We start 'em young around here! This is Wyatt at 7 months old in the picture below. I'm proud to say that he is reading short sentences on his own and started a few months ago at age 4 1/2!!
We love books, yes! Books can get EXPENSIVE...
I have been meaning to write a post about www.paperbackswap.com for almost a year now! I started "swapping" through this site last fall and have gotten close to 20 books for "free" (I'm too lazy right now to get up and check the bookshelf upstairs to get an exact count!).
From their own words... "We help avid readers swap, exchange, and trade for free. It's easy, list the books you'd like to swap with other club members. Once a book is requested, mail it to the club member (you pay media mail rate shipping). In return you can choose from 5 million available books. Books you chose are mailed to you for free. No late fees. No hidden charges"
In order to sign up and start with Paperback Swap, you do have to have 10 books that you are willing to swap. The easiest way I can think to explain the process (aside from you going to their website and checking it out yourself), is to just go thru the time-line of what I did...
Last November, I went thru my bookshelves and picked out 10 books that I would be willing to part with. For me, they were mostly fiction books that I had read once and would probably not read again. One of the books I posted was "The Everything Wedding Etiquette Book" that I wouldn't use again now that my wedding is over. If you have alot of books, just look thru them, you'd be surprised how many you might be willing to give up.
As soon as I signed up for an account and listed my 10 books on paperback swap, I immediately got 2 free book "credits" with which I could "order" 2 books for free! Yes, I probably paid some money for the 10 books I listed that I will be swapping, but for me, it was worth it.
I have heard some people say that there are not many Christian books available on Paperback Swap...I disagree. It might take longer for them to be listed by another member, but all of the books I have "ordered" for free have been Christian books, such as: "Calm My Anxious Heart", "Spanking a Loving Discipline", "The Journey of a Strong-Willed Child", and "Making Children Mind without Losing Yours".
So, I listed my 10 books, got my 2 credits, requested 2 books with those credits and received them in mail free of charge! No money spent up until this point, and 10 books I didn't really need anymore, gone, and 2 books I had been wanting taken off my Amazon.com "wish list" (when I hear about a good book, I put it in my Amazon.com cart for a later purchase. This also serves as a handy-dandy list to give family and friends if they ask for gift ideas for the kids or me)
Then slowly, over the next few months, I would get emails from Paperback Swap letting me know that someone had requested one of the 10 books I had listed. At that time I would print out a mailing label (provided by Paperback Swap), and pay the media rate postage to send the book. I have never paid over $3 for each book for shipping. So, yes, you do pay for the books that you are shipping, but then in return, you get a book sent to you free of charge. This may not be for everyone, but it has worked out wonderfully for me!
The prompt for this post today was that I just went to my Amazon.com cart and took OFF 2 books that I had had in there! No need to spend the $21.26 for those 2 books on Amazon!!
Oh, and when someone requests one of the books that you have listed...after you print the mailing slip, pay the media mail postage, and they receive the book, then you get another book credit to order another book for yourself at no add'l cost!
I joined last November, and still have 4 books of my original 10 listed. There was one book I requested/ordered that after I read it, I posted it to swap. All of the other books I have received I will be keeping to re-read...such as "The Strong Willed Child" :-) (have any of you met our Levi??)
Another cool option that costs MUCH less than Amazon (and to me, Amazon has the best prices of most things)...you can purchase book credits...
In order to request/order a book, you have to have a book credit, but if you have already used the 2 you got for signing up and listing your 10 books and no one has requested a book from the ones you listed yet, you can purchase a credit for approx. $3. I forget the exact amount.
I had "Night Light: A Couples Devotional" by Dobson on my wish list(s) both at Paperback Swap and Amazon. Cost $10.19 on Amazon. On Paperback Swap, no one had it listed as an available book when I put it in my wish list. Eventually I got an email from Paperback Swap letting me know that someone had listed that book. I did not currently have any book credits from the reasons I explained above. So I purchased a book credit for approx $3, and that book will arrive in my mailbox tomorrow!
AND you can post, request/order, swap, trade, etc. CHILDREN'S Books too!! Yippee!! I think it's more of a cost savings for adult books, but if there are some kids books are your favorite that are hard to find in the store...put it on your wish list...you never know, someone might be swapping theirs!
So, check out Paperback Swap.com!! And if you have read this far into the post, enjoy the pictures below of our book loving family including my mom and my sister!
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