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1MapleWalnut
Here are some tips for working BookMooch to your advantage. Thanks to everyone who has contributed ideas to this list.
15 Ways To Work BookMooch To Your Advantage
1. Pick the best book (or the best BookMoocher)
If multiple copies of a book are available, take your time to make a good decision. Look for the book in the best condition. Use BookMooch to research the person offering the book. When did they last login (i.e. will they respond)? Do they smoke? How quickly do they ship? How far away are they? Do they package their books carefully? Are there any red flags in their Feedback?
2. List the condition of each book in your Inventory
People are more likely to choose you to mooch from if they know the condition of your book. Take good care of books that you intend to offer on BookMooch -- avoid stains, marks, stamps, tears, dog-ears, spine crease, water damage, etc.
3. Build a large Wishlist
Put a lot of books on your Wishlist. There are 5-10 times more books wanted than offered, so a large Wishlist helps you "cast a wide net".
4. Check your entire Wishlist for Related Editions
Many books are available in multiple editions (hardcover, trade paperback, paperback, revised edition, etc). When you add a book to your Wishlist, you are specifying the title AND edition. Even if that edition is not available, other perfectly good editions might be available. Click "All" to see your entire Wishlist, and click "Show Related Editions" to see all the books you've been missing! This page is so useful that you should bookmark it in your browser to save a few clicks.
5. Put Related Editions on your Wishlist
Use Amazon to determine which editions are available, and then put ALL acceptable editions on your Wishlist. This ensures that the BookMooch matching system will email you if ANY acceptable edition becomes available. This explains why you sometimes see the same title multiple times on other people's wishlists. When you mooch a multiply-listed book, remember to remove the remaining editions from your Wishlist so you don't accidentally mooch the same title again!
6. Respond quickly to "Book is available" messages
If you receive an email telling you that a book on your Wishlist is available, respond quickly. When someone adds a book to their Inventory that is on multiple people's Wishlists, the BookMooch system picks ONE person at random and sends them email. An hour later, if the book is still available, the system sends email to a second person, and so forth. The first person to actually mooch the book gets it. Be that person.
7. Check your Wishlist often
Don't wait for the system emails! If you check your Wishlist and see a book available, it might be because multiple people want the book, but the system hasn't picked you to receive an email yet. Go ahead and mooch the book! You've just cut in line before everyone who was waiting for an email. One helpful BookMoocher recommends using an RSS reader (like Google Reader) to automatically monitor your Wishlist page for changes, rather than having to check it manually.
8. Stay logged in
To avoid the "Username/Password" popup box, don't enter the site via www.bookmooch.com. Instead, leave BookMooch open in a browser tab on one of your account's pages (e.g. Wishlist). When you return later, simply click another BookMooch tab (e.g. Pending) and you'll still be logged in without having to enter your Username and Password.
9. Stalk new users, and Reserved books
If you get a "hit" from your Wishlist or email, check to see if the user is brand-new. If so, they might still be in process of entering their Inventory. Monitor their Inventory as they add books, and mooch away the ones you want. Sweet. Similarly, if a book you want is Reserved for someone's friend, check back near the expiration of the reservation (in case the friend doesn't respond), and be the first to mooch the book. You'll know the expiration date but not the exact time.
10. Someone mooched your crappy book? Send it!
There are some books that are so awful that they are better used as firewood or toilet paper. Like "Deception Point" by Dan Brown, which is in 160 people's Inventory, and no one wants it. What if you have a crappy book like this one, and someone actually mooches it? Mark it Sent, quickly, before they change their mind and cancel the mooch. Then send it.
11. Avoid careless mistakes
The BookMooch site allows careless mistakes (in fact it encourages them). Think twice before clicking. Be careful not to put a book in your Inventory rather than your Wishlist (and visa versa). Bad things happen when a book is added to the wrong list. Be careful not to mark an incoming book as Received before it has actually been Sent and received. The site allows this and Tech Support won't fix your mistake. If the person doesn't actually send the book, you're still out 1 point (because now you can't Cancel).
12. Don't accumulate too many Points
Try not to build up too many unspent Points. The BookMooch site is very dependent on Amazon for its book information and page links. If Amazon pulls the plug, BookMooch will die and might not come back for a long time.
13. Minimize packaging and mailing costs
Don't let the postal clerk upsell you -- in the US insist on Media Mail (most books) or First Class (small paperbacks), whichever is cheaper. Re-use packaging. Inexpensive packaging materials are available on eBay (many office supplies make their way there, hmmm).
14. Practice BookMooch arbitrage
In BookMooch, you send one book to get one book. So in the US, a mooched book "costs" you about $3.00 (postage and packaging to send one book). Make a list of the most-wanted books on BookMooch, find them cheaper than $3.00 at a used book store, library book sale or flea market, and give them away on BookMooch. Profit! You only want to do this for books that are a "sure thing". Going the other direction, you can mooch especially valuable BookMooch books and sell them for more than $3.00 on Amazon Marketplace or at a used book store. Profit! But realistically, you aren't going to make a lot of money doing this, compared to the time and effort expended.
15. ISBN search tips
A book can have a 10-digit ISBN (044024383-1) and/or a 13-digit ISBN (978-044024383-0) for books after 2007. Note that the check digit usually differs, so you can't simply prepend "978" to an ISBN-10 to get the ISBN-13. Amazon lists both. Some ISBN-10's end in "X". When searching BookMooch for these, try the search using both "X" (98%) and "x" (2%). You might also want to search by ISBN-13. Only 1% of available titles in BookMooch currently use ISBN-13, but this percentage may grow over time. There is a 9-digit portion in common between the ISBN-10 and the ISBN-13, but neither Amazon nor BookMooch can be searched by this portion.
Coming Soon: "5 Ways To Cheat At BookMooch (But Don't)"
15 Ways To Work BookMooch To Your Advantage
1. Pick the best book (or the best BookMoocher)
If multiple copies of a book are available, take your time to make a good decision. Look for the book in the best condition. Use BookMooch to research the person offering the book. When did they last login (i.e. will they respond)? Do they smoke? How quickly do they ship? How far away are they? Do they package their books carefully? Are there any red flags in their Feedback?
2. List the condition of each book in your Inventory
People are more likely to choose you to mooch from if they know the condition of your book. Take good care of books that you intend to offer on BookMooch -- avoid stains, marks, stamps, tears, dog-ears, spine crease, water damage, etc.
3. Build a large Wishlist
Put a lot of books on your Wishlist. There are 5-10 times more books wanted than offered, so a large Wishlist helps you "cast a wide net".
4. Check your entire Wishlist for Related Editions
Many books are available in multiple editions (hardcover, trade paperback, paperback, revised edition, etc). When you add a book to your Wishlist, you are specifying the title AND edition. Even if that edition is not available, other perfectly good editions might be available. Click "All" to see your entire Wishlist, and click "Show Related Editions" to see all the books you've been missing! This page is so useful that you should bookmark it in your browser to save a few clicks.
5. Put Related Editions on your Wishlist
Use Amazon to determine which editions are available, and then put ALL acceptable editions on your Wishlist. This ensures that the BookMooch matching system will email you if ANY acceptable edition becomes available. This explains why you sometimes see the same title multiple times on other people's wishlists. When you mooch a multiply-listed book, remember to remove the remaining editions from your Wishlist so you don't accidentally mooch the same title again!
6. Respond quickly to "Book is available" messages
If you receive an email telling you that a book on your Wishlist is available, respond quickly. When someone adds a book to their Inventory that is on multiple people's Wishlists, the BookMooch system picks ONE person at random and sends them email. An hour later, if the book is still available, the system sends email to a second person, and so forth. The first person to actually mooch the book gets it. Be that person.
7. Check your Wishlist often
Don't wait for the system emails! If you check your Wishlist and see a book available, it might be because multiple people want the book, but the system hasn't picked you to receive an email yet. Go ahead and mooch the book! You've just cut in line before everyone who was waiting for an email. One helpful BookMoocher recommends using an RSS reader (like Google Reader) to automatically monitor your Wishlist page for changes, rather than having to check it manually.
8. Stay logged in
To avoid the "Username/Password" popup box, don't enter the site via www.bookmooch.com. Instead, leave BookMooch open in a browser tab on one of your account's pages (e.g. Wishlist). When you return later, simply click another BookMooch tab (e.g. Pending) and you'll still be logged in without having to enter your Username and Password.
9. Stalk new users, and Reserved books
If you get a "hit" from your Wishlist or email, check to see if the user is brand-new. If so, they might still be in process of entering their Inventory. Monitor their Inventory as they add books, and mooch away the ones you want. Sweet. Similarly, if a book you want is Reserved for someone's friend, check back near the expiration of the reservation (in case the friend doesn't respond), and be the first to mooch the book. You'll know the expiration date but not the exact time.
10. Someone mooched your crappy book? Send it!
There are some books that are so awful that they are better used as firewood or toilet paper. Like "Deception Point" by Dan Brown, which is in 160 people's Inventory, and no one wants it. What if you have a crappy book like this one, and someone actually mooches it? Mark it Sent, quickly, before they change their mind and cancel the mooch. Then send it.
11. Avoid careless mistakes
The BookMooch site allows careless mistakes (in fact it encourages them). Think twice before clicking. Be careful not to put a book in your Inventory rather than your Wishlist (and visa versa). Bad things happen when a book is added to the wrong list. Be careful not to mark an incoming book as Received before it has actually been Sent and received. The site allows this and Tech Support won't fix your mistake. If the person doesn't actually send the book, you're still out 1 point (because now you can't Cancel).
12. Don't accumulate too many Points
Try not to build up too many unspent Points. The BookMooch site is very dependent on Amazon for its book information and page links. If Amazon pulls the plug, BookMooch will die and might not come back for a long time.
13. Minimize packaging and mailing costs
Don't let the postal clerk upsell you -- in the US insist on Media Mail (most books) or First Class (small paperbacks), whichever is cheaper. Re-use packaging. Inexpensive packaging materials are available on eBay (many office supplies make their way there, hmmm).
14. Practice BookMooch arbitrage
In BookMooch, you send one book to get one book. So in the US, a mooched book "costs" you about $3.00 (postage and packaging to send one book). Make a list of the most-wanted books on BookMooch, find them cheaper than $3.00 at a used book store, library book sale or flea market, and give them away on BookMooch. Profit! You only want to do this for books that are a "sure thing". Going the other direction, you can mooch especially valuable BookMooch books and sell them for more than $3.00 on Amazon Marketplace or at a used book store. Profit! But realistically, you aren't going to make a lot of money doing this, compared to the time and effort expended.
15. ISBN search tips
A book can have a 10-digit ISBN (044024383-1) and/or a 13-digit ISBN (978-044024383-0) for books after 2007. Note that the check digit usually differs, so you can't simply prepend "978" to an ISBN-10 to get the ISBN-13. Amazon lists both. Some ISBN-10's end in "X". When searching BookMooch for these, try the search using both "X" (98%) and "x" (2%). You might also want to search by ISBN-13. Only 1% of available titles in BookMooch currently use ISBN-13, but this percentage may grow over time. There is a 9-digit portion in common between the ISBN-10 and the ISBN-13, but neither Amazon nor BookMooch can be searched by this portion.
Coming Soon: "5 Ways To Cheat At BookMooch (But Don't)"
3infiniteletters
On point 6, I believe the interval is 4 hours.
On point 10, you could also offer the extrapopular books (hundreds of listings) as freebies with other mooches, or better yet, give them to Goodwill.
On point 10, you could also offer the extrapopular books (hundreds of listings) as freebies with other mooches, or better yet, give them to Goodwill.
4Lman
I deleted my previous message as it was written "in the heat of the moment".
However what I still want to say is that I do not like the tone and the connotations of this thread; and if you write them, then I am entitled to respond to them.
I would go so far as to say I would resent a thread labelled: "5 Ways To Cheat At BookMooch (But Don't)"
If you wish to post a thread with helpful hints and helpful warnings - that could possibly be constructive; but you are belittling the most important aspect to BookMooch in my opinion - the integrity of its members!
And you are completely ignoring the fact this is an international site; or that most of us reading this are long-term members, who have worked diligently to keep the site integral!
You may very well be having a joke - but I don't find any of it funny in the slightest!
However what I still want to say is that I do not like the tone and the connotations of this thread; and if you write them, then I am entitled to respond to them.
I would go so far as to say I would resent a thread labelled: "5 Ways To Cheat At BookMooch (But Don't)"
If you wish to post a thread with helpful hints and helpful warnings - that could possibly be constructive; but you are belittling the most important aspect to BookMooch in my opinion - the integrity of its members!
And you are completely ignoring the fact this is an international site; or that most of us reading this are long-term members, who have worked diligently to keep the site integral!
You may very well be having a joke - but I don't find any of it funny in the slightest!
5Moniica
I don't quite understand point #12. Could someone please explain it to me? ("Try not to build up too many unspent Points. The BookMooch site is very dependent on Amazon for its book information and page links. If Amazon pulls the plug, BookMooch will die and might not come back for a long time.")
6markwp
Hmm.. what an odd post...
Some good points are raised, easily gleaned from reading through this forum, sure, but also quite a few opinions (not too widely shared I don't think) stated as fact, and a few outright falsehoods. Such as #12, which is just plain just silly -- Bookmooch uses Amazon for now, but will likely evolve beyond it before too long and is certainly far from dependent on them... BM isn't going anywhere.
'MapleWalnut,' you have just signed up for both LT and BM in the last few weeks and mooched about a dozen books so far, right? (not a lot to go on with just one other post, no link to any BM account, etc..) Perhaps participating for a while in either the LT or BM communities prior to offering sage advice to long established members might be a good idea. These folks know a lot, and might be able to introduce you to the community spirit, international trading, BM art projects, angeling, the many charities that BM supports, etc, etc.... It 's not all about points and books.
Posting a thread discussing how to cheat the Bookmooch system would be about the most malicious thing that one could possibly do to attempt to damage Bookmooch.
Yes, it is an open and trusting system (and community), and sure, there are ways to (try) and cheat, but one of the things that keeps the number of scammers fairly low is that most are too dumb to figure out how to mis-use the system, so don't help them out for goodness sake... They all get caught before too long, but not before wasting everyone's time in their attempts.
Unless of course this is all some kind of satire as Lman suggests, in which case -- very funny.
Some good points are raised, easily gleaned from reading through this forum, sure, but also quite a few opinions (not too widely shared I don't think) stated as fact, and a few outright falsehoods. Such as #12, which is just plain just silly -- Bookmooch uses Amazon for now, but will likely evolve beyond it before too long and is certainly far from dependent on them... BM isn't going anywhere.
'MapleWalnut,' you have just signed up for both LT and BM in the last few weeks and mooched about a dozen books so far, right? (not a lot to go on with just one other post, no link to any BM account, etc..) Perhaps participating for a while in either the LT or BM communities prior to offering sage advice to long established members might be a good idea. These folks know a lot, and might be able to introduce you to the community spirit, international trading, BM art projects, angeling, the many charities that BM supports, etc, etc.... It 's not all about points and books.
Posting a thread discussing how to cheat the Bookmooch system would be about the most malicious thing that one could possibly do to attempt to damage Bookmooch.
Yes, it is an open and trusting system (and community), and sure, there are ways to (try) and cheat, but one of the things that keeps the number of scammers fairly low is that most are too dumb to figure out how to mis-use the system, so don't help them out for goodness sake... They all get caught before too long, but not before wasting everyone's time in their attempts.
Unless of course this is all some kind of satire as Lman suggests, in which case -- very funny.
7RidgewayGirl
Maybe if the thread were retitled 15 Ways to Get the Most Out of BookMooch? With the exception of the theory that BookMooch could collapse at any moment, this is all stuff we regularly communicate to newbies, so good job, MapleWalnut, for listening.
I would add that sending internationally is an excellent way to gain additional points and goodwill.
Also, please use the BookMooch Angel Network to get books that are in the inventories of members not sending internationally.
I would add that sending internationally is an excellent way to gain additional points and goodwill.
Also, please use the BookMooch Angel Network to get books that are in the inventories of members not sending internationally.
8MapleWalnut
I love BookMooch. I love the idea of BookMooch. I love that John has built this "simple above, massive below" iceberg of a site that allows a global community of strangers to come together and share their books. I love that people like Mark come forward to administer the system and support the users. I love that BookMoochers huddle together here on LibraryThing to trade tips, coordinate angel mooches, and generally help each other. That was the spirit of my post, and I'm saddened to have triggered some umbrage.
The majority of the 15 tips in my posting help someone become a better BookMoocher, to the benefit of everyone. A few of the tips point out the gentle competitive reality of the current system. Someone who understands the system, is more active, and more persistent, is likely to get (somewhat?) more books than someone who remains totally passive. By taking a little time to understand the system, a new user can operate on an equal footing with seasoned users. My posting was intended mainly for them. BookMooch accommodates both styles of usage. I tend toward the passive myself, but I understand the sport of the hunt and the thrill that one can feel after "winning" a book.
Tip #12 "Don't accumulate too many points" is intended as a simple note of caution. BookMooch is free -- John is under no obligation to provide it to us. I am not privy to his finances, but I suspect that BookMooch is a labor of love that makes less in revenue (from Amazon referrals) than it costs to operate. I hope he won't, but John could walk away at any time and the site would suffer. Regarding Amazon, BookMooch appears to be highly dependent on Amazon for its underlying book database, and also for the various features in the site pages that live-link to Amazon's site. Amazon could decide that all this book sharing is hurting sales of new books, and could prevent BookMooch from accessing Amazon. Again hopefully not, but smart companies sometimes do stupid things. Yes there are other book databases (Library of Congress?) and book sites, but it would likely take a lot of software development effort and expense to switch over to them. People with a large stash of BookMooch points ("costing" $3 each in the US) might be unable to spend them. The sky isn't falling, but people should be aware of the risk.
Despite its provocative title, the idea behind the prospective "How To Cheat" post is that cheating is wrong, rare, and unnecessary, but nonetheless people should know what's possible and be on the lookout for it.
Sorry for the long reply. I'll go back to licking my wounds. As for sitting quietly in the BookMooch doghouse, it's too nice a day for that!
The majority of the 15 tips in my posting help someone become a better BookMoocher, to the benefit of everyone. A few of the tips point out the gentle competitive reality of the current system. Someone who understands the system, is more active, and more persistent, is likely to get (somewhat?) more books than someone who remains totally passive. By taking a little time to understand the system, a new user can operate on an equal footing with seasoned users. My posting was intended mainly for them. BookMooch accommodates both styles of usage. I tend toward the passive myself, but I understand the sport of the hunt and the thrill that one can feel after "winning" a book.
Tip #12 "Don't accumulate too many points" is intended as a simple note of caution. BookMooch is free -- John is under no obligation to provide it to us. I am not privy to his finances, but I suspect that BookMooch is a labor of love that makes less in revenue (from Amazon referrals) than it costs to operate. I hope he won't, but John could walk away at any time and the site would suffer. Regarding Amazon, BookMooch appears to be highly dependent on Amazon for its underlying book database, and also for the various features in the site pages that live-link to Amazon's site. Amazon could decide that all this book sharing is hurting sales of new books, and could prevent BookMooch from accessing Amazon. Again hopefully not, but smart companies sometimes do stupid things. Yes there are other book databases (Library of Congress?) and book sites, but it would likely take a lot of software development effort and expense to switch over to them. People with a large stash of BookMooch points ("costing" $3 each in the US) might be unable to spend them. The sky isn't falling, but people should be aware of the risk.
Despite its provocative title, the idea behind the prospective "How To Cheat" post is that cheating is wrong, rare, and unnecessary, but nonetheless people should know what's possible and be on the lookout for it.
Sorry for the long reply. I'll go back to licking my wounds. As for sitting quietly in the BookMooch doghouse, it's too nice a day for that!
9michellereads
I agree with tip #12 - points are earned by expending money to send books. Sending from Canada (where I am) has cost me more than $5.00 per point, most of the time. I'm afraid I'm just too thrifty to expend hundreds of dollars sending out, with the possibility of no return. Giving away your points to a charity is admirable, and always a way to lower your points balance if you've banked more than you need. I would no sooner build up air miles or cash in my bank account, or really, anything that could be lost if things close down, than I would build up too many BM points.
Thanks for posting an explanation, MapleWalnut. Unfortunately things can get misconstrued, and subtleties (humour, sarcasm, etc.) can be lost when using the written word. Hang around, and you'll see that most everyone here tries to give the benefit of the doubt and get along marvellously together.
Welcome to BM and LT - hope you make some new friends, and enjoy some great reads while you're here.
Michelle
Thanks for posting an explanation, MapleWalnut. Unfortunately things can get misconstrued, and subtleties (humour, sarcasm, etc.) can be lost when using the written word. Hang around, and you'll see that most everyone here tries to give the benefit of the doubt and get along marvellously together.
Welcome to BM and LT - hope you make some new friends, and enjoy some great reads while you're here.
Michelle
10Heather19
I have to agree with Lman, the entire OP has a very harsh tone against BM and I do not appreciate it in the least. MapleWalnut, you may have good intentions, but the fact is that MULTIPLE "points" you make are either completely untrue or worded very poorly.
"2.Take good care of books that you intend to offer on BookMooch -- avoid stains, marks, stamps, tears, dog-ears, spine crease, water damage, etc."
If everyone took that piece of advice, BM overall inventory would drop at LEAST 50%! You really should not be advising people to not list books just because they aren't perfect.... some people, me included, LOOK for damaged books specifically.
You say that BM "encourages" mistakes and Tech support won't fix it. Do you not understand how RUDE and biased your post sounds?
I hope against hope that no newbie takes your post seriously.
"2.Take good care of books that you intend to offer on BookMooch -- avoid stains, marks, stamps, tears, dog-ears, spine crease, water damage, etc."
If everyone took that piece of advice, BM overall inventory would drop at LEAST 50%! You really should not be advising people to not list books just because they aren't perfect.... some people, me included, LOOK for damaged books specifically.
You say that BM "encourages" mistakes and Tech support won't fix it. Do you not understand how RUDE and biased your post sounds?
I hope against hope that no newbie takes your post seriously.
11Danneeness
I agree that the title gives this post an odd tone, but I don't think it was meant harshly.
10 >
To be fair, we have often noted that the layout of many of Bookmooch's buttons do seem to encourage mistakes, like having "add to wishlist" and "add to inventory" so close together. And it is perfectly true that you can receive things before they've been sent, and as far as I know tech doesn't reverse that for you.
As for #2, it's also true that books are more likely to be mooched if they're in good condition, though they should definitely be added anyways (heck, I just added one with mold damage, and it got snapped up instantly!) It doesn't say not to list books that aren't in perfect condition, just to handle books gently if you're planning on adding them, which seems reasonable enough.
The only tip that seems sort of off is #10. I would agree that you shouldn't put off mooches that are likely to be canceled, but marking it as sent instantly seems a little dishonest. Oh, and #12, but if it was worded a little differently, I would agree. I wouldn't recommend racking up online credits for real money anywhere; there's always a chance that something could go wrong.
I hope you won't be scared away by this, MapleWalnut. We Bookmoochers are pretty protective of Bookmooch and are quick to defend its honour, but I don't think you genuinely meant anything wrong by this post, it's just difficult to determine tone on these here interwebs.
10 >
To be fair, we have often noted that the layout of many of Bookmooch's buttons do seem to encourage mistakes, like having "add to wishlist" and "add to inventory" so close together. And it is perfectly true that you can receive things before they've been sent, and as far as I know tech doesn't reverse that for you.
As for #2, it's also true that books are more likely to be mooched if they're in good condition, though they should definitely be added anyways (heck, I just added one with mold damage, and it got snapped up instantly!) It doesn't say not to list books that aren't in perfect condition, just to handle books gently if you're planning on adding them, which seems reasonable enough.
The only tip that seems sort of off is #10. I would agree that you shouldn't put off mooches that are likely to be canceled, but marking it as sent instantly seems a little dishonest. Oh, and #12, but if it was worded a little differently, I would agree. I wouldn't recommend racking up online credits for real money anywhere; there's always a chance that something could go wrong.
I hope you won't be scared away by this, MapleWalnut. We Bookmoochers are pretty protective of Bookmooch and are quick to defend its honour, but I don't think you genuinely meant anything wrong by this post, it's just difficult to determine tone on these here interwebs.
12markwp
Odd tone, sure, a number of odd aspects about the post. The poster appears to have a studied BM extensively for quite a while and does not seem a new member as stated, but, of course anybody can post here, some don't even have BM accounts.
Maple seems to be apologizing for having offended us in the posted reply, yet at the same time justifying the inaccurate assertions and dangerous suggesting of spelling out ways to cheat in his/her reply.. odd again. Whatever your thinking 'Maple,' PLEASE do us all a favor and don't explain to would-be cheaters how to best scam the system.
The majority of the 15 statements are indeed helpful, and in fact have been posted here in this forum dozens or hundreds of times, it's the ones that are not helpful or even true that are so far off base, I can detail what I mean:
#1. Wise advice, pick the best moocher, part of the on-site instruction. Although most would add that one should trust newbies and take a chance with them. All members were newbies once, so be sure and give the new folks a try.
#2. (inaccurate for many) Most agree here with the first half, always list condition notes. BUT to suggest that any flawed book should not be listed is completely off base, this would include the majority of listed BM books, so of course books with 'stains, marks, stamps, tears, dog-ears, spine crease, water damage, etc.' should generally be listed if readable as most would be and if the flaws are mentioned (or a bio note suggesting some books will be flawed and contact should be made to check).
#3 - 7, all good advice, most here follow these practices.
#8. (inaccurate for many) This only applies to certain browsers, others will leave you logged in, or do so automatically, or if not will remember your password so it is just a matter of two clicks to log in. I think few would see logging-in as burdensome.
#9. (unfriendly) 'Stalk' new users is a bit rough. Why not welcome them, explain how media mail works, etc.? Sure, it is a good idea to check for more books if you find one of interest, it helps with shipping cost and the like, but do your best to help newbies into the system.
#10. (misuse of the system) This is an outright suggestion/advice to misuse the BM system. BM members should definitely not click mooches as 'sent' just to lock them in and prevent cancellations. Books should only be marked as 'sent' right before doing so. There is a second-hand note to then send the book, but the motive of using 'sent' to lock in a request will cause abuse reports when it is noticed, and punitive action if often repeated. Moreover, many of these very common books will actually be mooched if one is offering 2-for-1 deals, etc... They will move more slowly but the are mooched everyday, nonetheless. The motive in a trade should be to ensure that the moocher will be happy with the book sent, not to try lock moochers out of being able to cancel within a reasonable amount of time as the system allows.
11. (inaccurate) The Bookmooch system does absolutely everything possible to discourage careless mistakes, so to state the reverse is a falsehood. Yes, the system is more trusting than some other trading sites, so allows more chances to possibly make a mistake, but everything has been done to lessen the chance of an error (and more will be done in future), and relatively few are made on a daily basis. Falsehood #2 in this statement is that tech support will do nothing is a more blatant distortion. This is one of the main jobs for tech support and while they will often suggest waiting to see if a book is actually sent before making any adjustment, to say they will do nothing is completely untrue. These are volunteers and far from perfect, so a follow-up may be needed, but they are there to help.
#12. (inaccurate in large part) As mentioned, this is entirely untrue. Bookmooch is not at all dependent on Amazon and could expand to other (some better) book databases very easily if needed. Amazon provides a significant chunk of the BM budget so it is a mutually beneficial relationship for now, but it will probably not always be so. But, granted, nothing on the Internet lasts forever, BM will likely be around for some years, but nothing in life is 100% certain. Do keep in mind though that through system bonuses, most are able to mooch at least 20% more books then they send, so getting as much out of the system as put in is not too hard at all.
#13, 14, Sure most would agree with these. The site will do more to encourage re-using packing and using the cheapest shipping method in the future as more should be said about this on-site.
#15. (inaccurate in part) These numbers are quite far off, not sure where you might have come up with them....Only a tiny fraction of searches are ISBN searches. Most are searches by author and title, and then by subject (problematic as subject data comes from publishers via Amazon and so is sometimes not correct). There are a number of search tips which you will find posted on the forum, but this would be pretty near the bottom of the list for most.
So, I think the majority of the tips offer sound advice, but 10,11,12 go off the deep end and several others offer misleading/distorted opinions stated as fact.
I still have half a mind that this is some one's late April fools day joke, and I would suspect our own Sir Andrew as it is so well written, but I think he's too sweet a guy for some of the meaner comments :)
Maple seems to be apologizing for having offended us in the posted reply, yet at the same time justifying the inaccurate assertions and dangerous suggesting of spelling out ways to cheat in his/her reply.. odd again. Whatever your thinking 'Maple,' PLEASE do us all a favor and don't explain to would-be cheaters how to best scam the system.
The majority of the 15 statements are indeed helpful, and in fact have been posted here in this forum dozens or hundreds of times, it's the ones that are not helpful or even true that are so far off base, I can detail what I mean:
#1. Wise advice, pick the best moocher, part of the on-site instruction. Although most would add that one should trust newbies and take a chance with them. All members were newbies once, so be sure and give the new folks a try.
#2. (inaccurate for many) Most agree here with the first half, always list condition notes. BUT to suggest that any flawed book should not be listed is completely off base, this would include the majority of listed BM books, so of course books with 'stains, marks, stamps, tears, dog-ears, spine crease, water damage, etc.' should generally be listed if readable as most would be and if the flaws are mentioned (or a bio note suggesting some books will be flawed and contact should be made to check).
#3 - 7, all good advice, most here follow these practices.
#8. (inaccurate for many) This only applies to certain browsers, others will leave you logged in, or do so automatically, or if not will remember your password so it is just a matter of two clicks to log in. I think few would see logging-in as burdensome.
#9. (unfriendly) 'Stalk' new users is a bit rough. Why not welcome them, explain how media mail works, etc.? Sure, it is a good idea to check for more books if you find one of interest, it helps with shipping cost and the like, but do your best to help newbies into the system.
#10. (misuse of the system) This is an outright suggestion/advice to misuse the BM system. BM members should definitely not click mooches as 'sent' just to lock them in and prevent cancellations. Books should only be marked as 'sent' right before doing so. There is a second-hand note to then send the book, but the motive of using 'sent' to lock in a request will cause abuse reports when it is noticed, and punitive action if often repeated. Moreover, many of these very common books will actually be mooched if one is offering 2-for-1 deals, etc... They will move more slowly but the are mooched everyday, nonetheless. The motive in a trade should be to ensure that the moocher will be happy with the book sent, not to try lock moochers out of being able to cancel within a reasonable amount of time as the system allows.
11. (inaccurate) The Bookmooch system does absolutely everything possible to discourage careless mistakes, so to state the reverse is a falsehood. Yes, the system is more trusting than some other trading sites, so allows more chances to possibly make a mistake, but everything has been done to lessen the chance of an error (and more will be done in future), and relatively few are made on a daily basis. Falsehood #2 in this statement is that tech support will do nothing is a more blatant distortion. This is one of the main jobs for tech support and while they will often suggest waiting to see if a book is actually sent before making any adjustment, to say they will do nothing is completely untrue. These are volunteers and far from perfect, so a follow-up may be needed, but they are there to help.
#12. (inaccurate in large part) As mentioned, this is entirely untrue. Bookmooch is not at all dependent on Amazon and could expand to other (some better) book databases very easily if needed. Amazon provides a significant chunk of the BM budget so it is a mutually beneficial relationship for now, but it will probably not always be so. But, granted, nothing on the Internet lasts forever, BM will likely be around for some years, but nothing in life is 100% certain. Do keep in mind though that through system bonuses, most are able to mooch at least 20% more books then they send, so getting as much out of the system as put in is not too hard at all.
#13, 14, Sure most would agree with these. The site will do more to encourage re-using packing and using the cheapest shipping method in the future as more should be said about this on-site.
#15. (inaccurate in part) These numbers are quite far off, not sure where you might have come up with them....Only a tiny fraction of searches are ISBN searches. Most are searches by author and title, and then by subject (problematic as subject data comes from publishers via Amazon and so is sometimes not correct). There are a number of search tips which you will find posted on the forum, but this would be pretty near the bottom of the list for most.
So, I think the majority of the tips offer sound advice, but 10,11,12 go off the deep end and several others offer misleading/distorted opinions stated as fact.
I still have half a mind that this is some one's late April fools day joke, and I would suspect our own Sir Andrew as it is so well written, but I think he's too sweet a guy for some of the meaner comments :)
13Heather19
Exactly. I'm hoping that this is either a joke, or some scammer who wants to retaliate, or something like this. Yeah, there are some valid/good points, but the ones that are bad/wrong are SO wrong that it makes the entire post something to ignore, as far as I'm concerned.
And again, I'm hoping any newbies do NOT take this seriously. As Mark said, taking certain advice from the OP, like marking books sent before you intend to send them, will get you in trouble.
And again, I'm hoping any newbies do NOT take this seriously. As Mark said, taking certain advice from the OP, like marking books sent before you intend to send them, will get you in trouble.
14susiesharp
I hope there will not be the second post alluded to at the end of the OP .And IF as your profile suggests you Only joined LT to talk about BM and meet other BM users you should link your BM account to your profile in the also on portion.
I guess I'm in agreement with some others it sounds a bit snarky and without being able to view your BM activity it all seems a little suspect.
I guess I'm in agreement with some others it sounds a bit snarky and without being able to view your BM activity it all seems a little suspect.
15MapleWalnut
For #2, I never said don't list imperfect books; unfortunately some are reading it that way. Of course list imperfect books, and describe their condition. Take good care of your books and your fellow BookMoochers will appreciate it.
For #6, thanks Infiniteletters for the clarification on the 4-hour emailing interval. I don't remember where I got the 1-hour part, maybe on this forum, but 4-hours sounds more likely.
For #10, I used "Deception Point" as the example because I have bought that stupid book TWICE in the past and I'm still mad at myself. Suggesting "Sent" before "send" was a (failed) attempt at wry humor.
This was a long list so I was trying to be brief. I'm usually accused of being long-winded, but apparently brevity has its hazards too. My punchy headline and imperative sentence style has raised unexpected ire. I was simply trying to be helpful. Nothing sinister, not a scammer, not a disgruntled user, not joking, not baiting, not Sir Andrew although he sounds like a swell guy.
Mark, yes I am a new member on BookMooch. I've done what most other BookMoochers do in their honeymoon period, explored the site, read the FAQ, read the wiki. I got frustrated with the BM forum and found my way to the warm (sometimes too warm!) embrace of LibraryThing. On BM I've been a model BookMoocher. Really, they like me there. Here on LT, not as much. If I link my BM and LT userids, I'm worried you'll smite me off BM. Just kidding, I think. You seem really upset that I'm mentioning known issues. You've heard them all before, but I'm new here :)
For #8, I'm using Firefox, and the tip seems to work for me, so I thought I would share it with others.
For #9, I got the tip and the terminology from this forum.
For #12, I want BookMooch to stay around too. I would take no pleasure in being proved right on this one.
For #15, yes studying ISBN's is geeky; that is why I put it last on the list. I often search by ISBN, so it's relevant to me. I was sharing this tip for others who might search on ISBN. For the numbers, I did queries against the file of moochable books (asins_moochable.xml.gz) that is published on the BookMooch site. I believe the numbers are correct, but our interpretations might differ. The population of books constantly changes, but when I did the queries, in the ISBN field, there were 202947 books with a 10-character ISBN. There were 17389 books with a checkdigit of "X" or "x". Of these, 17061 (98%) were "X", and 328 (2%) were "x". In addition to the 202947 books with a 10-character ISBN, there were 1963 (1%) books with a 13-character ISBN. If you're interested we can take this 1-on-1 and I'd be happy to share my queries and results with you.
For #6, thanks Infiniteletters for the clarification on the 4-hour emailing interval. I don't remember where I got the 1-hour part, maybe on this forum, but 4-hours sounds more likely.
For #10, I used "Deception Point" as the example because I have bought that stupid book TWICE in the past and I'm still mad at myself. Suggesting "Sent" before "send" was a (failed) attempt at wry humor.
This was a long list so I was trying to be brief. I'm usually accused of being long-winded, but apparently brevity has its hazards too. My punchy headline and imperative sentence style has raised unexpected ire. I was simply trying to be helpful. Nothing sinister, not a scammer, not a disgruntled user, not joking, not baiting, not Sir Andrew although he sounds like a swell guy.
Mark, yes I am a new member on BookMooch. I've done what most other BookMoochers do in their honeymoon period, explored the site, read the FAQ, read the wiki. I got frustrated with the BM forum and found my way to the warm (sometimes too warm!) embrace of LibraryThing. On BM I've been a model BookMoocher. Really, they like me there. Here on LT, not as much. If I link my BM and LT userids, I'm worried you'll smite me off BM. Just kidding, I think. You seem really upset that I'm mentioning known issues. You've heard them all before, but I'm new here :)
For #8, I'm using Firefox, and the tip seems to work for me, so I thought I would share it with others.
For #9, I got the tip and the terminology from this forum.
For #12, I want BookMooch to stay around too. I would take no pleasure in being proved right on this one.
For #15, yes studying ISBN's is geeky; that is why I put it last on the list. I often search by ISBN, so it's relevant to me. I was sharing this tip for others who might search on ISBN. For the numbers, I did queries against the file of moochable books (asins_moochable.xml.gz) that is published on the BookMooch site. I believe the numbers are correct, but our interpretations might differ. The population of books constantly changes, but when I did the queries, in the ISBN field, there were 202947 books with a 10-character ISBN. There were 17389 books with a checkdigit of "X" or "x". Of these, 17061 (98%) were "X", and 328 (2%) were "x". In addition to the 202947 books with a 10-character ISBN, there were 1963 (1%) books with a 13-character ISBN. If you're interested we can take this 1-on-1 and I'd be happy to share my queries and results with you.
16Heather19
I don't think any of us are upset about "mentioning known issues". It's the tone of your post. The fact you actually SAID stuff about cheating BM, and sound bitter toward the system ( "The BookMooch site allows careless mistakes (in fact it encourages them)" and "The site allows this and Tech Support won't fix your mistake" are just a few examples)... The entire tone of your post makes it sound like you have it in for BM. Maybe you were trying to go for funny or whatever, but tone doesn't come across well over the internet, so to us it just sounds bad.
18theapparatus
Because that's pretty much what they do:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/116305
http://www.librarything.com/topic/110491
http://www.librarything.com/topic/99159#2355070
Other as well but I can;t find them right off.
A mention of their customer service:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/115721
http://www.librarything.com/topic/116305
http://www.librarything.com/topic/110491
http://www.librarything.com/topic/99159#2355070
Other as well but I can;t find them right off.
A mention of their customer service:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/115721
