I check my WL almost everyday.  I've noticed that just about everytime I sort by estimate, that the length of time changes.  It can be disheartening when I check on a particular day the estimate is 2 weeks and the next day or so, it's changed to 12+ weeks.  It's disappointing because I get all excited that a book that I've been anticipating is due to arrive soon and then it's not.  Oh, well.....

I don't pay attention to the estimate.  Sometimes there's one there and next time I look there's not one at all.

My luck is I sit at #1 for a couple of months before the book gets posted so I can't even look too often.

Ignore the estimates! They are rarely correct! I have been waiting in line for years for a book, #4 out of XX and there was never an estimate. About a month ago, a copy was posted and that single book has now passed through (been read and reposted) all four of of the first 4 of us in line, and I just sent it on to #5 yesterday... Be patient and be surprised when you are offered a wishlist book -- sometimes faster than anticipated and sometimes slower, but you will always get it ultimately.

I pay very little attention to my WL other than making sure I delete books I get elsewhere.  Checking it everyday doesn't make them come faster.

My WL luck this week at least isn't very good.  The system canceled the WL book waiting on my shelf due to an unresponsive member.  I guess I didn't want that book right now anyway.

Not a big surprise this week cause this has been the week from !@#$% for me at PBS.

Only time I pay attention to the estimates is when I'm going out of town and not sure if I'll have a chance to check my account.  Then I'll put the books I really really want that my be coming up soon on automatic.

Estimates fluctuate alot, try not to let them become a stress factor.

I don't have the exact formula but I believe the estimates are based of how many copies were posted in a certain period (which I assume is a week) so if you are #100 in the WL and 10 books were posted last week, it will tell you the estimate is 10 weeks, but if the following week only 1 book is posted, the estimate will change to 99 weeks. I wouldn't pay attention to it very much until you get into the 1-2 week range although even those are not reliable because you are trying to estimate the future based on the past (like stocks and we see how those do.) For instance, I added a book to my WL on 9/16 and I was #8 on the WL. I got to #1 within the week and after I got to #1...the book hasn't been posted again. So the estimate went from 2 weeks to N/A because the system can't estimate when the book will be posted again.

I never use the estimate function; I leave it on position.

-RD

I look at the estimates for kicks but I don't bet my credits on it. I just paitently wait for my Wish Listed books to come to me.

The less frequently a book is posted, the less accurate the estimate algorithm is.  If a book has 1K wishers and (on average) 60 copies are posted a week, it will likely be fairly accurate.  Books that have a few copies posted here and there - not so much, as there really isn't enough data.  I wouldn't stress.

I just had a perfectly timed estimation! There had been 15 copies posted last week, so there was a reasonable amount of data, I guess. I don't normally look at them, but I happened to notice this one and was so thrilled.

I also look at the estimates out of curiousity, but don't really pay much attention to them.  I've had a couple books on my wishlist that seem to be moving up it very quickly--and show and estimate of 1-2 weeks.  Then when I get to #1 or #2 on the list, it seems like all of the sudden no one is posting the book and there is no estimate.  Not a big deal--my TBR pile is so big I don't think I'll get to it in my lifetime, so I'm not in any danger of running out of something to read if my wishlist books decide to stall out.