Is there anyway to tell what number you are in the FIFO system for a book on your shelf?

Nope- you can see how many books are in the system by adding it to your reminder list, but there is no way to see what number your book is.

I think not 100% -- but if you add a title to your reminder list before posing it to your shelf, it will tell you how many copies (x)  are in the system at that  point in time.  So yours will be x + 1 and at the end of FIFO, but with declines for RC and people swapping on multiple sites and maybe removing books from their shelves here, or people "ordering more from this member" when they choose another book from their shelf, I don't think you can always know.  I've been wondering this myself though...

Also, someone ordered a book from me today that was like #126 in the system when I added it.  I have no idea how they found it from me, but I'm very excited that they did and I mailed it just now :)

I would love to see a est time to ship on the bookshelf like I do on my wantlist.    I know some books are taken directly from people's shelves, but I would still like to know which books are possible going to be taken soon.

I don't have a lot of space and would like to know which books are going to get taken for credit soon..   The longer wait ones.... might need to get ebayed or taken to the used book store.

Purvi S -they probably ordered from your book shelf.  Putting it in the reminder list doesn't really tell you where you are in line.  When a memeber put's their account on vacation the book removes from FIFO (this is how I understand how it works) then when they come back they resume the position they had before they left - same with WL.   So all that will do is  give you idea how many copies are in the system. I did read in the last newsletter - ask the librarian - they are working on something that will give you and idea but provide you with raw data that will have more meaning.   When it is coming - I don't know.

It was in a recent newsletter or maybe it was a post from PBS on a thread: anyway they are working putting an estimate on our bookshelves sort of like on the WL.  They said they can't show an exact position between all the book orders, vacation holds and such.  But they are workign on putting I guess a timeline that shows how often the book is being requested and when it was last requested.  So we might eventually see x # posted, 10 requested in past 30 days, last requested x date.  Something like that.  So you can juddge if it's worth the wait or not.

As others have said already, you can figure out approximately what number in FIFO your book is when first posted. However, it isn't very useful  by itself because it says nothing about the frequency with which that particular isbn is requested. This is an excerpt from the help docs below:

• However, knowing what 'FIFO number' your book is in the system would not be very helpful in predicting how quickly it will be requested.
  • You would need other information about the dynamics of that particular book on the site.

    For example, if you have an obscure book that is the only copy in the system, it could take months to be requested. If another book you have is #33 in the system, but the book is requested very often, it could be requested in just a few days.
    
    If you knew only these FIFO numbers, you might misinterpret them and take #33 off your shelf and donate it, while keeping #1 on your shelf, when you really should do the opposite. this information would not be terribly helpful, and could easily be misinterpreted to mean that a low number would 'move quickly' and a higher number would linger on your shelf, which is often not at all the case.

• We are working on a 'popularity index' which will better indicate how likely a book is to be ordered within a certain timeframe. It is on our long list of ToDos. We hope to have it available to the membership soon!

Ok well I did the reminder list thing to show how many I post with over 100 copies.  They were posted Saturday and are older books, so I doubt I have moved much from the bottom.  I am going to take those to the used book store tomorrow.  I doubt they will want them all.

Stuart I would wait for awhile.  I had some members order from my bookshelf and there were over 200 in the system.  So no it won't move through FIFO but someone might order a book.  Try putting a deal together in the book bazaar  (2 books for 1 credit or 3 books for 1 credit)  or you can go to the genre thread and offer deals (usually a ready sticky thread at the top of the forums).  Then if they still don't move you can  then donate them or bring them to a local Used Book Store (UBS) and see if you receive credit for the books you bring in.  On your next purchase from the UBS you can use part of the credit towards the purchase.  Check around to make sure the UBS has your genre.  Good Luck and Welcome to PBS.

You can also consider another swapping website for books that do not move on pbs.  I have been able to move my books with many copies on PBS on a different swapping website.