Just wondering if there is there a way to increase the number of credits that you can get for a book, such as a hardback, to 2 or more?  I have just sent out a huge hardback (about three inches thick) and IMO it's worth more than one credit.  Are they all one credit or is there somewhere you can change it?

kind regards,

Judie

Hi. Nope, they are only one credit. The only difference I've noticed is audiobooks are 2. All paperbacks/hardbacks are one credit.

Thanks Cindy,

regards,

Judie

From the Help Center:

On PBS all bound books are created equal. paperback and hardcover books of all types are worth one credit each. audio books are worth two credits each. We currently have no plans to change the "pricing structure".

• Yes, hardcovers can be more expensive to send
  • they are generally larger and heavier than paperbacks
  • but some paperbacks are larger/heavier than some hardbacks.
• The complexity of pro-rating book "cost" by weight would complicate what we want to be a simple process.
  • We think ease of swapping is of paramount importance.
• If you want to receive a hardcover in return for each hardcover you send out:
  • You can always limit your requests to hardcovers only.
  • That way, you will not be spending more in postage than the senders spend to send you the books you want.

As far as we are concerned, a book is a book! A book that you no longer want is swapped for a book you want--it's all good!

I don't think hardbacks should cost more than one credit, but I rarely send them out anymore since they do cost more to send. It costs over $3 to send most hard covers, and from what I've seen, credits can be bought in the BB for less than $3. If I can get a credit cheaper than sending the book, then I'll take the book to the used bookstore. I would suggest doing something similar if you don't want to send out hardcovers for only one credit. ;)

I have found that the cost of mailing out those heavy hardcovers usually evens out over time. An individual hardcover might cost more than usual to mail out, but if you request hardcovers in return, you are getting the same value back.

I have posted some very large and heavy hardcovers and mailed them out ... but that evens out with the people who order 2 books from me at once and I get both credits for the price of one mailing. I don't sweat the occasional heavier book. I also occasionally order a heavy hardcover book and I am grateful that there are members who are willing to mail them out!

You are right, though, if you ONLY have heavy hardcovers to post, and you are requesting only paperbacks, that is certainly an imbalance that you might want to avoid.

But thank you for being willing to post and mail a heavy hardcover in the first place!

Also, a nice way to get around the rules is to offer a person who orders a heavy hardcover from you, a deal IF they would also like to order other books from your shelf.

You CANNOT require this, as that is against the rules, but if you make the offer, and they end up finding, say, 2 paperbacks for 1 credit that you can add to the order, the 2 paperbacks might kick you up 30 or 40 cents on the postage, but you end up with 2 credits for the package instead of just one.

Just make sure you don't cancel the order if they decline to take you up on the offer, as that would also be against the rules.

You can phrase it something like "Hi, you ordered "Book X" from me. I am offering a deal on my bokshelf right now, which I would like to offer to you. The deal is, additional books are 2 for 1 credit after the first book ordered. If you would like to order any additional books from my shelf to take advantage of this, please place the order by "xx-xx-xx", as I plan on mailing the package on xx-xx-xx. Thanks!"

The only thing I've thought was off about the credits were box sets and books in a series in one binding. I have a HC that is all 3 books in a series. It's only worth one credit. I have another set of 5 in a series all posted separately but the box set has a wishlist. The box set is worth one credit. I think things would move faster if they were worth the number of books your getting.

Here's some help center advice on posting boxed sets:

How do I post my 'boxed set' of books?

If each of the books bears a unique ISBN, you can Post each as a separate entity

• this way, you will earn a credit for each.

If the "box" holding the boxed set bears an ISBN, you can post with that number, BUT

• this way, you will earn only ONE credit for the SET.

There is not a way to post the books individually yet require one member to take all of them and award you all of the credits for the one bulk request.

If you do post the books individually and want to send them all to one member:

• you can start a topic in the Book Bazaar Discussion Forum to advise members that you have a boxed set.
• Another member may be glad to learn of this and request all of the books from you using the bulk request "order more books from this member" feature.

In addition, I've had success at posting the first book in the series, and PMing the requestor and telling him I have the rest of the set.  I'll send him the first one even if he doesn't want the others, but often he does.

I recently had a lady send me a tremendously big "coffeetable" book. It cost her over $7.00 to mail it. She didn't say a word about its size or complain about the cost. When I recieved it I was rather astonished. So I voluntarily sent her an extra credit. It was worth it to me.

I have a HC that is all 3 books in a series. It's only worth one credit. I have another set of 5 in a series all posted separately but the box set has a wishlist. The box set is worth one credit. I think things would move faster if they were worth the number of books your getting.

I agree about the boxed sets. I would think they would be at least 2 credits since audiobooks are. I wonder why audiobooks get the higher cost. Anyone know? Is it  because they are so much more expensive than even a hard cover?

I think in the case of your HC with 3 books that they should remain at one credit. After all, it is only one book, it just happens to contain 3 novels.

During the first few months after I joined PBS, I had a wishlist book come up for my acceptance. It had been on my wishlist ever since I joined. I was very excited to get it. The sender asked me for another credit as it was a hardcover, very heavy, and would cost a lot to send. Being that I was pretty new to the site and really wanted the book, I sent her another credit. I eventually found out that is against PBS rules to ask someone for an extra credit to help with postage and will never do that again. She received two credits from me, being worth a total of $6.90. When I received the book, I noticed the price for postage being just above $3.00. I felt I was ripped off.

I think the reason they don't do multiple credits for box sets here is because the database isn't accurate enough for them to be able to tell which ISBNs are box sets and how many books they contain.

I refuse to break up a set that has a box, so I just put mine in the book bazaar. Usually at a one credit discount since I'm getting a postage break sending them all out together.

That's a great solution Kayote!

I refuse to break up a set that has a box, so I just put mine in the book bazaar. Usually at a one credit discount since I'm getting a postage break sending them all out together.

I thought that the rules were that you couldn't ask for more credits than what PBS said it is worth?

Shelly, if you have a trilogy box set, and ask 2 credits for all 3 books, that's not more than 1 credit per book.  While posting the box set's ISBN will get you only 1 credit (I have gotten and sent a few this way myself, as a matter of fact), you could also post the 3 books separately without ISBN for 3 credits total.  What Kayote's talking about is posting just 2 of the books without ISBN and including the third book free, which is completely acceptable (and works out nicely for both parties).

I don't know if there are cases where it wouldn't be this way, but the books themselves should each have a unique ISBN# separate from the ISBN# for the boxed set.  Mine do anyway.  Like this set: The Lord of the Rings, which can be listed under that single ISBN# for all 3, or can be listed individually by the ISBN# for each book.

Thanks for explaining James. I think I will offer those 5 for 4 credits in the BB. Can I do that with the HC that has 3 novels in the one binding too? Or would that be asking more than what I'm suppose to for it?

A 3-in-1 edition, though hefty, is just one credit.  I've sent out some like that, and used the credit to order a similarly heavy book. In the end, it all balances out.

I've sent out a few of those 3-in-1 books as well.  Actually I was happy to get them off of my bookshelf, as they were taking up a lot of room!  Glad to have them going to folks who will enjoy reading them.  And I didn't mind the extra postage.

I do send quite a few hardcovers, but I've also received a lot of them, so for me it seems a fair trade. Also, I've sent plenty of skinny little paperbacks that weighed only 4-5 oz. and those cost less to send than the average book. It all evens out in the end is my thought. And even aside from the cost of shipping, I get a lot of hardcovers in the bargain section, often costing half the price of a regular priced new paperback. So cost can't really be considered when determining credit value either. One book = one credit regardless of size seems fair to me.

The only issue for me where I think one credit for (for example) 3 books isn't really kosher with the boxed sets, and I would solve that issue by just not listing them here. If I have a boxed set, it's likely one I bought new for my Keeper shelf, so it's not going anywhere anyway.

Cheryl

I know I wouldn't pay more than 1 credit for a hardcover. I sent out a really thick hardcover sewing instruction book and it was on ly $3.50 to mail.  It was just collecting dust in my house.  If I think about how many times I've sent out audiobooks that got me 2 credits but only cost $2.50 to mail or all the times I've used 1 credit to order deals from someone and got 3 or even 4 books for the 1 credit- it all evens out. 

Most books are like cars-once they leave the store they are immediately worth a whole lot less than you paid for it-unless it becomes rare and collectible. 

I'm perfectly  happy to send out hard covers, text books, whatever - for one credit or even for deals.  I just want them out of my house and I can not make myself throw them in the burn pile.  I'd rather spend $5 + on postage for a heavy box of books if someone wanted them.

1 book = 1 credit is one of the few very firm rules (and enforced) here at PBS.  As mentioned above, there are legit ways to work around boxed sets and some other variables, the baseline is still 1 book = 1 credit (except audio books).