I again got 30 Free Swaps added when i renewed my PBS account.  Why do I only have 3 "Credits"?  Are they not the same thing?  And what is this .55 fee everyone is talking about? I have never paid a fee that I know of.  How do we 'use' our Free swaps? or cant we?  Thanks, Richard.

This is really confusing......and the funny thing is, i have been a member FOREVER and never noticed this before.

Credits are obtained when you mail a book to another member. They are also needed to obtain a book for yourself. The site always worked that way.

When the site started memberships, the choices were standard, limited or a la carte. If you were a la carte you'd use a credit and pay the 49 cents for the fee. (The memberships started February 15th 2015.) 

It sounds like you went with the limited membership so that means you can request 30 transactions a year without paying a 49 cent fee. Books require a credit and a free swap.

Limited membership has other benefits too, this forum; the free quarterly printable postage fee. 

Here is the help document information that might explain it better.

A "Free Swap" can be used along with Book Credit(s) to make a book request.

It replaces the 49-cent Swap Fee.

Enrollment in Standard Annual Membership grants Unlimited "Free Swaps" for the year - meaning, Standard Members use only Book credits to request books, and do not ever pay Swap Fees for Book Requests.

Limited Annual Membership comes with 30 "Free Swaps" per year- meaning, Limited Members can make 30 requests for books per year using only Book Credits (and no swap fees).

"Free Swaps" are added to your account when

• You enroll in Limited Annual Membership (that adds 30 Free Swaps/year)

• You enroll in Standard Annual Membership (that makes your Free Swaps unlimited for the year)

• You mail a shipment with Printable Postage. Please note that the "courtesy printing" (monthly for Standard Membership, quarterly for Limited Membership) does NOT grant a Free Swap, since there is no Postage Printing Fee associated with that mailing.

Rebecca did a great job of explaining the 30 free swaps and membership levels.  I'll tackle this one:

And what is this .55 fee everyone is talking about?

The $0.55 fee probably refers to the cost of using Printable Postage through PBS.  There's a great deal of information available on this option here:  http://www.paperbackswap.com/help/search.php?terms=Printable+Postage

The descriptions begins as follows:

Why use it?

• Printed postage means you can mail your package as you like.  The USPS regulations that require packages over 13 ounces to be handed to a postal worker in a Post Office do not apply.
• Printed postage means no fussing with stamps, no standing in line at the Post Office.
• You will also get INSTANT CREDIT if you print your postage through PBS--you will get your credit when you mark the book mailed by clicking the "Book Has Been Mailed" button on the request.
• Printable Postage also earns you a "Free Swap" - meaning that you will be able to request a book for yourself in the future without paying a Swap Fee (the Swap Fee costs $0.49). Please note that the "courtesy printing" (monthly for Standard Membership, quarterly for Limited Membership) does NOT grant a Free Swap, since there is no Postage Printing Fee associated with that mailing.
• There are also significant postage discounts for printing First-Class Printable Postage - see Current Postal Rates for specifics.

How do I use it?

• Just click Print Wrapper on a request, and the Wrapper Settings page will come up.  You can choose the Print Postage option on that page. 
• You need to have PBS Money in your account to use printable postage.  You can add PBS Money to your account in the Kiosk (using PayPal or a credit/debit card).
• Note: If you are using Printable Postage to send a Mail-to-Friend (noncredit) transaction, you need to create that transaction first from the Book Details page as described in Can I send a book to a friend or a non-member, or to myself at an alternate address? and then follow the instructions above.

How much does it cost?

• The Printable Postage fee is 55 cents per shipment.
  • This includes the fee paid to Endicia, our online postage provider.

As stated above, the advantage of using Printable Postage is receiving your Credit for mailing a book instantly when you click "This book has been mailed."  With a Limited Membership such as yours, you can take advantage of this service once every three months with no $0.55 service fee.  It's "use it or lose it" so you can't "carry over" one quarter's free use to another three-month period.  You must have funds in your PBS Money account to pay the postage cost when using Printable Postage.

It's pretty simple.

All books cost 1 credit (pays the owner of the book) AND 1 swap fee (pays PBS)

You obtain credits by 1. mailing books to other members OR 2. purchasing credits ($3.00 from other members, or more $ from PBS)

You obtain swap fees 1. free with your membership renewal (these are the "free swaps") OR 2. paying the swap fee everytime you request a book (if you have run out of free swaps)

Different tiers of PBS membership get different amounts of "free swaps" to use. Once you run out of free swaps, you just pay the swap fee with money from your PBS account when you request a book.