I really like trading here, especially sending out books that are wish listed because I know someone's been wanting them. My husband just went through his books and gave me a bunch he didn't want anymore. Eight of them are wish listed here. Great, right? Well, the problem is that I already have a bunch of credits I don't need. I've already donated some and keep accumulating more since I don't normally keep books -- I'm a big library user.

The cost of mailing these books will be around $30, whereas I could donate them to a local charity free (and get a small tax writeoff). But it's satisfying to send books out "into the universe" after I don't need them anymore, and I like the spirit of sharing on PBS. If I list and mail them, I basically have to consider it a minor hobby I'm paying for.

What would you do (or what do you do) with wish listed books if you didn't need the credits or anticipate needing the credits in the future? Are the warm fuzzies worth it?

You can always sell off excess credits to cover postage costs. I also utilize the wish list multiples thread to save on postage. I'm a big library user too and don't usually buy many books.

Elizabeth,

It depends if you post your WL books for the social, club or entertainment level or if you look at from economical or money perspectives.

Economically speaking posting your WL books when you already have surplus credits is not a smart money move.  It costs you more to send out a book than the value of credits in the bazaar, currently at about two dollars and still in free fall.  

Unless you post the books in WL multiple thread, where you send more than one book to save on postage and then sell the credits tor the current dumping price of two dollars.  THat way you would also cater to the social aspect of the club.

But I would totally understand if you just donate the books, cheaper and less work.  Personally my WL has totally dried up and if I really want a book, mostly for my husband's fantasy series, I have to go and buy it. Every. Single. Time.   And I have plenty of surplus credits, because my bookshelf is still open and I get the occasional request and the WL books I post FIFO, so those that don't play games or go the WL Multiple thread also have a chance and don't give up on this book club yet.

I would share the books for free by donating them.  

If you have more credits than you need or want to donate (the books for schools campaigns are up now), then I would either hang on to the books until I did need to post them for credit or donate them.

I don't keep a lot of credits on hand either but I do have a stash of WLed books I can post if I find myself in need.  And occasionally I send one along as a freebie if someone I'm already sending a book to has it on their WL.

Well, this question is timely for me and I my answer is no for the moment. I will keep the WL books I have for future posting after getting some books and working down my current credits.

I always post them since I love granting wishes, so the warm fuzzies concept works for me. Though I usually only do one or two at a time, just because wrapping them takes some time. Even when I don't need credits I still post WL. But lately I have been barely able to keep up since I've been getting WL faster than I can read them. If I actually had a surplus of credits, +15?,  I'd consider donating to the schools program here or selling them.

I never have the problem of to many credits.  I don't think I have ever had more than 5 at a time.  I tend to order books as soon as I get credits.  So I always list WL books as I read them.

Thanks for the replies! There's a sensible economy to not posting the wish listed books, or holding on to them for when credits are needed.

I haven't tried selling credits in the bazaar before because there are so many listings there and I didn't feel like I wanted to compete with other PBSers or undercut anyone's pricing -- but I'll give it another look, and maybe post at what seems like a good time when other offers aren't too active.

Meanwhile it's feeling right to post these eight. They're kind of random so might not work well in the wish list multiples thread (thanks for the tip about that!), but maybe if I time it right I can forego printable postage for a few of them if I'm already heading to the post office to mail Christmas gifts.

Either way, it will be good to have them off to a new destination. Speaking of books, I recently read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and while there are some goofy woo-woo ideas in there, it has changed the way I look at the items I own. I've been getting rid of a ton of stuff and organizing the survivors.

Speaking of warm fuzzies - do you send a PM to the member who has been thoughtful enough to post a wl book? I do, but have rarely (one time in 500+ books send) received one.

Mary - no, I've never done that, but that's a very nice idea! :)

I post them even when I don't need the credits.

I have enough credits, but I love being able to send books to people, so I will post WL books when I don't need credits.

Something I do, is when someone orders a book from me I check to see if I happen to have any books that are on their WL that I haven't posted yet. Quite often I do, and I ALWAYS send them a PM asking if they'd like me to post the WLed book to their WL (this is in case they've decided they no longer want the book, got another copy and forgot to take this one off their WL, or in case they just don't have the credit for it right now). When they respond I'll post to them, and that way I can send 2 books for the postage that it would cost me to send one book. Pat

Even though I don't need credits I still post WL books as soon as I finish them. I figure that someone was kind enough to grant my wish, so I will do the same.  

I do not need credits but continue to post WL books because I strongly feel that if we all only take from PBS and do not put back into the system books that other members are waiting for, we are contributing to the decline of PBS. PBS needs a flow of books to remain viable.

I sell excess credits but I never sell for 2$. Always a little more than that. Another thing I do sometimes is take the books to a half price books store and see what they will give me for them to sell to them.

Five of my eight books are shipping out today. :)

I also check the WL of everyone that requests a book from me to try to send multiples.

I also enjoy sending books I know others are wishing for. I attend a lot of books sales and can't seem to pass up books I know are wish listed. I don't really need the credits, I have only used 15 of my 30 free swaps and have more than enough credits to cover those remaining swaps, so I have been holding off on posting more. I have also occasionally posted in the WL Multiples. Sometimes I've held on to a book too long and it is no longer wishlisted, I then donate it.

I also enjoy sending books to people,and I also check their WL to see if I can send multiples.

It realy helps to have as many "friends" as you can.  That way before you post it FIFO, you can see if one of your friends is wishing for it.  Hopefully you can find a friend wishing for more than one of them.  I know some people are against posting to friends because they think it's unfair to bypass the FIFO.  However, I feel like it's better to post 3 of my WL books to a buddy who wasn't #1 in line than to not to send them to any PBS members at all.  It keeps/gets the books in the system and keeps things flowing.

A great place for your extra credits!

Schools donation

Thanks for the link. Grew up in Jackson Heights, NY and was happy to help.

I keep some extra WL books to play games with but I do post a few weekly and I use some for gifts.  It's been a very good trading year for me both receiving and getting books.  In addition, I donated to schools.  Just wish there were more listings but I guess that's up to us isn't it?