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I know some who just don't want to bother with one.    They buy credits and order books.  It's perfectly acceptable.   Some only post wish list books therefore their bookshelf never shows any books.

What Coz said.

Also some are overly angry at this site and speak frequently about why they don't have shelves and why they don't like this place but they're still here. Go figure. :) lol

The bulk of us do have shelves of various sizes - it's like a city - you have all types and everyone participates on different levels.

I am a new member.   I learned about this site from an ebay Discussion Board.  Then I saw a news clip about PBS.  I checked it out, then decided to join.  Well, I read mostly romances, paranormal and contemporary, and erotic romances.   Well, I posted 12 books that were all on someone else's WL!    So, for about the first week, I shelled out postage for 12 books!   After exploring the site, I figured out the whole bookshelf thing, and posted some books, but that was after a couple of weeks!   After the original 12, I didn't  have money for postage for awhile.   

Betsy,    After sending out the 12 books, didn't you get some in return? Have you ordered any? You should have 12 credits when those books are received. Be encouraged! This is really a fun site, and a place where you can get some books you really want for just the "looking" time. Be certain to contact your "guide" when you have questions, or the HELP section. There are many, many people willing to help, especially "newbies."  Use your credits when they begin coming in, and have fun! Happy reading and swapping! Oops! Forgot to tell you - the credits wait until the member received the book, so perhaps yours haven't been received as yet.      M'ann

By "no bookshelf" do you mean zero books in inventory? I read mostly library books, posting books I own here irregularly one or two at a time.

And here I was all concerned that I wasn't "contributing" to the site by not having a large bookshelf.   ;)   I joined this site to clear my bookshelves of the book clutter I accumulated and it has worked out well for me.  I managed to share some of my favorite books and pass them on to others who I hope enjoy them as much as I did!

opps... My daughter pushed send.

But I guess if you have nothing to share then that is good too! You just buy your credits as you need them, and then you wouldn't be responsible for shipping your books out!   I bet it works great for some people.

I personally like to get out of the house and the quick walk to the post office is a wonderful way for me and the baby to get some fresh air!

I know of a few people on here who tend to keep all their books and then just buy credits when they need them. I don't have a large bookshelf.  I post mostly WL books.  Most of the books on my shelf were posted back in Aug or Sept.  Most of the books I've received from PBS were WL. I read them and sent them to someone else. YOu don't have to have a lrg shelf.  Some people like to hit thrift stores and garage sales to find cheap books just to post them.  Some people would just assume not have to mail out books and buy credits to get the books they want.  It's easy to find someone to buy credits from and they're still cheaper than even most used book stores. 

Although I have sent out books, I don't have any on my bookshelf right now.  I prefer to give my books to my local library and buy credits when I want to order a book from PBS. 

I have a very small bookshelf right now due to the fact that I was in a car accident and am basically bed bound for a couple more weeks so my husband has to do all of the shipping and he will do that on his lunchhour so i dont want to overwhelm him with books to ship out. Also my son has several books that are on peoples wishlists but he hasnt yet read them so I havent posted them yet. Once I can get up and around better I will list more books to my bookkshelf but for  now I feel it is better to have just a very small bookshelf.

Right now I have about 20 credits and I don't order books unless they are on my WL, so the credits just sit until a WL book becomes available.   At some point, I think I would have so many credits (maybe once I get to about 30 or so) that I'd take my remaining books off my shelf for awhile just so things can even out a bit in terms of giving vs. receiving books.  So, I am sure others are in a similar situation and it may be the reason some have no books on their shelves.

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I've mailed out over a hundred books but don't have too many on my shelf right now.  That's because all of the books I've posted in the past couple of months have been wishlisted, so they disappear off my shelf immediately.  Carol Ann

Sometimes you'll see no books on a shelf because the member has their shelf on hold for the time being. 

Well, it's probably cheaper to buy credits here than to buy books at the bookstore--doesn't seem as fun, though.

I'm a newbie and quickly realizing I might not WANT to have a full bookshelf. I put up about 50 books today and already have requests for about 10; shipping is going to kill me this week. I didn't expect things to move so quickly, so I'm thinking I need to list only a few at a time.

Jenny, you can always check to see if there are a lot of copies or if the book is WL'd by posting it to your reminder list and looking at it that way - that will tell you how many copies are available and if you put in the ISBN to pull the book up it pulls up books available first and then you can check if it is WL'd.  That will help where you don't have to ship too many at one time.

Thanks for the tip, Leslie!

you're welcome...after awhile you'll catch on and it'll be second nature to you