Do you think it is rude to ask someone if they are running any deals on their bookshelf if you are interested in ordering multiple books from them?

I was just wondering what your thoughts were on this.

Kim

This subject came up in the question forum a while ago and no one thought it was rude. However, I did this once and it completely bit me in the ass.  The person I asked seemed receptive at first but then didn't repond any further, so no deal happened. When the book I had ordered from her arrived, it had pages falling out; I had to mark it RWP and requested my credit back. The sender then accused me of trying to "get a free book out of her one way or another." It was the worst experience I've ever had here, so I don't think I'll ever do that again.

I don't think it's rude at all- I have had a few people ask me if I'd do a deal, and I have no problem with it.  A couple of times, I have ordered a book from FIFO and saw that the person I was ordering from had multiple books that I wanted, so I PMed and asked politely if they would be willing to do a deal.  In one case, where I had asked about a 3 for 2 deal, not only did she give me 3 for 1, but she also ordered a book from my shelf.  I think that as long as you are polite about it, there is nothing wrong with asking about a deal- the worst they can say is no.

OK.  I was curious.  I have been PMed several times with people asking me to do a deal on my shelf. 

It doesn't bother me at all and I can always say no if I am not interested, but I usually say yes to something reasonable.

The reason I asked is that I had two wishlisted books come up recently and was planning to order 4 or 5 additional books from the same persons' bookshelf.  I PMed them and just politely asked if they were running any deals at this time because I was interested in ordering more books. 

Both people mailed the book without answering my PM. 

I was still interested in ordering more books even without a deal, but they had already sent the wishlisted book. 

Oh well, I guess I can always get the books from someone else if they weren't interested.

I was just worried that I was being rude and they just sent the books out because they were mad that I asked for a deal :-)

I've asked several people for deals before, and the majority of them have been willing to give some kind of deal.  I do get frustrated when they don't write back and say yes or no, and just leave you hanging.  I think it's probably kinda hard to get a deal with a WL book.  I've even noticed people in the book bazaar offer deals, but they exclude WL books.

Angie,

Maybe that is part of the problem.  I wasn't necessarily looking for a deal on the WL book, but on the additional books I wanted to order.

I might not have been clear enough in my PM. 

Also, is it possible to check if someone has an ongoing deal?  I notice a lot of people put that in their signature lines, but I don't know how to check this when ordering books.

In general, I do think it's somewhat rude unless they've offered beforehand.  That's just my opinion. 

The way you've stated the question "are you offering any deals?",  however, wasn't rude.  People have asked that and I wasn't the least bit offended. 

It would never occur to me to ask someone to do a 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 deal unless they had volunteered somewhere that they were open to deals.  I select my books carefully and have a lot of good ones one my shelf.  I think it's presumptuous and rude when people go "begging for books," assuming that you will acede to their request. 

The rule at PBS is one book for one credit and people shouldn't assume that everyone is willing to send out multiple books for one credit, IMHO.    That being said, if someone were to order several books from me, I'd be a lot more open to including a "freebie."  I do think it's rude, however, when people PM you and say they want three books from your shelf for one credit. 

I have actually PMed people that ordered one book from me when I was doing a deal and told them they are welcome to pick another book from my shelf for free because I was offering a deal at that time.

I was turned down once because the person only wanted that one book.  :-)

I'm on the fence on this one.  While I am always open to doing a deal, I'm not sure I'd appreciate getting PMS on a regular basis asking for one.  I don't think I'd ever ask anyone to do a deal. I did sort of once.  Someone offered me a book for free-it was an OOP book I had on my WL and the book was in iffy condition.  I looked at her shelf and found a bunch of books I wanted. I was going to order a couple and she could send the free book with them. Well she offered me a deal and we worked out something like a 6 for 3 credits plus the old book. Something like that. 

I kind of consider WL books seperate.  If I'm posting a WL book, I'm not likely to PM the person and offer any other books from myshelf for free.  Unless maybe I had an unpostable of another of their WL books.  When I post a WL book, I expect to send that one book for one credit. Now if someone PM'd me and said, you're sending me this WL book and I'm interested in a couple more from your shelf, would you do a deal-Then I might do a seperate deal with them. 

I am one of those people that hates to mail one book at a time.  I would rather do a 2/1 than 1/1 most of the time. 

I just like to share my books and pass them along when I am done with them.  If it takes a 2/1 to get them out faster, that is better for me. 

If a book is on my bookshelf, then it wasn't precious enough to me to have kept it and I would like it to move out fast so I can move in more books :-)

I would never expect to get a deal on a WL book.  The point of deals from the senders point is to get more credits than they might otherwise get by moving some books that have't moved.  There is no benefit to them at all in giving a deal on a WL book and it might even end up costing them more postage.

Willa, I don't know if you are talking to me or just in general, but here is what I said in my PM.

You have a lot of books on your shelf that I am interested in and I was wondering if you were currently running any deals because I am considering ordering quite a few books in addition to the wish listed book I am ordering.

 I was just inquiring as to current deals that I might use on the extra books, not the WL book.  The thing is that I probably would've ordered more books even without a deal.  I just thought I could ask if there was a deal going on because a lot of people seem to be constantly running 2/1 deals.  This person had only romance novels on her shelf. 

I figured it didn't hurt to ask if there was a deal going on before I ordered more books.

I guess this is just too forward.  I probably won't do it again. 

I've never specifically asked anyone if they're running deals, but I don't see anything wrong with it really.  The only thing being that some people might take it the wrong way - like what happened to Willa - so I think you have to approach it carefully.  I almost think it's more rude not to respond with a simple "no" if someone asks.  Why it should be a big deal to just say no, I'm not running any specials, is beyond me.  I would rather just watch the specials in the Book Bazaar, or check shelves in BOB if there are several I'm looking for though.  Buddies or people I've dealt with in the past, and who I know are always open to deals, are another matter.  I have a lady on my buddy list who doesn't advertise specials in any way, and I check with her occasionally when I'm looking for something because we have similar tastes, and she'll always give me a 2 for 1 deal.

And Kimberly, the heck with worrying about what the people who didn't answer you think.  I just wouldn't order anything else from them if it was me.  Not because they didn't offer you deals, obviously, but because it's not that darned hard to just say no.

Kimberly,  I wasn't addressing that to anyone specifically, just several people mentioned WL books being exempted from deals.  You pm sounds perfectly clear and polite, but some people are just tight-asses. ;-) Or maybe just have a hard time saying no and so decided to ignore the issue.

From the other end of this, I have twice had people ask if I was running a deal on my kid's books and when I said I might be open to one, which ones did they want, they never responded. I didn't want to give an open-ended invitation because, from my point of view, I have some books that I know will move without deals and I don't want to increase my postage costs unnecessarily.

Thanks to all of you for your input.  :-)

I can really see and understand everyone's point of view. 

Willa said: "Your pm sounds perfectly clear and polite, but some people are just tight-asses." 

And that's it precisely.  I'm amazed pretty much daily at some of the things people get offended at:P  Maybe I'm just too thick-skinned - my grandmother could skin an alligator with her tongue and I sorta inherited some of that - but I don't get offended all that easily or often.   I've seen a few instances on the Questions for PBS forum here that have about rolled my eyes back in my head because of how easily some people get upset:P  Somebody asked me if I was running specials - wahhhhh!:P

I feel kind of funny asking people if they would do 2 for 1.  I actually asked once and the person said, "what do you mean?"  She obviously wasn't involved in the system more than just ordering and mailing credit for credit.  A lot of people on here don't even have nicknames which tells me that they are not interested in developing any kind of relationships.

I don't have a problem if anyone asks me if I would do a deal.   My bookshelf is not huge and so I don't advertise deals but, if anyone asks I always do.  I guess I don't have a problem with it because I am usually looking for deals myself.  :)

I don't think I'd personally ask someone  directly for a discount - but often try to look at the profile after ordering a book to see if they're running any specials. I wish finding out were just a click away, generally you have to kinda click around to research if they're running any.  So far, I've been wholly unsuccessful at scoring any deals!

However, I would  not be offended if someone asked me for a deal :)

If someone PMs me asking if I have any type of deal going, I will look at their shelf to see if they have anything I want.  Even if they don't have something I want, I usualy say yes.  Just because that's me.  I like to share the wealth and believe in "karma, baby".

If it's a PBS friend, I have no problem PMing them!  If they are my friend, I will gladly send them a book too (free)! :D  What can I say, I love my friends!

Valerie...I might not have anything you are looking for since my shelf is small right now, but I would offer you a deal anytime you asked!

aww - thank you Kim - that's so sweet of you to offer!  :)

The only times I've found it rude is when I'm already running a deal, and someone PM's and asks for a better deal than everyone else is getting.  And of course - the old send me those wishlisted books 2 for 1!

I'm actually holding back some WL series just because I don't want to deal with that!

You guys can always ask me too and I promise not to get offended - lol.  I'm often doing 2 for 1,and if there are a lot of books you want on my shelf, I'll always work something out.  I'm not greedy, I'm just like everyone else; always looking for a good deal & more than willing to work with people.  All I really care about is not going broke on postage costs and having a few credits for WL offers & such, but the books wouldn't be on my PBS shelf if I wanted to keep them:P

I'm always open to deals personally.   I think it doesn't hurt to ask, but you shouldn't be unreasonable in your request.

Sherri