I am a homeschooling Mom and I have recently started to base my son's curriculum off of a certain type of book.  I have a lot of these books on my wishlist, but they just do not get posted fast enough and while I have purchased a ton of them, it is getting a bit pricey.  Is it rude to post a message to ask if anyone has the books to post to my wishlist for guaranteed credit and possibly cheaper shipping knowing they are guaranteed the credit?  I just wanted to ask before I even did that.  Any thoughts?  Some of the books have a few in front of me for wishlist and most I am number one on anyway.  I just do not want to make anyone angry for getting passed up as it is kind of bypassing the system a bit, but is it any different then when members in the forum do this because they  chat back and forth and become "friends"?  Thanks for any thoughts.

Tricia

I think you can do whatever you want. No one is going to be forced to go straight to your wishlist, but maybe some will.

Tricia, some people put things in their sig lines.  I've seen "All my books are on Auto Request" that is certainly a hint, right?  You could, perhaps, put  "I have a lot of X curriculum on my WL".  It's not bluntly saying "POST TO ME" but it IS letting anyone w/ a lot of that curriculum know it might be prudent to check out your list. 

Tricia,

    What books are you looking for?

Tricia -

I think it would be fine to make a post in the Bazaar saying something to the affect that you are ISO several DK Eyewitness books (I'm assuming those are the ones) for homeschooling. People could save on shipping costs by sending you multiple books.

I don't know the 'mood' of the Homeschooling forum, but you might see if it is appropriate in that forum as well.

And I think the signature idea is a good one. Such as:

"ISO DK Eyewitness books on my wishlist for homeschooling"

the "mood" is very friendly and informative. :D come on over!

Yes, they are the Eyewitness books.  All of my kids love em, and they are so great and informative.  I like the signature idea, I just don't post too often.  Thanks for all your responses.

It's fine for you to post that you are looking for specific books, just don't ever offer to "pay" more than one credit for them - that's against the rules big time!

Tricia I think highlighting your wish books for people to notice is a good idea but I believe next inline is a very fair system and just hang in there.

I searched the forum for an etiquette thread because I wanted to discuss a situation I recently had. I need to vent.

There is a book that is on over a hundred members "Wish list". When my turn came for the book to be sent to me I sent a  PM to the person who would be sending it to me asking that they please send it with delivary confirmation and that I would buddy them a credit for this privlage.

1. First the person never responded to my PM. Was my request rude? From Bren's post I was wondering if my request was against the rules.

2. The person took a week to mail the book. I think it's strange to post a popular book that you know  will be requested as soon as you post it but then wait to mail it. Maybe I could have gotten the book faster from the next person posting it.

Any thought on my situation?

Loretta

Loretta - some people only go to the post office once a week.  So I don't find that unusual at all.

Offering to send an extra credit??  Not too sure it's against the rules.  It's against the rules TO ASK for more than one credit.  I'd say offering it was ok as no one has to accept the offer.  Borderline ok - in my opinion.  lol

Actually, Coz, someone questioned that a while back ago, and as Bren said, they got shot down big time. Someone even wanted to know if they could offer to buddy extra to help with the shipping cost for some heavy books, and that was ruled a no-no by R&R also. Someone sent in feedback and asked.

ditto, they may only be able to go to the post office once a week so that isn't odd.

it is odd that they didn't reply to your PM.  not odd to me at all, although not sure why you had to have DC.  do you ask this for all of your books or just this one because it is popular?

Hi All

Thanks for the input.

I requested DC because I've had a few problems receiving books and this book I'm very anxious to read. It seems that any books that people have DC'd to me have arrived faster. But this is the first time requesting it. And since DC through PBS is cheaper I did not feel bad requesting it.

Leslie I'm not sure I feel that buddying credits is against the rules if it is your book to recieve anyway. I actually have a heavy book on my wish list and thought if anyone mails that book to me I would feel they deverve more credit. But if it is against the rules then I will abide by them.

I think what bothered me about the waiting a week to mail the book is that the book is popular. The book was on my wish list before publication. I think a book like that should be listed when you can mail. I guess I'm still that little kid who can't wait for Santa to arrive.

Loretta

Just an example of why it might take that person a week to mail... 

About three weeks ago, I posted a heavily wishlisted book.  It went through 6 wishers - one that I had to turn down because of conditions and 5 that let it go through the 48 hour hold without responding.  So by the time the book was finally accepted, nearly two weeks had passed. 

Meanwhile, during the time the book was in WL limbo, I had to leave town on a family emergency.  The book was accepted the day after I left town, but I picked the longest mail date, so I could be sure of mailing it on time and in the end, it did take me the entire week. 

Life happens in unexpected ways.

From the Help Center:  ( AND, there is the "I'm Looking For" thread in the Book Bazaar forum.) 

Yes.  If you have a book that is on someone's personal Wish List, then all you need to do to offer that book directly to that member (and NOT to the first person on the Wish List) is to go to the member's Wish List and click the button there.  Be sure the ISBN on your book matches the ISBN on her Wish List!

• Your book will be offered to that member first, no matter where she is in the Wish List for that book.
• If that member does not request the book, it will then be offered to the first person on the wish list and continue to be offered until someone requests it or until it is posted into the general library.

We hope that members do not do this too often, as FIFO is really the fairest way of swapping books, but they are YOUR books, and we wanted to offer this option to members who wished to use it.

From the Help Center, which does include offering as well as asking for credits:

Can I offer/ask more than 1 credit for a book? No.

• A bound book "costs" 1 credit at PBS (no exceptions)
• An audiobook "costs" 2 credits at PBS 
  • some "children's-length" audiocassette items cost 1 credit each

Offering to "pay" (or asking a requestor to "pay"--see below) more than "PBS price" for a book is not permitted.  Why?

• If the book is Wishlisted, offering more than the PBS "price" for the book may allow members to leapfrog over others in the Wish List for the book. This obviously is not fair.
• Even if the book is not Wish Listed, a "free market" system could lead to "bidding" for a book, and auctions are NOT permitted on PBS.

• One reason is that auctions are subject to state laws, and as PBS members belong to various states, this could be illegal.
• The other reason is that we want all members to have a fair chance to get books on PBS.  Pitting those who have lots of credits to spare against those who don't have a lot of credits at the time goes against the very spirit of PBS--the fair sharing of books. Everybody equal.

OK I asked PBS about buddying credits as a "thanks"  for delivery confirmation or extra heavy books after a book is requested and this is their answer.

Dear Loretta,

No, it's only against the rules to offer more than "PBS Price" before the
request has been made (as in soliciting members to post Wish List books directly
to you for a higher price), or to ask for more than "PBS Price" to send a book.

If after a request has been made through normal channels, you want to give an
extra credit for whatever reason, you may do so.

Thanks for asking!

The PaperBackSwap Team

 I feel better now that I did not break any rules.  Thanks for all your replies to my post.

Loretta

Thanks Sherry and Loretta - I just wasn't sure on this and was going by my gut feeling - NOT the best thing to do when you are answering someone's questions - lol   Well I now know better.   Thanks again. : )

Loretta, what you can do is give them a credit as a gift after they comply.  Telling them up-front is a no-no, but you can gift a credit for any reason.

I wish that the Buddy a credit screen let you put a little thank you note or what ever kind of note you wanted to add. So that you did not have to send a separate PM.

Betsy, I like that idea. Why don't you submit it to R&R?

I personally try to go to the post office no later than the next business day, but PBS certainly doesn't require that, so I don't find it unusual for a poster to wait that long to mail a book, popular or not. 

What is more frustrating for me personally is posting a wish-listed book with a lot of people wishing for it, and having more than one wisher just let the 48-hour period go by.  PBS makes it very easy to auto-request books, so it's very frustrating to post a popular book and have to wait as long as over a week before someone finally accepts it. 

Pattie, I know that there are some folks who really want to use AR, but when they're sending the books to a 3rd party they can't pre-enter the address. I have no idea how much that might be a factor. But most folks just don't use AR, which is unfortunate. When I look at the wished-for books on my TBR, I see only 2 of 10 no AR.

There is a thread over in the book bazaar called "What are you looking for" post your request over there people check out that thread all the time to see if they have something others might want.  Be sure and mention the assured credits and combined shipping as incentives.

Good Luck!