This might motivate people to buy a copy and then post it.  Right now I'm guessing that people sell their new releases on ebay, the money they can get is far more than one credit... 

Because the site is based on the simple rule of 1 book 1 credit. Just because it is highly wished for does not mean it wont be posted by other or is worth more then any other book.

Loads of people (me included) post new releases on here and do not sell them.   I also request books that are highly WL (sometimes), it evens out in the end. A book for a book is how I see it not the price.  There are plenty of other book swapping sites that have that method and it is one of the reaons why I am not a member of them.

I think this would just discourage people from adding books to their WL.  It's as much a waiting list as a wish list and I think most people are willing to wait a bit to get a book that they want to read.

It's really not that cost efficient, and in general the resale price isn't that high.  For example, about 300 people have Dan Brown's new book for sale on ebay, and it looks that about half of them have zero bids. 

Also, people tend to over-estimate the resale value of used books,  Except in the case of rare or hard to find books, they really aren't worth much.  In the case of very heavily wished for new books, the pendulum eventually swings n the other direction and the system is flooded with them (as I am sure will happen with the Dan Brown book).  I've been on wish lists for books topping 300 that I've received fairly quickly, and I've been number one on others for months and months.  Figuring out what a book is "worth" is very subjective.

1 book = 1 credit keeps things simple and fair.  I think there also might be tax issues ofr the site.

A lot of those highly wished for books become the highly posted books within a short amount of time.  Look at Dan Brown's latest book compared to his previous one.  If you're a little patient, you can read the bestseller for very little money in a few months.

What you're suggesting would be hard to implement, and potentially anger members.  What if I'm #1 on a 500-person WL.  I would have to pay 2 credits for my book.  Then (assuming no one else wished for it in the meantime), the next person would only have to pay 1 credit, since it's now below 500.  Then a couple more people add the book to their WL, so the third person has to pay 2 credits for it.  It would be a nightmare.

I was writing my post when Caviglia posted hers.  She's obviously brilliant like me!

I like the system just the way it is. No need to change it. :)

Kim,

I like that you think of new ways to tweak the system. I too like trying to "build a better mousetrap."

Be warned, though, that in doing so, you'll probably get some angry, how-dare-you-suggest-something-different-go-start-yer-own-book-swap-site responses.

At least that's been my experience.

So, I say good for you for thinking about a solution to a problem

Laura- Solution to what problem? I see no problem. :P

I think it should stay one book = one credit, too.

Two credits is the equivalent of about $4.75, and quite frankly, I can find most WL books I am interested in at a Used Book Store for half-price (lets say $4.00 on a $7.99 book). My used bookstore gets new releases starting a week or two after books are released.

So, I would NEVER pay more than a credit for a book, since I can get it used for less than the cost of 2 credits, for sure.

Many people here realize that EVERYBODY can't get in line to wait for the used copies, so lots of people buy the new releases that they just can't wait for, and wait for the ones that are less important. Luckily everybody's "can't wait fors" are different, so for new releases, the WLs start to move pretty fast.

Even if a paperback is WL on PBS, that doesn't make it rare or hard to find in the real world. Look at the Sookie Stackhouse books, they are still heavily WL on PBS ... but you can't turn around in a grocery store without falling over these books, and you can buy them for at least a 25% discount at large retailers like Target, any time you want.

The monetary value of a book doesn't always reflect its popularity so I don't think that would be a fair way for the system to work. I recently posted 2 big coffee table books here on PBS that had less than 10 wishers each, one was listed on Amazon for $45 and the other for $125. And yet they both went through multiple wishers before they were even finally requested!

Laura- Solution to what problem? I see no problem. :P

Any problem. Problems in general. Issues, annoyances, irks,  Making a system better, strong, faster. Six Million!

Look here. I just got off work and my same ol, same ol co-workers have been complaining in my ears about changes the school is making us adapt to. This old mule stubbornness and whining is gettting on my last nerve.

"Why do they do this to us?'

"I hate the new schedule"

"Why can't we do what we've always done"

Whine, whine, whine. There is no money for cheese. I was so close to telling them to go pan handle at the cheese factory cuz they should be unemployed if they don't like change for the better. Geez, our school is struggling to improve and these hags are complaining.  End of my rant.

I am currently person 1075 of 1931 for the new Dan Brown book mentioned above.  Yes I understand that this book has no long term collectors value, but there is clearly a lot of immediate demand.  At the current pace (which I know will change) I'd get a copy in about 130 weeks.  hahah.  So yes, I'd be willing to pay more than one credit.  I can't buy it for less than $11 used and with two children under the age of 4 browsing used book stores just isn't an option.   Personally I don't think its "fair" to the folks listing to only get one credit.  

And in terms of the issue mentioned by Marsha I think the answer is that if a book ever had 500+ wishlisters (or whatever number) the rule is 2 credits until the wish list gets down to 50 people. 

TomeTrader, I never mind angry responses.  I welcome the opportunity for debate.

Oh and one other thought...  one book = one credit doesn't always apply here.  So many people give books 2 for 1, they clearly recognize that in the opposite situation (1000 books being offered and no demand) that suddenly their book is really only worth half of a credit.

Regarding fiction, I notice the lists move fairly quick. Non fiction tends to move much slower, sometimes at a snail's pace, so that might be a good idea for non fiction titles. However, it would go against the philosophy of this website which has worked so well for so long.  Plus, if I want a particular title bad enough, I'll find it somewhere.

Kim: There will probably be 300 copies of that Dan Brown book in the system with in a few months. It's exactly the type of book I don't WL.  I buy it while it's WL and read it quickly because it won't be WL long.  It's the same for all the mega-sellers: Nora Roberts, James Patterson, John Grisham etc...,  They go from long WL to so heavily posted that people start donating their copy because they are sick of looking at it on their bookshelf. 

I won one in a game one time:  there were over 100 people on WL when I won the book, in the week it took to reach me that had gone down to 50 and then in the week it took me to read and post the book: there were over 30 copies posted to the system. I was sorry I didn't post it before I read it. 

The Outlander books by Diana Gibaldon and the Twilight books by what's her name seem to be perpetually WL.  Yet I see them constantly at the thrift store for .25-.50.  I bought them a couple of times just to post.  But this week there were 5 Outlander books at the thrift store and one of the Twilight books.  I left them there becuase they are heavy, I busted my postage budget this month and don't need any credits.

But those long WL lines do move pretty quickly.  The only ones that move really super slow are the out of print books. 

ETA: I wouldn't pay 2 credits for any book.  If I was going to pay 2 credits then taking in the going rate of "used" credits they would be worth about $5.25-I'd put that $5.25 towards buying the book used from Ebay or Amazon.

I would actually be less likely to wish list anything or to repost my wish list books. I have to pay 2 credits to get the book, but if the WL drops under 500 while I have it then I don't get my credits back for it? I also wouldn't buy WL books to post since I wouldn't get my value out of it --you get a WL book you want, I get a credit I know I can purchase a book I want with. If the credit structure was unbalanced, why should I buy something someone else wants that might only net me half a book if the WL isn't high enough?

I don't mind suggestions for improvement. I just always suggest that people be around the system and learn its in and outs before trying to improve it. The site has been around for 5 years, odds are they've looked at the credit system from all angles and came up with this structure for a reason. They did recently change the credit structure on the DVD site to have Blue Rays worth 2 credits instead of 1 in the hopes of getting more Blue Rays posted. I didn't see that go over well.

I recently tried to sell some used books and discovered that there really is no value  to them.  Even many books that are perpetually WL here can be bought pretty cheap from Ebay, Amazon, Half.com etc..,  I gave up as it wasn't worth the time involved to research the value, create the listings and such.  The only books I made any money on were the Foodnetwork cookbooks my dad gave me. 

I think there are other sites that allow you to bid on books with their credits-you could look into one of those sites.

omg...

I am also in the KISS camp (Keep It Simple Stupid) so 1 book = 1 credit works for me. I like knowing that regardless of the size, age, monetary value, etc. that 1 book = 1 credit. (Yes, I know audios are 2 credits, but I don't order those, so I don't care.) I like knowing that the book I paid one credit for today will still be worth 1 credit a year from now when I get to reading it and re-post it. PBS works so well because it IS simple.

If there were a book that I really REALLY did not want to wait for, I have some options: 1) buying it 2) use the 'bestseller express" at the library which costs $3.50 I think--you basically 'rent' books that have hundreds of people on the regular 'free' waiting list. But usually for books like that, I am a fan of the author so know when their new books are coming out, so I try to get in early on the wishlist here and the waiting list at my library, so shouldn't have to wait too long for one or the other of them to kick up. I mean, I've got hundreds of books here, it's not like I'd ever be short of reading material!

Cheryl

 Wondering what made Karen say OMG.

Me too... if I wanted it bad enough to pay 2 credits, I'd just go buy it.  By the time you get all the discounts from coupon days, etc, it works out close to the same on MMP as "paying" 2 credits for it.  HC are always at the library, if WL is too long of a wait.   But like Cheryl, I too have a large Mt. TBR to keep me busy as I wait. 

Kim - I just looked at your WL and 1/3 of those books I have on my BIR or TBR lists and I only purchased 1 of them, the rest I got through PBS and reposted as I finished. The Wish List books do move in the system. It kind of looks like this isn't a case of not getting your WL books because the lines seem to moving too slow, but maybe a case of not wanting to post your books unless you could get more for them??

Any problem. Problems in general. Issues, annoyances, irks,  Making a system better, strong, faster. Six Million!

I understand wanting to fix a problem. But there is nothing wrong with the system the way it is designed. Why fix what ain't broke?

I think by making a rule of 2 credits for books over 500 wishers would cause alot of issues. Anger mainly by the 499 person who has to pay 2 credits for the book when the 500th person only has to pay 1 credit. As for posters of these WL books, I can see the issue of people not posting the book because they would only get 1 credit. And what if you post it the same time as 10 other people, you could be the person that makes the list 498 and thus only one credit.  People WILL cancel requests due to this.

And yes it is immediate demand, sorry but one thing I find PBS teaches is patience, you will get the book just not right away. Sucks, makes me want to scream sometimes but that is how life is pretty much.

I personally think it is just how you view things on here.  As I said before I swap a book for a book, I do not look into the cost of each book, I just see a book I want to read and offer one I have already read.

As for deals, most of the deals I have gotten are for 1 book with extra unpostables.

But new ideas are not bad things, just sometimes not the best thing for everyone.

Personally I would love to see changes in the system, but what I want and like is not what others want or like.