I'm still kinda new here and I remember reading something from someone that textbooks are two credits because they are so heavy and cost more to ship?  I can't find where it says that.  I have a buisness textbook I just added to my bookshelf, do i need to mark something to say it is a textbook?  Or will I automatically receive two credits when I mail it to someone or what?  It's a nice new textbook, but I just know it'll cost a lot more to ship it. 

Printed books are all one credit, paperback or hardback.

Audiobooks are 2 credits, they are the only 2 credit books in the system.

If the book is heavy, it will obviously cost more than a paperback to ship, but perhaps not as much more as you might be thinking. Media Mail is priced by the pound, and after the first pound at $2.38, the price increments for each additional pound are not very large. Under 2 pounds goes at $2.77, under 3 pounds goes at $3.16, etc.

Julie, textbooks are NOT worth two credits, just one.  The only books worth 2 credits are audio books.

No, textbooks are not. Are you perhaps thinking of audio books? They are worth 2 credits, and as far as I know, are the only things that are.

That got covered just a little while ago in this thread.  The relevant Help Doc page says.

On PBS all bound books are created equal. paperback and hardcover books of all types are worth one credit each. audio books are worth two credits each. We currently have no plans to change the "pricing structure".

• Yes, hardcovers can be more expensive to send
  • they are generally larger and heavier than paperbacks
  • but some paperbacks are larger/heavier than some hardbacks.
• The complexity of pro-rating book "cost" by weight would complicate what we want to be a simple process.
  • We think ease of swapping is of paramount importance.
• If you want to receive a hardcover in return for each hardcover you send out:
  • You can always limit your requests to hardcovers only.
  • That way, you will not be spending more in postage than the senders spend to send you the books you want.

As far as we are concerned, a book is a book! A book that you no longer want is swapped for a book you want--it's all good!

In the end, I think the cost of shipping fluctuates enough to balance things out.  I've sent out a few hefty tomes, and requested just as many for myself, so it works both ways.  There were also a few instances in which I got an extra book or two off a member's shelf.  You could try asking in the Book Bazaar if anyone might like a deal involving the textbook you have; a 3 books for 2 credits might be a more suitable exchange. 

Hope that helps.  Welcome to the Swap!

Thanks for clearing that up for me.  I don't remember where i heard that, but obviously it was wrong, which isn't that big of a deal for me.  I'll still ship it :)  I just wanted to make sure I was posting everything right.  I tried to search the threads to see if there was a post already about this, but couldn't find anything, so sorry if it was redundent!

No apology necessary!  It's better to ask if you're not sure, and there are always people handy who love to help out :) I know it took me a while to get the hang of browsing the Help Docs.  If you can't find what you're looking for and don't feel like posting a thread here, you can also try asking a Tour Guide using the Live Help option under the Help Center button in the navbar.  Everybody's a newbie once, and few of us forget it.  We all got by with a little help from our friends :)

Julie, I kinda remember something like that also.  I think it was someone insisting that her textbooks should be worth two credits...maybe?

Maybe you saw one of the threads that pop-up from time to time where someone is trying to get the credits for hardcovers upped to 2.