I recently mailed a book from Connecticut to Massachuesetts.........and the sender has yet to mark it received even the the appropriate mailing/shipping time has come and gone.

A few days ago I recieved a message from PBS saying right now I would not get a credit for this book because the recieving time has lapsed and it was not marked recieved.  I have messaged the reciever twice since then nicely asking if she has recieved the book and could she mark it as such if so. No response from her.

Today I do a little sleuthing and the very book I sent her is listed for swapping on her bookself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This was a brand new clean hardcover book with a perfect dustcover..............which sort of bothers me more than if it were a well loved & shared paperback or hardcover.

So...she got my book (or assuming so)...her original credit..and now she will get another credit if she swaps it!  GGgrrrrrr....I need to start using shipping with tracking. 

I don't know the protocol for something like this,  but if she does have it listed on her bookshelf --- can you contact TPTB and have them check on when she posted that book?   If it is within the timeframe of your shipping/receiving dates,  then it might just be your book. 

If she did get your book and not mark it received,  that is a bold move to post it right to her bookshelf! 

ETA:  when you look at her bookshelf,  what is the "posted date" next to the book?  Also, when you click on the little foot, does it bring up any information?  I'm not sure if it would since she didn't mark your book as actually received,  but it might.   You might want to check that out. 

There is no foot...and I am assuming thats because she didn't mark it recieved so techinically it is showing as a "first listing" that hasn't traveled yet.

She posted it 9 days after I mailed my copy to her............which basically would make sense...giving time to get to her...time to read it..and then list it.

I did send the info to PBS..waiting to see what they say

Another very plausible scenario:

The requestor really wants said book. Requestor orders said book. Requestor waits for book to arrive but it doesn't. Requestor is so anxious to read it they go out and buy a copy, read it and post it. Requestor still has not received the copy you sent so they have not marked it received.

that scenerio is very very possible.............however just a bit to easy to imagine. It would have only taken a day or two to arrive to her............why order a book if you know you might not be able to have the patience to wait for it????

Funny part is..............it was a very expensive hardcover book and it SUCKS!!!!!  I had wanted to read it for the last year but really didn't want to pay thirty dollars for it. A few weeks ago I was in Florida and there is a store called Bookware House and I was able to pick it up (and seven other books!!) for the price of five dollars (yes, brand new unread).  I was ready to toss everything out of my suitcase so I could just fill it with books!

 So even if she did run out and buy it anyhow, I doubt she was happy abou that...unless she too found a bargain price

The requestor really wants said book. Requestor orders said book. Requestor waits for book to arrive but it doesn't. Requestor is so anxious to read it they go out and buy a copy, read it and post it. Requestor still has not received the copy you sent so they have not marked it received.

Not really plausible at all, IMO.  You'd have to be pretty darned impatient to have bought it, read it, and then posted it nine days after you had ordered it here.  That's not even long enough to have waited for it to arrive, much less go out & buy it, read it & post it.  I'd contact PBS & ask them to look into it too.

I know this may not be the answer, but that is why I send everything with DC.  I do not have to wait for them to mark received in 99 out of 100 times.  There was twice that the book was not scanned delivered but the requester was kind and honest enough to mark it rec'd.  

I have sent over 800 books this way and I am so glad I did.  It costs a bit more but for me, piece of mind is worth it.

I have messaged the reciever twice since then nicely asking if she has recieved the book and could she mark it as such if so. No response from her.

If she really never received the copy that you sent her, why not answer the PM? That's the part that really annoys me.

Last year I picked up a WL hardback at Dollar Tree specifically to post.  It wasn't anything I wanted to read but I thought for $1 and postage I'd make somebody else happy.  It was never marked received and the system marked it lost.  A couple of months later my son brought home another copy of the same book and since it was still WL I wanted to post it.  I was afraid it would look like I never really mailed the first one and was posting the same book again so I sent a PM asking if she'd ever received the book and forgot to mark it.  She never bothered to answer me.  How hard is it to hit reply and just say yes or no?  I know she's still active on the site because she's still posting books.  IMO that's just rude.  My momma raised me better than that but apparently hers didn't.

I have sent over 800 books this way and I am so glad I did.  It costs a bit more but for me, piece of mind is worth it.

Have you really sat down to figure out the math?

800 (books) x .46 cents each (for PBS DC) = $368.00 just for DC insurance.

That would have bought a whole lot of new books, and more than replaced a few missing here and there.

If she has not responded to your PMs, the system has marked the book lost, and it has been over a week since your last message, then contact PBS clicking on the Contact Us link at the bottom right of this screen under Company.  They will NOT mediate the transaction, but they do require members to communicate with each other during a transaction.  Good Luck

I too, think it is a bit suspicious. Asking the PBS Team to check on this is probably a good idea., Tammy.

I have one that went lost yesterday. I had PBS Postage on it, so I have already gotten the credit. I will PM the member and ask, nicely, if they have received it since the scan details indicate it was delivered nearly 20 days ago.

I rarely have books go lost, but using the PBS postage on the books I send has been worth it to me. Lately I only post WL books, and I am usually credit poor, so the instant credit is good to have. Not having to go to the PO and deal with ole cranky pants and lines out the door is also a perk. And I am supporting PBS with a few cents every time I mail a book. Win - Win for me.

$368.00 just for DC insurance.

I think more math is required to appreciate the full value of DC.

First, DC is .43 cents. 

800(.43) = $344.

Don't forget that in addition to being insurance, DC also saves a sender a trip to the post office. Not only is the sender saving time and enjoying an incredible convenience by being able to print postage from his or her home, but  he or she is also saving gas and  wear and tear on his or her car.

What's the going rate for wear and tear and fuel costs? .50 cents?

800 x .50 =  $400.

Give or take as some books could be sent at the same time. Then on top of all this, the sender has to wait for the receiver to mark the book received to get the credit.

I'll take DC any day just to avoid a trip to the post office. I really hate going there.

First, DC is .43 cents.

You'll have to parden me if the math is wrong, since I don't use it and go by the site numbers.

http://www.paperbackswap.com/help/search.php?terms=pbs+dc

Each time you use PBS-DC, it will cost you 46 cents:

• 27 cents to PBS paid in PBS Money
• 19 cents to USPS paid in postage applied to the package.

Don't forget that in addition to being insurance, DC also saves a sender a trip to the post office.

For some, but not for everyone.

I live with nested boxes, with inboxes you can't fit anything more than a medium sized holiday card into. I barely get Netflix DVD's in them. The P.O. has pulled all the neighborhood blue boxes years ago and new developments never had them. Blue boxes at our local shopping centers were pulled years ago.  The nearest blue box to me?

The Post Office. With only two out front, that fill up fast during holidays, so I have to park and go into the P.O. unless I just want to leave my books sitting on top of the full blue box.

So for those like me, saving on trips out and wear and tear o the car is $0. Since I have to make a special trip to the P.O. for every shipment, I try to work it into errands and wait for multiple shipments.

But DC does nothing to help me there.

And if I understand the way it works, I wouldn't even need to buy the DC if I did have a blue box nearby. I'd just buy the regular postage through PBS, without the DC. So even then, it's still not sounding like a good investment to me.

And if I understand the way it works, I wouldn't even need to buy the DC if I did have a blue box nearby. I'd just buy the regular postage through PBS, without the DC. So even then, it's still not sounding like a good investment to me.

There is no way to purchase "just postage" online; it must come with eDC. From other sources it costs 0.19, but if purchased from PBS it's

• 27 cents to PBS paid in PBS Money
• 19 cents to USPS paid in postage applied to the package.

Looks suspicious to me also.  IMO you should report the member for not responding to your pm's, and mention the book now on her bookshelf.  Although TPTB may not take action on that alone, but if there are other irregularities with this member your information may help PBS piece together enough facts to act on.  If this is the only lost book and/or problem with the receiving member, nothing will happen.  But if she's developing a pattern...

Each member has to decide if PBS postage + DC is worth it to them.  To me, it's worth it since most of my books weigh at least 13 oz, and my family mails them for me since I'm no longer driving.  My family is willing to put it in a close by blue box.  They aren't going to go stand in line with it. 

It is expensive if you can go to the PO yourself and/or your books don't weigh over the 13 oz limit for requiring eDC or you have to hand it to a clerk.  On top of that, I'm one of the members that gets the worst side of some members so having the insurance of the of the instant DC is comforting and others can usually see I've mailed my books as long as they get scanned somewhere.

I know many members here are fortunate in not running into lost books (or bad PO's) or are lucky in that the members they trade with are all honest and reliable.  Not everyone is as much as we would love to think that all PBS members are.  So ultimately you (general) have to weigh your experiences here at PBS, and with your PO's performance, and decide from that information. 

It is cumulatively a lot of $$$ - but the "peace of mind" and convenience is probably worth it for some like me.  It is only 27 cents per book that you aren't paying that goes to PBS.  The 19 cents plus more would go to the PO if you get their DC and you don't get guaranteed credit.

Ruth

To echo what Robin K. said, if you PM someone with a question about a transaction, and don't receive a reply within a week, the PBS Team will step in.  To contact them, go to the bottom right corner of any page, click on "contact us" (under "company") and use the Feedback option.

I sometimes buy books I forgot I've ordered...

That's why I have two copies of The Genesis of Shannara.  <--Yes, I actually went out and bought a copy because I was too impatient to wait for the copy that was being shipped to me.

And two copies of Leapord Lord.<--Absentminded

And two copies of And This Way Lies Camelot. <--Absentminded

And two copies of St Patricks Gargoyle  <--Absentminded

If it's on auto-request, I may not even notice it is on its way.   You should see the state of my inbox.  I try to keep up, but sometimes...

Each member has to decide if PBS postage + DC is worth it to them.

It is to me...I love the convenience of getting my credits right away. I've been here a long time so I'm pretty much at the top of the list for most of my wishlisted books. I would hate to lose out on a book because I was waiting for members to mark my books received in order to get credits. People have other things going on with their lives and don't always mark books right away. With PBS DC I don't have to worry about that.

I don't mind paying a few extra cents for the peace of mind, the money goes back into the club and what's wrong with that? This place is great.