I'm on a limited budget, and when I get over ten books to mail each month it really stretches me tight.  I try to watch and put my list on vacation hold after a certain amount are ordered, but if there are wish lists holds, sometimes several additional books get ordered before I can put my shelf on hold.  Is there a better way to handle this?  (I've been putting my bookshelf on vacation hold each month after getting multiple orders, until the day before my next month's SS check gets deposited.)   Any ideas?  CLB

Yes. You're not the only member in that situation. :-) Vacation Hold is the right way to do it -- the other component would be only posting two or three books at a time. If you see any of the books showing on the "Wish List Hold" tab, or the "Books Requested from Me" tab on your main account page after posting them, then you can expect that they'll be requested from you within a few days, because they are Wish List books.  (Note that, if the other member has the book set to auto-request on her Wish List, you won't see the request on your My Account page for an hour, so waiting an hour before posting more books will give you more control of how many books you want to mail that month. There's a more thorough explanation of this process in the Help Doc "Posting/Sending a Wish Listed book".)

You can place your account on Vacation Hold right after posting your last book, if you like. Or you can wait a few days, to allow the members who have requested your Wish List books to choose other books from your Bookshelf (postage isn't much more for 2 or 3 books than for just 1, and it's nice to get 2 or 3 credits for not much more postage.) They won't be able to order additional books off your shelf if your account is on Vacation Hold.

One thing I've done on occasion is:

1) Place my account on vacation hold

2) Post a bunch of books -- they'll go onto my bookshelf, even if they are wish list books, because I'm on vacation hold

3) Sort my Bookshelf by "date" --> "descending" so that all the books I just posted are at the top, making sure I have the "view" menu set to show me "all books".

4) Look at the books I've posted to determine how many of them are Wish List books. (A red "W" means it's a Wish List book. A green "W" means it's a WL book on auto-request. (A pale red "W" means there are accounts on hold who have the book on their WL, but there are no active wishes, so I ignore the pale red Ws.)

5) Click to check the little boxes on the far RIGHT of all the Wish List books I DON'T want to mail out that month, then go up to the yellow bar at the top of the page and click "hold".

6) Take my account off Vacation Hold.

Now all the books I've posted will be available, except for the ones I just placed on Individual Bookshelf Hold. Any Wish Listed books I didn't place on individual hold will be offered to other members right away.

When I am ready to mail out more books, I check the little boxes to the right of the listings, and go up to the yellow bar and click "post."

Note that the Individual Bookshelf Hold is a different animal than the Vacation Hold. Vacation Hold keeps your spot in the sending queue for each book. But if you place a book on Individual Bookshelf Hold, you lose your spot in the sending line, so I usually only use that for Wish List books (which have no sending line.)

If you use Vacation Hold to control your bookshelf, then you need to think about putting your Wish List on Auto-request. This will let you received WL offers and let your friends post books directly to you.

One thing you can do before you post is type the isbn in the search box then go to the book details page.  Look at how many wishers for the book or how many copies available.  I never post anything on all 3 sister sites without knowing the wisher status.  

I agree mailing over 10 books does put a dent in the funds.  You must post really great books!  

I suggest that you just keep your shelf small. Only post books when you want an order.

First, I wanted to say that I'm envious that you are getting so many requests!!  Due to a family member passing away,  I have mailed out I think close to 30 books since the 31st, so I feel your pain (from the postage!).  I have since taken all the Romance off my bookshelf and will be Craigslisting that.  Sold 3 boxes already, so that helped some with the postage.  I have to hold off listing any of the fantasy or scifi until I get paid later this month, but I think I will just do one genre at a time.  Just too much. 

So, your best bet is to (a) put your shelf on vacation holder earlier or (b) remove books from the bookshelf and put them back later.

Valerie, how do you find out how many copies are available?  I have a Limited membership. Is this something only available to regular membership?

Valerie, how do you find out how many copies are available?

Standard member see it right on their book description page. A Limited member can add the book to their "Reminder List". Then go to your "Reminder List" to see how many copies it shows.