I want a book that is listed by two people. Unfortunately when I request it, the person who has it listed first (FIFO) is someone I don't want to swap with. I've received books from them that are PBS legal, but not in very good condition (just barely PBS legal). Is there any way to find out who the second person is, so I can order it from them?

Anne J

Sorry, but it's not possible.  You will probably just have to wait until the first person gets rid of their book, then request it again.  Or, you could post in the Book Bazaar what book you're looking for & possible someone will have it.   Good luck!

Danielle,

Thanks for the info. I've been checking periodically, so I'll just keep up with that.

Anne J

This is not a very nice way to do it, but it would work...

Add a requestor condition to your account that says "I only want this book if it's in perfect condition" OR "please don't send me this book if your name is _____" OR something as simple as "please do NOT send me this book. I need it to go directly to the next person for specific reasons"

Make sure you remove the condition as soon as your first reqest is denied, though.

You could search the boxers. If the second person who has the book is a boxer, their name will show up. You don't have to be a boxer to use that search.

I would just keep an eye on their shelf. Once you no longer see it listed there, or if they happen to put their account on hold, then try ordering it.  Or you could try asking about the book in the book bazaar if there are a lot of copies in the system.

Anne, I sent you a P.M.

Michelle, I won't say for sure, but just guessing on things that have been said in the past by R&R about not singling out people or denying trades to specific people, I would think your idea of naming someone you do not want to trade with MIGHT get you some reprimand fromt them. Just guessing, but since they have expressed that they don't care for any censureship of trading, I'd think they might object.

Oh, Sherry, lol....I didn't know that. :P I've never been in the OP's situation, thankfully.

I can understand not playing favorites....BUT if you have a bad experience with someone, it makes you very hesitant to want to do business with them ever again.  I don't think someone should be penalized for that.

I could understand if you've gotten bad books in the past from this person. If you put a conidtion they might ignore the condition and accept anyway if they're not the kind who is following rules.

I don't know how "ethical" it would be but you could order BOTH copies and then cancel the one from the person you didn't want it from.

I don't really get the problem here. The books originally received met PBS guidelines. If they didn't meet PBS guidelines, the books should have been marked "Received with a Problem".

If you're expecting more than PBS guidelines, you need to add conditions to your account to state as such. Try something like this:

For [insert book title (or perhaps just the author if it's a series) here] only, please meet the following contitions: [insert extra conditions here].

If the original person's book doesn't meet the conditions, then s/he should turn it down due to your conditions. But my guess is the book will meet your conditions and the transaction will go smoothly.

I wonder if R & R could ever add something to the program here, like.............if you mark a book "received with problem" from someone and then down the road you get offered a book from the same person, you then get the option of accepting or being passed to the next in line.  But only transactions between you and the person you marked "received with problem".  That way you're not playing faves and it's a legitimate reason for not wanting to trade with a certain person.  Just thinking out loud and typing.

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Thanks for that information Allie--I did not know that.

How about ordering a different version of the book if there is one listed?

I do exactly the same thing with the Boxer search.  Sometimes I don't want to trade, just find a book.

If I click on the PM button after making a request and discover that the person with the book has only 8 other books listed, nothing in their wishlist, nothing in the reviews, nothing in the forums, and nothing sent and 3 books received... um, I want the next copy, please. ;)

OTOH, because of an increase in membership I've had some of these lately and they've all worked out perfectly, either by me sending the book or them sending the book.  Additionally, I had one of these lately for a book that I've had wishlisted seemingly forever and the book arrived timely and within conditions, believe it or not - since the member had been a member for about 2 years with obvious little activity and no other books were posted at the time the WL'd book was posted.

if you mark a book "received with problem" from someone and then down the road you get offered a book from the same person, you then get the option of accepting or being passed to the next in line.  But only transactions between you and the person you marked "received with problem". 

I think this is a great idea - but I'm not a programmer, so I dunno if it could be done or not here.  I'd like to think we can tell the difference between an honest mistake (it happens) and someone who simply doesn't care.  For those who simply don't care, I don't care to order again, either. 

What book is it?  You could post here and see if the second person is someone on the forums.  Or if you are feeling brave you can pm the person who it goes to and ask the condition of the book before they send it.

--If I click on the PM button after making a request and discover that the person with the book has only 8 other books listed, nothing in their wishlist, nothing in the reviews, nothing in the forums, and nothing sent and 3 books received... um, I want the next copy, please. ;)

Umm...we all started out as new at one time or another.  I'll still order because I remember being new and wondering if anyone would order my books(well ok, I did have a profile right off the bat though).  But I do admit, I use DC with these people so I can get my credit even if they don't mark it recieved.  But so far no problems.  They were just starting out as well.

Try looking at who  has written reviews for the book. Click on his/her name and see if it's still on his/her shelf.  You can order it directly that way if you don't want to order from the FIFO person.

I have gotten books that met guidelines but like in this case barely and I didn't feel good about reposting them myself so I donated them to the FOL and didn't get a credit back.

I agree with Nancy.  I don't maintain a bookshelf anymore, does that make me a bad person?  Undesireable?  Geesh, thanks!  I've been a member here for almost 2 years and I've done my part by trading books, finding wish list books for others, etc.  I still post wish list books, you just never see them on my bookshelf because they're WISH LIST books!  I also don't write reviews, they're a waste of time because people don't follow the rules and write stuff like "my copy has a different cover" or "my copy is a Book Crossing book".

I've sent out more books than I've ordered so I have quite a stockpile of credits at the moment.  I decided to stop sending out books (that aren't wish listed) for a while and live off of my stockpile.  I didn't know that act would demote me to criminal status around here.  ~shrug~

I'm with Nancy and Lisa.  We are at our other house now, in another state, and I deleted all the books on my bookshelf that are sitting at home #1 and put up the books we have here at house #2.  There are only 2 books on my shelf, but I have been an excellent trader, no dings on my record.  But someone's not going to trade with me because my shelf is low right now?  

I don't look at book shelves. If I did I might tend to not want someone with a lot of books. I would think the people who have a lot of books might be buying them from yard sales just to list and aren't choosey on the quality of the books or know if pages are missing since the books aren't read. If I had a bad book from someone I wouldn't want to knowingly order a book from them again. I end up doing the FIFO for the most part.

hmmm, well I have a lot of books on my bookshelf Tonya but I didn't buy them from garage sales, they came from my parents.  now true a lot of them won't be taken and I'll freecycle them out, but a few books surprised me by being requested.  you just never know what someone will want is how I look at it! or it could be that someone has a ton of books and realized that maybe it is time to get rid of some of them because they won't read them again. 

so while it is bad to make assumptions on those with small bookshelves, the same could be said of large ones.