Join the book swapping revolution!

As you guys know I love books. A lot. However, there are times when I clean out my bookshelf and rid it of all the old books that I no longer want or need. In the past I've taken these books to Half Price Books or other local used bookstores, but it always feels like I never get a lot of trade-in money, and there are always those books they NEVER want and then those just end up sitting and languishing on my shelf like an unwanted guest, sad but true.

Well, the good news is I have discovered the perfect website for trading in my old books. It's called Paperback Swap and it is awesome.

Basically you make an account on the website, input the ISBN numbers of the books you have available to trade in, and then you're set! The books you have available will then pop up in the book database where people can request them from you. When a person requests the book all you have to do is print out a shipping label, package up the book, and send it to its new home! You do have to pay to ship the book, but media mail is quite cheap, and once you the recipient of the book marks that they received it, you get a credit to pick out a book you want from the database.

So far I've posted 15 books and already 5 of them have been requested and sent out. Also, when you sign up and post your first 10 books, you get 2 free book credits! Awesome right?

Of course, the database of books isn't super stellar, especially if you're hoping for a lot of YA novels. However, it is good for getting classics and those well known novels that you want to read but just haven't gotten around to yet like Life of Pi or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. There is also a pretty good selection of picture books if you like those!

The good news is even if a book you want is not available, you can put it on your wish list which means that as soon as the book is listed you will be notified and have first dibs on it. For newer books the wait list is quite long (I'm number 139 for a Requiem by Lauren Oliver) and the likelihood of getting the book is pretty small, but I still love the concept.

Overall, I really like Paperback Swap and I would definitely recommend it to people looking for ways to trade in their old books. All books, regardless of their size or binding, are one credit so the trade off value can be really good. Yes, you do have to wait for someone to actually request your book and if it's a lesser known novel people may never request it, but you'd be surprised what people want. I know one of my random books I purchased for a college class ended up being on someones wish list and was immediately snatched up. Who knew?!

If you join Paperback Swap or already use it be sure to add me as a friend! Also, if you end up joining because of this post could you list my email as your referral? It would be awesome if you did! You can find my what email address to list on my contact page.

Do you already using Paperback Swap? If not, do you think you'll join? Do you like the concept of being able to swap around your old books? What do you normally do with the books you decide to get rid of?

Oh and there is also a SwapADVD program and a SwapACD one as well so if you're looking to trade and swap your old CD's and DVD's those are great resources!

Julia :)