about Bookmooch
Sunday, April 1st, 2007 01:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranthI seem to have proselytising about BookMooch a great deal, recently. And was asked last night, over fizz, to Explain.
BookMooch is a book exchange site.
"Give books away, get books you want" is their tagline.
It works on a points basis: no money changes hands. The sender is responsible for post and packing costs.
All books are equal -- no distinction is made between my battered, loose-paged paperback of Whose Body and a rare first edition hardcover that's available on Amazon Marketplace for £100+.
Example: I have a book that I wish to discard.
I list it on my inventory on BookMooch, and get 0.1 points for listing it.
If someone from the UK wants it, they put in a request and I send it to them -- as cheaply as possible -- and get 1 point for giving it away.
If someone abroad wants it, I send it as cheaply as possible and get 3 points for giving it away.
If someone in the UK has a book that I want, I request it, at a cost to me of 1 point, and sooner or later it turns up.
If someone abroad has a book that I want, I request it at a cost to me of 2 points, and sooner or later it turns up.
There are elaborations on this theme -- most interestingly, that one can offer 'point bonuses' for hard-to-find books, or accumulate points by offering 3 books for the 'price' of 2. I've just acquired 10 hard-to-find books (often bought with real money by the givers) for bonuses of 10 points apiece.
It costs nothing to join.
You can list as much or as little as you like: you can reject any request: you can withdraw books at any time.
I have so far acquired 22 books (with another 16 in transit) for a total outlay of about £50, plus giving away 40 books that I no longer wanted and which probably wouldn't have been worth much to a dealer.
In many respects I'd rather give the books to people I know, but this is a quick and easy way of giving books to people who're specifically looking for them.
BookMooch is a book exchange site.
"Give books away, get books you want" is their tagline.
It works on a points basis: no money changes hands. The sender is responsible for post and packing costs.
All books are equal -- no distinction is made between my battered, loose-paged paperback of Whose Body and a rare first edition hardcover that's available on Amazon Marketplace for £100+.
Example: I have a book that I wish to discard.
I list it on my inventory on BookMooch, and get 0.1 points for listing it.
If someone from the UK wants it, they put in a request and I send it to them -- as cheaply as possible -- and get 1 point for giving it away.
If someone abroad wants it, I send it as cheaply as possible and get 3 points for giving it away.
If someone in the UK has a book that I want, I request it, at a cost to me of 1 point, and sooner or later it turns up.
If someone abroad has a book that I want, I request it at a cost to me of 2 points, and sooner or later it turns up.
There are elaborations on this theme -- most interestingly, that one can offer 'point bonuses' for hard-to-find books, or accumulate points by offering 3 books for the 'price' of 2. I've just acquired 10 hard-to-find books (often bought with real money by the givers) for bonuses of 10 points apiece.
It costs nothing to join.
You can list as much or as little as you like: you can reject any request: you can withdraw books at any time.
I have so far acquired 22 books (with another 16 in transit) for a total outlay of about £50, plus giving away 40 books that I no longer wanted and which probably wouldn't have been worth much to a dealer.
In many respects I'd rather give the books to people I know, but this is a quick and easy way of giving books to people who're specifically looking for them.
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no subject
Date: Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 12:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 01:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 02:38 pm (UTC)It is far too much hassle for me.
:-(
no subject
Date: Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 02:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 03:00 pm (UTC)