Last week we talked about utilizing the thrift store to build your book collection. Today I wanted to talk about Paper Book Swap–another great place to find used books, and another one of my favorite places to feed to our insatiable reading appetites and build our book collection.
Paper Back Swap is, just as it sounds–a place to swap your old books.
How Does It Work?
To get started you go through your personal collection to find at least {10 books} you no longer want and then list those books in the system. Then just for listing you’re given 2 “credits” that you can then use to select a book(s) that you want. (Most books–even hardcover ones–“cost” 1 credit each.) The sender ships the book to you–at their cost.
Each time someone selects a book you’ve listed, you mail it to them (at your cost). You can even print the Media Mail postage right there on the site and mail it from your house, saving yourself a trip to the post office. This is a HUGE bonus for me as trekking into that place with four kids is a bit stressful!! (Just imagine pieces of paper and furniture covered in 37 cent “stickers” and I think you’ll get what I mean.)
Once your book is mailed and received, you earn another credit that you can “spend” on a book of your choice.
Lately I’ve had lots requests to create more clip art sets inspired by Eric Carle’s books, so I’ve been using my Paper Back Swap credits to build our Eric Carle collection since it’s not too often we find those during our thrift store rummaging.
{Some recent Paper Back Swap “purchases”}
Have you used Paper Back Swap?
What’s your experience been like? Do you have any tips to share?