There are 109 wishers for a book I have posted, but 3 people so far have let it sit for the whole 48 hrs and it rolls over. Do---> you only put books you want on your wishlist ? I only wishlist books that I will say yes to on my list. My reminder list if I want to think about them awhile.

These are probably people who have abandoned their accounts, forgot to go on vacation or unexpectedly lost computer access. 

All my wish list books are on automatic request because if I put them on my Wish List I actually want them and I have enough credits set aside so that I don't have to worry about not having a credit. But I fear that I am in the minority. I spent all of last week with a bunch of WL books just rollng through the system, all timing out with the ocassional vague RC that I had to decline...it is very frustrating because I try to make efficient trips to the post office and not just be driving one book. In my experience, the longer the Wist List, the longer it is going to take for someone to accept that book.

The Help Center says the following:

your Wish List is the list for all books that are currently unavailable to order in the system, that you want to request when they become available.  (Books that you are only considering requesting in the future should go on your Reminder List.)

But I think that most people do use the WL as a place to put books that they are thinking about...yes, a lot of the rollovers are abandoned accounts but I also see people hear in the forums talking about how they meant to request that book but darn it, the request timed out on them...

I don't use Auto-Request usually, but I do always respond to offers one way or the other ASAP. I figure that even if I forget to take a book off my WL that I no longer want (I always really want them at the time I add them, but things can change by the time it gets offered to me, though I do try to keep my list up to date), I can turn it down right away and not delay things very much.

These are probably people who have abandoned their accounts, forgot to go on vacation or unexpectedly lost computer access.

To add to that, there may be people that don't have any credits and hope they'll get one before the offer times out.

But I believe that abandoned accounts are mostly the culprit in these cases. A lot of people join, add books to their WL and then never check the site again.

In my case, I wishlist books I want BUT I only order them if I think I'll read them within the next 3 months. I hate ordering books for them to gather dust at home so most of the time I put them on WL hold until I'm ready. Sometimes though, it's happened that a book moved quicker in the WL and got offered to me before I could put it on hold so if I think I can get to it soon I'll accept but if I see that the WL is moving quicker like some MMPB that get posted by the dozens a week, then I'll decline and go back to the back of the list. Of course, I always respond as quick as I can so the offer can move up to the next person. I never wait for it to time out.

My whole wishlist is auto-requested and yep--everything on there I want and I look at it at least a couple times a week and make changes to it all the time. I agree that many of those that get timed out are likely abandoned accounts.

I would think the "I don't have a credit" excuse has become passe since they now have the wishlist hold feature. If you don't have credits and are getting close to #1 on a book, why would you not put it on hold so you can retain your place in line when you DO have a credit come available?

Cheryl

Or, sometimes you have multiple versions on your wishlist, but forgot to remove a version of a book you have already received. Although PBS links a lot of them, all versions of all books are not linked together in the system.

I just found a book on my WL yesterday that's enroute to me. I'm glad I looked because I was #1 on that one too.  I put it on hold. 

I have all my wishlist books on auto-request, have credits to cover them and really do want them. I do delete some books if I decide to buy them at a used book store, library sale or buy them new. When what happened to the OP happens to me, I look at their shelves and wishlist dates descending. Most of the time, their latest entry is at a much later date than the present, so I figured they must have abandoned their accounts. It is frustrating, but there is bound to be a member who really does want your book, just will take a while. Good luck!

I try to check my wishlist every couple of days. If I am getting close to the top I decide if I really want the book or not and if I do I place it on auto-request.

I do have books on my wishlist that I am not 100 percent sure I want. They have super long wait times so I want to be moving up the list in case I do decided I want them. I figure if I delete once I am close to the top all the better for the person behind me.

I want every book on my wishlist!

This weekend I went to Books-A-Million and they had a cart full of books outside for $1.00 each. I sat there for thirty minutes, scanning each one with the Paperbackswap app to see if anyone was looking for it, and bought a stack of ten books that were all wishlisted. Four of these are about to time out! I need to figure out what the average rollover count is so I know to buy only books that have, say, 10 wishers or more. Last week I bought one from Goodwill that went to the fourth wisher before finally being requested.

I wonder if people are aware that someone may be out there buying a book just because it is wishlisted, only to be disappointed when nobody claims it.

I always try to find other members' wishlisted books when I'm in a bookstore. I like the thought of an army of PBS members out there, all trying to find each other's books.

If you don't have credits and are getting close to #1 on a book, why would you not put it on hold so you can retain your place in line when you DO have a credit come available?

Please remember that not everybody is here every day maintaining their lists regularly. A member that checks only when she gets emails (and there are a lot of them) may find herself with several WL offers and not enough credits to cover them all.

When I first joined PBS four years ago (yesterday was my anniversary!) I bought lots of books at thrift stores, etc. so that I could build my credits up and lots of those books were wish listed books. I would post them and they very, very rarely would roll over to a 2nd requestor. Now I post WL books and the opposite is true, they are rarely requested by the 1st wisher. The difference in my mind is as membership has grown, so has the number of abandoned accounts. I often will look at the account of the person I am waiting for to request the book and when I see there hasn't been anything added to their bookshelf or wishlist since 2007 or 2008 or 2009, I just know I am in for a long wait. And it is sad because you know that there are active members behind them in line anxiously awaiting the book.

This is one of the reasons I usually post WL books to the "multiple order" threads instead of FIFO.  At least then I know it won't get caught waiting for a requestor who isn't active anymore.  Plus shipping multiples saves me money.

while auto request would most likely work for me, I don't want to take the chance that the day I run out of credits, is the day the book I've been waiting on for three years gets posted, and because I need an hour to scramble for a credit, I don't get offered the book.

LOL Stephanie, What is so scary is I think the same way you do.

I am so impressed and jealous of you guys that have a credit waiting and available for each book on your WL.    

Especially if you have 200 on your list!!!  I wanna be like you someday....!

All the books on my WL I want and are on Auto.  I've been fortunate enough to build up a cache of credits that I don't have to worry about not having one when a book comes available. I average maybe one WL book a week usually. Thing is, my TBR pile is growing, but it seems the time I have to read is diminishing.

-RD

@Mindy-

Hang in there.  I didn't start building my credit cache until I started increaseing the size and diversity of my bookshelf.  Also having an idea of the books people are wishing for helps knowing when you post it its going to be ordered.  And once you build your shelf you can make more deals that generate credits.

Good Luck!

-RD

I certainly don't have 200 credits available, although I have (almost) 200 on my WL (almost) all the time. I usually have about 70-80 credits on hand. But I don't feel I need to keep a credit for each book on my WL because I would never get all 200 (or even 50!) of my WL books offered to me at once, and since I am reading and posting books, the credit supply replenishes constantly too. But I don't even pay attention to whether a book is wishlisted or not when I select what to read. I read plenty of non-wishlisted books with copies in the system already too--that way I can post them and get them into the queue awaiting their turn to be ordered from my shelf at some point. It's a nice balance and it works well for me.

Regarding Alisa's comment about why she posts WL books to the specified threads in the genre forums, I look at it differently. I have developed a lot of patience since joining PBS so I really don't mind waiting out the rollovers--whether it's when I order a book in the system or am posting a WL'd book. Weeding those inactive people out helps other PBS members and the whole site so someone else down the line doesn't have to deal with the waiting for that book/person.

Cheryl

I try to keep between 15 and 20 credits on hand for wishlist books.  Most of my wishlist books are either on auto because I really want those books or on wishlist hold because I'm trying to make up my mind if I want them or not.  I figure I might as well be moving up in line while I'm trying to decide if I want the book or not!  I'm actually in the number 1 spot for quite a few of the books I have on wishlist hold.

Sometimes you move up in the line faster than you expect.  I once was down to one credit and got two WL offers on the same day.  But when I had looked at my WL just a few days prior, there were at least 5 people ahead of me for both books.  

One silver lining in the dark cloud of have a wish list offer ignored is that when the wisher misses the deadline, the book is removed from his wishlist.  And if it's the 2nd consecutive time he's ignored an offer, generally his account will be placed on "hold."  So at least you're helping to weed out abandoned accounts. 

And if it's the 2nd consecutive time he's ignored an offer, generally his account will be placed on "hold." 

I am so glad to know that! It somehow makes it easier to sit through the waiting period knowing that if they ignore the WL offer that they are 1/2 way to being put on hold!

I recently went through my WL and culled about 50 that my library had multiple copies of for free.  Of course I've already refilled most of those slots but hey I tried.