Anyone a member of a book swapping site?

[boogiewoogie]

Which one are you a member of? I've heard of bookmooch and more recently, readitswapit.

Can you describe your experience of being a member?
Do you think it's worth it by the time you pay postage whether it would be cheaper just to go to the charity shop?

Any comments appreciated.

Used to be but found the cost of postage was actually very high - especially for thicker novels, hardbacks etc. Sometimes it was costing up to £2.50 to post a book. I can buy a book at the charity shops for 60p or £1 max - and then I just redonate them after I have read them - that way everyone benefits :) I also use my local library a lot more now - many are faced with closure and could do with our support.

I use readitswapit a lot. Most books have been £1.80 ish to post. As I order quite a lot of goods online I often have padded envelopes to re-use, otherwise you have to factor cost of packaging too.

Can take a few goes to get someone to swap a popular book but then I have read a few great books which I wouldn't have considered before were they not on someone's swap list.

Agree with Florapup that charity shops/library are the better option esp. if its a pain for you to get to a post office.

I use readitswapit as the charity shops round here charge silly money for second hand books, and unsurprisingly the stock changes very slowly. RISI is great for the reasons boo has explained, and their forums have good reviews and book chat as well. Sadly my local library is not open when I am not at work..

Ooh, I didn't know these even existed!!

Post office is a breeze to get to as it's outside DS's preschool whereas charity shops are a pain as there are none in city center so I have to drive to mini villages with awful parking and drag children round with me...

Have loads of books I've finished that are just sitting around. Will have to look these up. Thank you

I use RISI and Bookmooch. I tend to just list books which aren't too expensive to post. Brand new jiffy bags are outrageously expensive, but I've bought packs of little plastic bags that come out at 10-15p each and the packages often go through as lower weights/smaller sizes too. And I have two bags full of used jiffy bags which could be recycled.

I love charity shops but a lot of the ones I use are more like £2/book anyway, and it's exciting getting things in the post.

comparison between RISI and BM

RISI - you have to find someone who has books you want and wants books you have and are putting up for swap. This isn't always that easy, as I only swap some of my books, mostly chicklit and books which I didn't like much.

Bookmooch is international but you can limit to sending books in the UK only. You get a point per book for sending in your country and 3 points if you send abroad, and then you spend a point to get a book, more to get them from abroad. (system is changing at the moment so you need to check on the site). This means you can ask anyone in the UK for books you fancy if you have sent out books to accrue some points, you don't need to find someone who will want your particular stuff.

The most popular bestsellers aren't always as available on BM as on RISI, but I've got lucky with some books I really wanted, and you don't have to go through so much rejection.

Okay, thanks everyone. Think I migh bite the bullet, sign up to RISI at least and do something about all those books that are driving dh mad.