

I'm going to be off a couple of weeks, so I'm going to try to put a dent in my ever increaseing TBR pile; and I'll probably put my shelf on Vacation Hold, because I won't have easy access to my "Book Stash" and the Post Office.  Plus I just need a break.

I've been a member since July 2010 and I must say PBS has been very, very good to me!  My original 2 credits have lots and lots of friends now!

I've met some great people in the process; and of course, I've added some new authors and genres to my reading addiction.

-RD

I try to not post new trade sized or HB books in December because of the PO lines.  I'll save them to post in January.  But it doesn't stop me from ordering or posting the under 13 oz books.   I'm more likely to use PBS postage on books.

Everyone kept saying that it slowed down in December of last year.  But it wasn't very noticeable to me.  Books were either arriving super quick or very slow.  But they were moving. 

Many folks do travel or put their shelves on hold.  But that seems balanced by the folks staying inside and reading.

It seems to me that it does slow down a bit in December, I think it's partly because people are busy with holiday stuff.  On the other hand, it picks up quite a bit in January when people are back to their "normal" lives, plus they post books they got as gifts and either didn't want to read or finished reading quickly.

Diane

I'm on hold til the new year but have a bunch of WL books to post, so it'll be back to normal then. I dread the post office lines, though I still have to go to picked up some WL books that weren't on hold, but it's an easy in-out instead of waiting in the long lines.

As wonderful as December can be with all the celebrations, it's surely exhausting.

My shelf has been on hold since mid November and will stay that way through Christmas due to budgeting concerns. I know when I come back, I'll be posting several WL books that are sitting on my shelf and any books gifted to me that I have no desire to read (which happens a ton because my family and friend know I love to read but not that I prefer to pick out my own books).

I avoid the PO as much as usual during this time of year.  The lines make me shudder.  I had to mail something to England yesterday so I reluctantly went... and there was NO ONE in line when I got there.  None.  I was so surprised, it made my day.  :)

I, for one, am on vacation hold because the holiday season is just so busy and I have a comfortable cushion of credits.

Come January, things usually pick up.  It seems that people have books to get rid of and cabin fever seems to set in and people also want books.

Hang in there.

Over the years, it seems to me that it has slowed through december.  But the end of December and January, I seem to get wl books like crazy because of all the gift cards and book shopping members do after Christmas!! 

Slow down I wish.  Since 12/1 I have mailed out 23 books with another ordered on my shelf that came up this evening.

Maybe as it gets closer to The Big Day it will slow down. 

I've noticed that WL movement seems to slow but FIFO bookshelf orders sometimes actually pick up.  Probably a combo of people spending credits to get books for gifts, people getting credits as gifts and people getting extra days off from work and using time to search for books. 

But then the WL offers slow down because many people don't want to deal with mailing.  I just use stamps or printed postage during the Holidays.

The WL seems to pick up in Jan/Feb as people spend gift certificates on WL books or get WL books for Christmas.

I can't seem to move WL books for love or money! It seems that most people are busy with other things and just not responding to WL announcements, far more than normal. Am wanting to put my bookshelf on hold but would like the move the books sitting in WL hold before I do and they just keep timing out and timing out. Oh well, a few more days and my shelf WILL go on hold and those books won't go anywhere until after the holidays. I have noticed that the number of books posted every day are much lower than normal just lately, obviously a reflection of the holidays and a general reluctance to have to go anywhere near a post office! Like Mary, I am using postage stamps whenever possible.

My shelf is not on hold and I have received several requests this month. I am going to the PO today to mail 10 books.  I am looking forward to January when there usually is a huge influx of books being posted, especially wishlist books. It seems that a lot of members receive books for Christmas, read them and then post them quickly in January. Yay!!!  I know I have my Christmas book wishlist ready for my family on their trip to Barnes and Noble or Borders.

I haven't posted WL books this month because of this hectic time of school year.  Once I finish grading finals, I'll post like a madwoman.

(5 more days 'til freedom!!)

I think, in general, things do slow down as people get busy with holiday preparations, and as you said, budgetary concerns with the holidays so there's likely to be more accounts on vacation hold. Also, the mail tends to slow down--media mail especially--with the heavier burden on the PO, so it will take a bit longer for books to get to and fro.

I myself haven't noticed a huge difference so far--have had several wishlist offers for me this week, and the WL books I've posted have been accepted quickly. That may change as it gets closer to the end of the month, but everything at PBS seems to go in streaks for me anyway, so I just look at it as part of that natural cycle of "sometimes it's busy and sometimes it's not."

Cheryl

Had I read this thread yesterday I would have agreed that it had slowed lately, but, then this morning I have three requests for books from the FIFO queue that have been posted for months) so, who knows.