All hail BookMooch, they're doing the Good Works too. That having been said, I find much of their system unnacceptable, most specifically the way they handle Wish List notifications.  So I'm bidding them an appreciative, but likely final, farewell.

But: I do have 3.7 Mooch credits, which I would like to trade for 3 PaperBackSwap credits. So anyone who's also a Mooch member, if you're interested, drop me a line. Cheers.

PS: There's an alternate way to do this -- I send a Mooch book to you, you send a Swap book to me -- and that's fine too, however, please assume that any item on your Mooch Wish List can NOT be handled in this way.

Shoot - I can't even get a request to go through.  Sorry excuse for a site.  Bookmooch I mean.

Greg, you can't swap/trade/beg/borrow/steal anything here except books for PBS credits, or books for books in a BOB.  Sorry!

To L: why not? I'm not selling anything, and PS allows members to give points away as they see fit. If I use my own Mooch point to get someone a book they want, and they give me a Swap credit in return, what's the difference? How would PS be involved, let alone harmed, in any fashion?

The Help Center is your friend:

http://www.paperbackswap.com/help/help_index.php

"What can be swapped here?

Not allowed:

• Anything that is not a book
• Anything that contains advertising
• Advance Reader Copies (also known as ARC s, Review Copies or Uncorrected Proofs--these are not the final versions of books)
• CD-ROM books/e-books (books that must be read on a computer)
• Burned copies of audio books
• Xerox or otherwise unoriginal copies of books
• Unbound pages
• leaflets or pamphlets or booklets* without ISBNs (other members complain at spending a credit for these)
• Books that require supplementary non-media materials (non-media materials cannot be sent by MediaMail)
• Pornography (sex manuals and erotica are allowed, hardcore pornography is not allowed)

*A leaflet/pamphlet is an item with fewer than 20 pages; a booklet is an item with between 20 and 50 pages.

Please note: if you Post an inappropriate item for swapping, it may be removed from the database as an automatic action without notice; if it has been requested from you before that happens, you will not get credits for sending it."

Usually posts such as yours get pulled off the forums.

Indeed. This appears to be a misunderstanding of terms. I'm not looking to perform a PaperbackSwap system "Swap" of anything. Since PS rules freely allow the granting of credits between willing members, which if you'll think about it is all I'm talking about, there is nothing potentially troublesome herein. If my post gets pulled by The Powers That Be, so be it, but both the spirit and letter of the law are being followed, at least by me, completely.

Dude, trust me.  It's against the rules.

Do they have the send a buddy credits thing over there? Couldn't you buddy the credits to each other from here and then do the same thing over there? You can buddy your credits here to whoever you want.

Well, if it's against the rules, y'all are free to ignore the matter in its entirety. Meantime, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the system's answer to the Help Center question "Can I sell my credits to other members?" which reads, in abbreviated form:

So, if I allowed to sell them, why am I not allowed to trade them -- at a loss? Why would another member not be free to give me 3 credits, in exchange for anything we can agree on that does not violate a PS rule? And if there is a rule: what is it?

L.G. is right, the only thing that can be traded for PBS credits is books. According to the Help Center:

What can be swapped here?

PBS is for the exchange of used books across all topics of interest. paperback, hardcover and audio books in good condition are acceptable here.

• Paperback books
• Hardcover books (dust jackets not required)
• Audio books (must be originals, not burned copies)
• Ex-library books
• Books with accompanying media
• Textbooks/Workbooks 
• Foreign-language books (if in a language other than English, the language must be specified in the book description)

Nowhere do I see poshpoints, bookmooch points, or anything else there. Just because no one has turned anyone in to the attention of R&R before, does't make it right. Bookmooch doesn't have a problem with you swapping PBS points, Greg. Go to their forums and ask for someone to trade you some PBS points. Here it is against the rules.

You can trade money for PBS credits. Also from the Help Center:

You may set the price and payment method.

So his price is set as bookmooch points.

That's a trade, Betsy, you can only BUY things with money, anything else is a barter according to the IRS.

I wish they did allow it. All the other sites do. Why not here too?

Well, teacup tempest lovers, it's very easy to find out: a call for Those Who Make The Rules -- not Those Who Would Interpret Them -- to provide an answer: am I, or am I not, allowed to request a trade of my 3.7 BookMooch credits in exchange for 3 PaperBackSwap Credits?

I'll abide by whatever answer is officially from on high. Cheers.

Greg, if you don't believe us, just PM R&R and ask them.

Not about belief, about not seeing anything which says it's against policy.  Message sent, breath status: held.

Here's the thing:  PBS has determined that it's ok to "sell" credits here for things like poshpoints or bookmooch points, so I don't see why it would NOT work the other way around.

Probably the best way to handle this is to post a message in Book Bazaar where most of these transactions are.  You can say "I am looking for PBS credits - please pm me if you have some to sell/trade."

Rhonda wrote: Here's the thing:  PBS has determined that it's ok to "sell" credits here for things like poshpoints or bookmooch points

Huh?  When?  Those posts used to get yanked, routinely.  We were told over and over again, the only thing you could trade for credits were books, period.  (Unless you were a BOBer, and then you could trade books for books.)

Nancy, I don't care what he's trading it for - it's a fact that we have been told numerous times that the only thing that credits could be traded for was books.  If that's not the case, they need to change the Help Center wording to reflect so.  It's the only set of guidelines we have.

As for you being "turned off" - If people actually READ the Help Center, no one would have to quote it.

This has been addressed in the Bazaar before but I think it's been some time ago.  From what I remember R&R said it's ok to sell your credits and have the "price" be in BM credits, or TT credits or whatever.  It's not much different than setting a monetary price.

ETA:  I am pretty sure this came up w/ regards to poshpoints, and since that was so long ago, there is no way to find that thread again.

The only thing that makes sense for this NOT to be allowed is that it can been seen as advertising maybe. Because other sites are being named on the PBS boards, that COULD draw others to those sites. That would be the only thing I could think of. I'm not real sure about the answer, but I agree with contacting R&R to get the best answer.

All right, here is the PBS Team word on this.

You can sell your PBS Credits here.  (And this should be done in the Book Bazaar, not this Forum.)

You cannot sell anything else.

That means that Greg, you could have posted "Anyone want to sell me some credits?  Contact me by PM if so," and then in Personal Messages explained what you are willing to pay.  But you should not post a topic selling anything for credits.  If in PM negotiations anyone was willing to accept the currency of another site for PBS credits, then you could make the exchange.  

It is a small point, but there you have it.  Don't hawk your wares (whatever they are) for credits.   But you can ask if anyone is looking to sell credits, and negotiate payment with them privately.

We are sure someone else will find a way to do the above inappropriately somehow, and we will hear from members again asking us to clarify, but for now this is the ruling.

Thank you Robert for jumping in and clarifying this for us!!  I know there's been some confusion about it.