The Newbie BookMoocher Thread #2!!!!

This thread has one main purpose: To help newbies to BookMooch!

Everyone in this thread has been a newbie on BookMooch & we've learned a lot about things that can help you to have a fantastic BookMooch experience...

And if you introduce yourself, then we can mooch from you!!!

There's a Wiki page for BookMooching ( http://wiki.bookmooch.com/ )... lots of great info there!!

Some good threads to check out are the "General BookMooch Questions", the "Angels Needed/Offered", "Pimp Your Inventory" and the notorious "Rant/Complaining" thread... and to counter that: "I Just Had A Great Experience on Bookmooch" thread!! (no links because some of these change on a regular basis)

Generally good suggestions to start BookMooching:

**Don't list any more books than you could mail out to start. seriously. Some BMers have listed their books & had almost all books mooched immediately... think $$. Don't get overwhelmed with too many mooches to start.

**Condition notes are very nice. Even if you only put good, very good, or 'the dog nibbled a corner'. Most will choose a book with a condition over one without. You can even offer books that are awful, just put it in the condition notes.. someone may want a book to take to the beach or vacation & not worry about having to bring it back or keep it looking nice!!

**Status Notes: On your profile page is a section called Status. This message is posted with your book every time someone mooches. Let others know if your house has pets or smokers... if you send books immediately or every two weeks or you will be out-of-town for the next five years... anything that you would like to know from others, they want to know from you.

**Wrap your books for rough mailing!! Try to put some type of waterproof & tear-resistant packaging around your books. Tape is good... (don't use scotch, magic or 'office desk' tape) Padding really helps!! recycle your padded envelopes. Pretend that the post office is staffed by elephants & gorillas. (but they're not... really) TAPE IS GOOD!!

**Multiple Mooches If someone mooches two or more books from you, send them in one package!! Yes, it is OK!! They are trying to help you keep your postage costs down per mooch-point!! Plus, they are telling you that you are listing some really great books!! **If there are other books the (current) owner has, but you are out of points, ask them to reserve the book for you & wait on mailing the other books!! That way all the books can be mailed together, making it a very happy day when they arrive!!

**Communicate!!! Keep your moochers informed!! If your books are going to be delayed, let them know... Stuff happens. Thank people!! Smooch if you can, smile when you can't.

**Ask questions. If someone does something that you don't understand or gives you feedback you don't like, ask about it. Knowing that you care enough to ask about a situation will often smooth any ruffled feathers.

**Consider shipping internationally. It is often less expensive per point than mooching within your country... sometimes even cheaper than shipping within your country.

**EMAILS: Some BM emails are caught by Spam filters... Check your Spam Folder & add BookMooch.com as an approved domain. The problem is that the mail comes from the BM servers, but has the BMer as the reply address. Many spam filters don't approve of that.

**The "Abuse" button This is actually a notification button. If you are having problems with another BMer, you can click this button & explain the problem. There are some volunteers that mediate &/or solve problems that sometimes occur. And if one of those volunteers should contact you, its ok.. they are really here to help you.... and help BookMooch. They don't want you to get into deep problems... they are like lifeguards to help prevent you getting in too deep & drowning in the deep pile of books you might have to send or receive!!
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Enjoy!! Getting a book in the mail is a little spontaneous birthday party. Revel in it.
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(to experienced BMers, PM me with more ideas or post below this. Then we can copy this thread starter onto subsequent incarnations.. and improve BM for everyone... more BMers means more books to mooch!! & more BM friends!!)

**This thread starter will be edited as suggestions are received...
... please remind me if you want any changes to this starter thread...

edited to add:
when we start new Newbie threads, link to each of the previous threads because of the great information in them, too!!

More "stuff" and good information can also be found in The Newbie BM Thread #1 at

http://www.librarything.com/topic/88030
...............................................................................

The #2 thread is now open for business!!

Going back to the Venezuela thing from the end of the last thread - I mooched a book from Belgium recently (I'm in the UK) and today I got an email from the owner saying that her friend is coming to London next week so is going to post it while he's here, but she'll smooch me a point back because it won't be international any more. Yay! This makes me happy.

Okay, rant over, I'll get back in my box now.

#3: You only have to stay in your box if you are getting ready to be mailed!!

And ranting & cheering are important! They help everyone!!

More info!! More Power!! MORE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!

>4 skittles: : But possibly less coffee! ;)

#5: No, there is always a need for more coffee!!!

Must have coffee!!

Must have coffee!!

Coffee is very necessary!!!

Yes!! Yes!!

Coffee GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

(runs to get more coffee)

>6 skittles: : Now I have less coffee, because I've spit it all over my screen.

#6: sow-wee!!

My RULE: Always put coffee in skittles, but never to put skittles in coffee!!

I don't like coffee. More tea, please!

Now ya'll have me wanting to make a Starbucks run. So not fair since I'm stuck at work.

So who wants to bring me coffee??? :P

While I'd be happy to give any and all a nice cup of tea, all of my coffee is hoarded zealously for my own consumption.

*shifty-eyed glare* Mine!

>9 pokarekareana:.. I will share some tea! Green, white, pu-erh or black? (No oolong here right now, sorry).. I have some herbal tisanes, but they are quite old.. the tea is better ;)

Ooh.....tea. I'm partial to the nice cup of green tea if it's made right. So many people boil it and that ruins it. My dad used to make it Japanese style - he learned in the military.

But I'm also a fan of a nice tall glass of Sweet Tea from anywhere good in the south. My local favorite place in Bill Miller's BBQ - their tea is DIVINE.

I'm a newbie to BookMooch and have already given away 7 books and mooched two. About week ago, I started getting notices all over BookMooch that I can't "use this feature" until my email is verified by an admin. It then promises to contact me in 24 hours.

But no contact. I've checked my junk mail filters - nothing there. I've left messages with tech support - no response. I've even put my email address in the tech support messages - still nothing.

BookMooch has my correct email address, because the people I've sent books to have received them, and I've been notifed.

Has anyone else experienced this? I can't use anything on the system - I can't load new inventory, I can't mooch any books, I can't update my profile. The Wiki page on this topic is blank. Can anyone shed any light on what's happened?

14 The same thing happened to me after I had been a user for about 6 months. It only lasted about 48 hrs and then it stopped. There are a few people who have had it happen that it took a very long time to get it resolved and I know one person who has not gotten any resolution to it despite many emails to admin. I hope it clears up for you soon!

>15 Belladonna1975:, thanks for your response. I also found another thread here about others who have had the same problem, so I was able to find out a little more about it (which also helped me be a little more patient). I logged on to BookMooch this morning and my account is fixed, but still no e-mail - but no matter, I'm happy to be able to put up the additional books I'm ready to part with.

#16: Please put a link to your BM profile/inventory on your LT profile so we can mooch you out of ALL of your books!!

**evil laugh**

#17 But of course! **evil laugh back**

I put my BookMooch name n my "Also On" section. Does that show up to others when they view my LT profile?

I'll be posting a set of books this morning. Give me an hour!

#18: Your also on link didn't work!!

**sobs hysterically**

#19 - skittles, thanks for checking and for letting me know! It's fixed. (Put away the tissues!)

#20: YAY!!

**Joins the parade in celebration!!**

oh, yeah, today is Independence Day!! There are lots of parades today!

**runs away & hides**

**bumpity bumpity**

**bumpity bumpity**
**bumpity bumpity**
**bumpity bumpity**
**bumpity bumpity**

I'll bump with an actual question. I have a book pending at requested for a week now, which is not too long, but now I noticed that the member is 'on vacation' and has received +0 feedbacks the last days. Also, the book is available from other people. Is it proper now to cancel the pending request and try someone else? Thanks!

When you cancel, mark that the owner never contacted you, & is now on vacation status.

One of the options is that "never contacted", but in the notes, marked that they didn't contact or accept...

24:
The member has probably been 'vacationed' due to no response for a mooch - you will place someone 'on vacation' if you choose no response in answer to the reason why the mooch was cancelled.
If you have had no response to your request and the member has not been on the site for a while then, IMHO, it would be OK to cancel; especially if you can mooch a copy from a more reliable member. One week is often the length of time many members wait before emailing; or cancelling. Your choice here, but there will not be any repercussions if you do. :)

Can a newbie "smooch"? I get this question from one:

"On the right side of your profile page i see the "email" button, but directly underneath is "add to friends," then "recommended" and "report abuse" I don't see the smooch button. Strange... Do you have any ideas why this might be?"

I can see the "smooch" button (3rd one down) but obviously he doesn't. Could it not be accessible for a certain time after joining?

Newbies don't get smooch buttons right away... think it is a couple of weeks?? Not sure how long, but they don't get one right away.

If they are trying to return a point to someone, they will have to wait.

Or maybe doing it by using the charity feature.

27-29: New members can't smooch or charity points for either 1 or 2 weeks. I forget which.

After you have been a member for one week (168 hours), the "Smooch" button will appear (and the "Charity" feature will work).

#28-31: Thank you very much for the info.

I just had a book request rejected, with the member stating she gave the book away and forgot to remove it from her inventory. I'm okay with that. It happens. But the BM message about rejections seems to indicate a different opinion of this type of rejection:

"IMPORTANT : if you feel this is not a good reason for rejecting your mooch
request, please leave feedback by clicking the url below. They will have
an opportunity to explain further, and you can revise your feedback at any
time if they give you a satisfactory answer. Note that "I no longer have
this book" is not usually considered a satisfactory reason."

Why isn't it satisfactory? I mean, what more is to be done, short of the other member running out and buying a copy to send me? I can understand how this type of rejection could be a problem if it's used by a member too often. I obviously would like to have the book, which I've already requested again from someone else. Do I need to enter feedback about the rejection, and if so, what is expected in this situation?

33: "I can understand how this type of rejection could be a problem if it's used by a member too often. "

I think that's why it's in the guidelines, although it would be nice if that was more explicit.

I tend to leave feedback of "Please be more careful with your inventory", but you don't have to say anything. *shrug*

I've seen people with constant "I no longer have this book" or "gave this book to a friend" rejections, and I usually click abuse if it looks like a pattern. The occasional lost book is understandable, especially if the person has a large inventory, but if they are frequently loaning out books that they agreed to give away via BookMooch (since it does remind you that if you enter a book into your inventory, it means you have it and want to give it away), they need to be reminded to keep track of their inventory.

I'm new to bookmooching - and also to here - how do I post a link to my inventory?

Is there an easier way of finding the books on my wishlist rather than asking angels to mail them to me to Canada? The books I'm referring to seem to be posted mostly by US members who only ship within their own country. I feel bad asking for angels - is there a limit?

Thanks for the help!

Elizabeth (beththereader on bookmooch)

Welcome to bookmooch, always glad to have another Canadian member! :)

I see you have linked bookmooch to your profile, so that is one question that solved itself. :) If you mean post a link within the threads, you would just cut and paste the link at the top of your inventory page.

As for angeling don't be shy! People around here are very helpful and understand that it can sometimes be hard to get books, especially when people are not able to send out of country. I try to save up until I have 2-3 angel mooches that I want from one particular country and ask at once.. that way they can mail a few books at once rather than individually. That certainly isn't required, especially if it is a book that you think will go fast. What that does mean is that you don't need to be shy about asking for a few mooches :) Perhaps someone who angels in the States can explain their preferences?

Quite honestly, we like angeling books for Canadians. The cost to us to mail a book to Canada is usually not that much more than it would be to send domestically and we do get additional points. Please don't be shy about requesting angel mooches--people volunteer when they have the ability to do so.

Oh..one thing to remember

There are many people on BookMooch...who are not here on Library Thing....LT does not have a "contract" or anything...this Group is just for LT members..there's a whole world out there...

;-}

>39 jdthloue:

Bite your tongue!

> Why?

>41 jdthloue: Oh, I should have copied over There are many people on BookMooch...who are not here on Library Thing...

I quite seriously forgot the possibility of non-LTers mooching my books a few days ago.

DUH????

There is an entire world "out there"...beyond this little group

Heads Up!

And maybe I should have included a :P?

Is it kosher to list audio books on BookMooch? I have run across a few out there and am frustrated by that.

Yes, it's okay to list audiobooks. But like any other form of the book, if it's not evident from the listing it needs to be in the condition notes.

>46 atimco: I tend to indicate the binding/format in all my condition notes just so there's no misunderstanding.

Okay, thanks Ladies! The one in particular that I want is listed as such. It's just frustrating when I see it come up and then find it to be an audio. *sigh*

I'm new to BookMooch, and to LibraryThings, and have a question...

At this moment, I'm packaging and labelling the books that are mooched from me, and I would like to have them on the way quickly.
There is one UK-member, that hasn't a name in his/her address, so all I know is the nick he/she uses on BookMooch (part of it is his/her last name I assume).

I've already send an email to ask if I can use that nick to send the package to, but haven't got a reply yet.

I wouldn't like the receiver to complain about a long waiting time, but I don't want to risk a package that can't be delivered.

So I do have two questions:
- Should you, more experienced members, just send the package and use the nick for a name?
- Does UK postal services deliver a package to the address mentioned, even if the name on it is unknown (or incorrect)?

I live in the UK and we get any post that has our address on it. We still get letters for previous tenants dating back 20-odd years.

>50 CDVicarage:: thank you! I'm going to send the package tomorrow :-)

Hi, I'm David. I'm new to BookMooch but not to LibraryThing. Anyways, after joining yesterday, I decided a nice first book to send would be my copy of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which I loathed but most people loved. I figured I might as well send it to someone who would enjoy it. I didn't realize someone would mooch the book from me within a minute! Wow.

I packaged the book up and should be able to ship it by Saturday.

Welcome Anne and David!

Anne, I have used the nickname before as well. As long as the address is correct, the postal service usually delivers it. The only instances where I have heard of any problems occuring is in the larger apartment complexes, where unless the name on the box matches the owner, it will not be delivered.

>49 AnneTanne:

Don't know about the UK, but I know in the U.S. it really depends on your local postman. At work I would receive my mail even if it was addressed to Attila the Hun, but at my home address -- we have such a terrible relationship with the mailman that if my name label peels off my mailbox he will send my packages directly back to sender. For real. Has done. Even though I have lived here a decade. {holds in numerous rants}

So when in doubt just ask if their Bookmooch name is fine. If they have a lot of good feedback it probably is. Newbies you should ask.

I used to run a coupon train within Canada.. Larger envelopes that had no name/initials/obviously fake names were more likely to go 'missing' in transit. I eventually set a rule that you had to provide an actual name.

In my experience, it is less likely your books will be picked up by others on their way to their destination if they are addressed to someone specific.

And yet another newbie question, obviously coming from a non-native speaker ;-)

I seem not to be able to decide what is the meaning of one of the sections of the 'pending list' about books I have mooched myself.

I can readily understand what is meant by 'Books waiting to receive, which have not been sent', 'Books waiting to receive, which have been delayed', or 'Books which have been sent'.
But what is the meaning of 'Books to receive, accepted by sender', and in what way those books are different from the ones in 'Books waiting to receive, which have not been sent'?

'Books to receive, accepted by sender' means that they've accepted them... said that they'd send them without a long delay.

'Books waiting to receive, which have not been sent' are books you've requested, but have not been accepted or acknowledged by the owner.

I hope that helps.

If I give you a hierarchy, would that help you? or a flowchart?

Thank you skittles, that makes sense...
And indeed, now I realize that I haven't got a mail indicating the mooch is accepted for the book under 'Books to receive, which have not been sent'. (Maybe it would be easier to understand for newbies like me, when the heading mentioned something like: 'Books waiting for, mooch not accepted yet'.)

No need for a flowchart, thank you. It's perfectly clear now.

AnneTanne,

But there are people who mark sent without accepting..

those who send but never mark sent...

those who delay but never send...

those who ignore...

And then there are the most wonderful of all...

**those who post wonderful books..
**mark complete conditions...
**accept promptly with sending date..
**package the books carefully & securely
**mail promptly.

Those are the bestest of the bestest moochers!!!

Well, I try to do so... ;-)
Unless... 'mail promptly'... Mailing overseas from Belgium is way to expensive, so I only ship books outside Europe when I am in the Netherlands, where rates are somewhat lower. But as you can guess, I'm can't go to a Dutch postal office every day.

And that way I learned my first BookMooch lesson... 'Don't add to many books to your inventory at once'.
(Shipped 18 books in the last few days, and paid more than € 100. But, that's only € 1.8 (say $ 2) per point, so the average book I can (hopefully) mooch will be only € 3.6 (I guess I won't be able to mooch books from other members from tiny little Belgium, so most books will cost me 2 points).

Which gives me a rather nice task now: adding as many books as possible to my wishlist, since I still have to spend more than 70 points ;-)

Oh yes... I joined BookMooch to clear some bookshelves.....

#60:

you said: "Oh yes... I joined BookMooch to clear some bookshelves....."

LOL! I needed the laugh

yes, good intentions and all that!!

I think I would say that I clear my shelves of books I no longer want or need... and only get books I absolutely must have!!! of course!

Welcome AnneTanne!
But I'm afraid many of us joined BookMooch with the intention of clearing shelf space, and now have to take over additional rooms to take care of our TBR piles …

It's an excellent way to get rid of all those pesky books you don't want.

However, books tend to come in twofold.

Yes, and when you live in a country like Belgium (I haven't had to send even one book within Belgium), 'Two books sent' means 'At least three books to mooch', so that doesn't help a lot to clear shelves...

(edited for spelling error)

You've been a BookMooch member for a few months, and despite your best efforts to send your books on to good homes, they are immediately replaced by new books from other BookMoochers.

Your "To Be Read" pile is claiming bookshelf after bookshelf. How bad can it get? There are only so many different books in the world, right?

Turns out, right now there are 130 million different books in the world. Actually 129,864,880. Google is making a list of them (of course), see http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2010/08/books-of-world-stand-up-and-be-counted.ht....

So just a few more shelves should do it...

>65 MapleWalnut:: So I should be lucky I only read Dutch, English, French and German. That makes the numbers a bit smaller.

Wow... now I need to figure out where I can go to search the list. Lol.

So I'm confused... can anyone help me out here? I think it's a small thing that I'm overlooking cuz I'm so tired but her goes...

The book is reserved for me but there is no "mooch" button. Huh?
See here: http://bookmooch.com/m/detail/1595141553

I'm angeling this for another LT'er so I would love to get this cleared up.

Any ideas/advice from someone way more awake/knowledgeable than me?

Mareofthesea, try adding it to your wishlist & see if you can mooch it from there.

edited to add... she capitalized the first letter of your name, so that may be why you cannot mooch it.

on bookmooch, you user name is mareofthesea without the capital M.

Thanks Skittles! I had no idea that capitalization matters... lol

I don't know that it does, but it is one thing that is different... and worth trying!

Speaking as an editor, I would say that capitalization always matters :D

How does the whole angeling thing work? Can someone please list the procedure for me? I understand the concept, just not the steps, etc.

UKer has posted a book that I want, but won't send to the US.

ScottishBMer mooches book from UKer.

When the book is rec'd by ScottishBMer, they post it so I can mooch it from them!!

I am happy.

UKer gets one point.

ScottishBMer gets 3 points but has spent one point to get the angeled book (good reason to smooch an extra point)

I spend two points & get a wonderful wonderful book!!

Skittles, you da bestest! ;-) Thank you!

I have a question about how to handle two books I sent out six weeks ago, that haven't been marked received. I sent reminders two weeks ago and a second time two days ago. I haven't received any response.

The first book was sent to a member who apparently hasn't been online since the day she requested the book from me (43 days and counting), and the second one was sent to a member who was last online seven days ago. I would guess he saw the reminder, but I don't know for sure.

So, what now? I've looked at the wiki and seen mention of a forced receipt, but don't know if this situation fits, and if it does, how I'd go about doing it. Any suggestions?

Thank you!

You sent reminders... that is key if a BMer is not marking books received.

Six weeks after you send the reminder, there will be a button show called "forced receive" or something similar.

At that point, you can force the book as rec'd.

It takes patience... (All BM takes patience &/or teaches patience) but you will be able to get it off your pending page then.

Good Luck!

#77 - Thanks! I'll just sit back and wait. ;-)

At least, it's only two books. I also reminded a third person who did mark their book received.

Another newbie here. This thread is very helpful, thank you!!!

I joined yesterday and listed 10 books (which is how many BookMooch said to list). Five were claimed as of this morning, so I took the other five back off just to keep costs reasonable for the moment. I hope this doesn't make me a bad moocher, since I know e-mail alerts probably went out to people for those the five books I took off. Wish I'd thought to look for this LT group yesterday before I started listing!

Labels are printed and I'm trekking to the post office on Friday or Saturday. (I've sent everyone the e-mail to that effect -- as with 99% of all things, communication is the key to success!)

I think this is going to be great fun!

Amy, taking them off is fine... if the email alerts went out & they don't see the books, the members will just think that someone else got them.

and it is so very smart to do, too!!

Welcome, amysisson! We are delighted to have you join the BM community :). It sounds like you are going to be an asset if you're already preaching communication!

It sounds like you're off to a strong start, amysisson! Let us know how you get on and please ask us about anything that occurs to you.

What a great welcome -- thanks!

What is a respectable amount of time before reminding a moocher to receive?

That depends - if it was sent overseas, then give it a couple of weeks or so - within your own country, a week is reasonable. And people who don't mark books as received annoy me, too!

I have such an annoyance too...
One of my first moochers mooched two books from me, that were send together in one parcel.
After 10 days one of the books was marked as received, the other wasn't.
I mailed the moocher to ask her if she hadn't received the other book too, since they should have been in the same parcel? Maybe I worded it a bit too carefully and she could have thought I wasn't sure I packed them together (I certainly had).
But a few days ago, she eventually answered me that "yes, both arrived safely thank you" .... and still di'dnt mark the second as 'received' on the website.

So yet another mail, to ask if she would please mark the book as received (it is the only 'pending' book on her account, so it's not easy to overlook), but that hasn't been done until now... Of course, just because it is her only pending book, she isn't looking at her pending books, but I hope she does check her mail...

I would give a moocher longer before nagging them to mark a book as received. If you send the book within the US via media mail it can, in certain rare instances, take up to four or six weeks. If you send via priority mail with delivery confirmation, you can ask them (politely) if they've gotten a book a few days after the post office tells you that they delivered it. International mooches should be given a bit longer.

The time that someone reminded me to receive a book was because they hadn't actually sent the book when they said they had. It does make the transaction less friendly, so I would avoid pushing that reminder button if possible. You have your point(s) and if you are antsy, then a polite email will come across as less pushy.

A quick question about the 'smooch' button.

On the bio-pages of some members I do see that button, but sometimes it is absent. In the wiki I don't find the reason for that behaviour.

I have the impression that the button only appears on the bio page of a member you have had an interaction (smooched/given) with? Is that correct, or is there another explanation?

the smooch button isn't visible for newbies until (I think) two weeks... or until a successful mooch is complete.

Somewhere in the Newbie thread or the general questions thread, the topic came up recently... and was answered there....

I need coffee for my memory to work properly..... getting coffee now!!!!

88: If the smooch button isn't there, check if there's an m in the URL.

bookmooch.com/m/bio

I sent it on August 2 via media mail. I also sent one the same day to Wales, UK and it arrived there over a week ago. Go figure. I will give her some more time...

@skittles: yes, I know that the button doesn't appear till after a few weeks, but I had seen it already... And I noticed that on some pages I saw it, and on the other it wasn't thter.

@infiniteletters: Yes, that will have been the problem. After I wrote my post, I noticed that when going straight from the link on LT to someones bio/inventory, the button didn't show, and when I visited someones bio from a link within (and logged in into) BM, the button was there.

88: I believe you can Smooch anyone. For me, the Smooch button appeared 1 week (168 hours) after I joined BookMooch. As #90 said, there are two similar-but-different flavors of a member's Bio page. Only the flavor with the M in the URL has a Smooch button on it.

a few things to think about when you send packages..

people might be out of town... it is summer in the northern hemisphere.... schools out... stuff happens... internet goes down...

and then there are people like me... I have a post office box... and I don't check it every day... when I'm busy, I may only check it once a week. (it's a really happy day when I do.... lots of books, but.... )

Despite our book-centric lives, Real Life happens.... emergencies happen.... stuff happens.

I'll use this example even though the person isn't a BMer.

A friend's 50 year old dad dropped dead one morning a couple of months ago. No warning. nada. She was gone from work & home for more than two weeks just dealing with her mom & the other stuff that happens when someone 'leaves'. Not to mention having to deal with her own grief. Not a fun place to be. And, yet, someone she works with had the audacity to say something about she should be back at work. They only get three days off of work for bereavement!

Life happens.... and a lot of other stuff.

We can't see what's at the other end of our book shipments. Be gentle. Be kind. Be understanding.

and I know no one was intending to be unkind, harsh, or not understanding... I just needed to point out alternatives to what other scenarios might be there.

Peace.

Someone else might explain it to you, I think there is a way after about 6 weeks you can "force receive" the book. After more than two years here, I have never had any reason to even find out about it. So like the ozone layer, I know it exists, but have never "seen" it.

I have had books marked received as long as 6 weeks after mailing (domestic USA) and even longer than two months (Lithuania and Bulgaria)..
I know we hate "clutter" and unfinished business, but patience is a plus for some transactions on bookmooch!!!

Thanks, skittles and Glenda! Your advice and suggestions are very much appreciated!

I don't want to step over any lines, yet I get a little nervous. She has received another one from CA that was sent out 2 days after mine, so I don't know what to think. I had one moocher who was new (as is the one I'm referring to) and was so overwhelmed that he put himself on vacation. I did email him with the request that he at least sign on to receive mine and one other book to help out our ratios, which he did, apologizing for the late receipt.

Anyway, thanks so much!

(I totally get that life happens... I lost my son going on 15 years ago and pretty much had the same experience at work that your friend did)

Media mail is quirky. I mooched two books at the beginning of the month from the same moocher. She put them into separate packages, but put them in the mail at the same time. One arrived four days before the other one.

Yeah, I have been wondering if this was going to happen. I suppose almost everyone has had similar experiences with it.

I can do one better, as far as the weirdness of arrival time stakes go. In early November one year I sent a whole stack of Christmas cards from the UK to friends and family in Australia and New Zealand. Every single one went into the mail at the same time, and the same rate. The earliest ones arrived within six days. The latest one (which was to the same town as the bulk of them) arrived the following April.

What made it worse was that her next-door neighbour was one of the people whose cards arrived really early …

Speaking of smooches (a little bit upthread), I received one! And I'm guessing it came from some wonderful LT moocher right on this thread. So if you're reading this, thank you!

@highdesertlady

I tend to "remind" people once one month has passed since I shipped the book. I sure am tempted to hit that button sooner, but I always resist the urge... haha.

LOL... I can't tell you how much restraint I am showing! ;-) Well, that should be an easy day to remember too! on 9/2 I will have been very happily divorced for 25 years! ROFL! I crack myself up. :D

And yet another newbie-question...
In the last few weeks I have shipped 50 books, and 22 have been marked as received already, which I think is a normal ratio.

But... everything is shipped by airmail (no surface mail anymore here), and there are some books sent within Europe that haven't been received yet, although I seem to remember they were among the first parcels I sent out.
However, I don't know anymore on which day I sent which books, but I always mark the books as sent on the same day. Is it possible to find somewhere on the BookMooch site on what date a book was marked sent, or do I have te keep track of that by other means?

You will find that info on your Pending page, AnneTAnne. ;-)

(see my post #92 regarding us/uk shipment) :-/

ETA: if it does not show there should be a "show details" button at top right of page.

I hadn't seen that "show details" button.
Thank you...

It's weird to see that a book I shipped to the US arrived one week after it was mooched (and send only 2 days later), whereas several books within Europe haven't arrived yet after 10-14 days (considering that we have no surface mail here, so everything is send priority/airmail...)

It's probably a good idea not to worry too much about the relative speeds of various postal systems. It will drive you nuts.

So far the books that take the longest to get to me here in NY are those from the UK. I know not to even THINK about them showing up until at LEAST 2 months. It was nervewracking the first time. The second time, I thought, "hmm..." and now I just pretend I don't see them on my pending page until they arrive :) Better for my anxiety.

That is so weird, macs... my one mooch to UK arrived there in 8 days and the one she sent me off the books was just as quick and I am on the west coast... go figure.

>108 highdesertlady:

It's just the funny workings of the system. Whenever I have to send a book to Pennsylvania it takes 3-4 weeks, and it's only 2-3 hours from here by car. It all depends on the routes, I guess. I get books from New Zealand quickly, but from Australia slowly.

It seems super hit and miss for books from Europe to the US. I feel like I get some within a week or two, others can take a month or two. Philippines is definitely the worst, I think it's a 3 month minimum.

A few months ago, I had 3 packages swimming their way from Australia to me... from the same BMer... two packages were regular mooches & the third an angel mooch. And they were mailed weeks apart...

I rec'd package #3 about two weeks after it was sent.. we guessed that it snuck/sneaked into the air mail pouch. It literally took 10 days to get to me!!

Then package #2 arrived... taking about the usual time for "Aussie" packages.... six weeks or so.

Finally package #1 arrived... showing no signs that it took the "really slow slow mail boat" to the USA!! It took just over 10 weeks!!

But they all made it... no great damage.. but this BMer wraps them so they can survive a nuclear explosion! ;)

edited to correct an error spotted by a sharp-eyed friend!

Is there a way to undo a book rating altogether? I somehow rated a book I have not read yet. I don't want to change the rating to a different score, I want the rating to be blank again. (On librarything).

112:
If you keep 'clicking' on the stars, after you get to 4 1/2 they will all disappear (double click on the fifth) !
:)

You are a genius!! Thank you!

Can newbies reserve a book once it has been added to inventory or is this like the smooching thing where you have to wait? I have a newbie I am trying to help for a book for jfthing.

Never mind, she figured it out! ;-)

I'm a newbie too, and I have reserved books already in the past few weeks, so I don't think that should be a problem.

So another newbie question, if I may....... so far I am only mailing within U.S. For those mailing internationally from U.S. (either on own behalf or as angels), is the post office allowing you to choose surface shipping to Canada, Europe and Australia, for example? I thought I heard over a year ago that there was "no surface" shipping anymore. Even if that's not true, the postal workers aren't reciting options these days.

I mailed a non-BookMooch book to Germany last week. It was a thin trade paperback with a retail value of $12 -- and shipping cost another $12. So that's my hesitancy to send my books overseas via BookMooch.... Have you found reasonably priced options? Is the post office still shipping surface?

>117 amysisson:

The only options to overseas are first class mail and priority mail. Be sure to check the weight, once you get over ~1lb6oz it is cheaper to use a Priority Mail flat rate envelope (if you buy the postage online).
The cost is $12.78 if you buy the postage from usps.com.

On the flat rate envelopes, you can shove as many books as will fit without altering the package. You can use tape to tape it shut.

117: What rate did you use? How much did the book weigh?

Reasonably priced is a matter of opinion. *makes face*

I mail a few ways.

1st-class international is the best rate for most single books.

The current price is 13.45 for the priority flat-rate envelope. If the book is 22, 23, or 30 ounces (depending on the country group), it will be cheaper to send 1st-class. If the book is over that marker, under 4 pounds, and fits in the flat-rate envelope, send it flat-rate.
http://www.usps.com/prices/first-class-mail-international-prices.htm
http://www.usps.com/prices/priority-mail-international-prices.htm

You can find the country group here or just by searching for usps (countryname) in your web search engine of choice.
http://pe.usps.com/text/imm/ab_001.htm

For 2 books, the flat-rate envelope can be the best option. You are allowed to ask for a 2nd mooch when sending internationally.

If it's over 4 pounds, a flat-rate box is the best option. In this case, I strongly recommend that you ask for multiple mooches from your inventory or ask the moocher to look for multiple other books in the US (that you could then Angel for the moocher).

No, there is no longer a surface shipping option for international packages in the US.

A comment on the cost of book vs cost of postage:

Is there something a relative or friend really likes but can't easily get and it makes a really nice gift for them? or a gift you give them that they really appreciate?

When my grandmother was alive, I would send her a Christmas gift of two one pound bricks of coffee. (She lived one state away from me... around 400 miles) Yes, bricks of coffee. They are easier to ship than the coffee cans & she liked that brand of coffee. She didn't want anything because she had so much "stuff" so I would send her coffee. Yes, it was cheaper for her to buy it & I could have just sent her the money, but it was the sentiment... something she liked & could use. I did it because I could.

Now is there something that is difficult for you to get that you really like? Something that you have to go out of the way for or spend extra money to get? Or it might be something where you can't use what is easily available where you are, but need a special brand or size? hypo allergenic earrings? running shoes? a certain brand of jeans or tops?

There are many areas around the world & in the US where it is 'challenging' to get books. I live in a small town. There is one microscopic used bookstore that carries nothing I want. Oh, they will special order, but that doesn't work for me. New books? I went in there recently looking for a new release & they didn't even know what I was talking about!!

For me, IN THE US, Bookmooch is a god-send. I can drive half an hour & find a small chain bookstore or drive an hour & find a "Buns & Noodles"... many times that's not a trip I can make.

Internationally? Want a popular book in English or in another language? forget it. The books are released months or years after it is published in the US. The mass market paperback we pay $8 for here, might cost the equivalent of $20 somewhere else? Look at the paperbacks you bought here, did you see the Canadian price? The Canadian & US dollars are just about equal in value, but you pay 30% to 50% more in Canada for the same book!

POINTS to POSTAGE COSTS: I use $3 a point as my average cost. Your $12 postage cost was a 3 point mooch, which meant that you paid $4 a point. How many books have you sent at $2 postage or a little more? Many international moochers will smooch points because they know how high postage is for international moochers. Some countries have surface mail, we wait, but it costs them less. How would you feel if there was a book you really really really really wanted, but the person told you that they wouldn't send it because it was too expensive? Many international moochers get that response a lot because many US moochers refuse to send internationally. (often on two or three book mooches, it is less than $3 a point)

Amy, do what you can, but consider the person at the other end.... it isn't the cost of the book, it is the book that they want. Really want.

I have trouble saying no to an international mooch, even if it costs a lot for me to send it. I love books too much & I know others are the same way.

I look at it as "book karma".

Skittles -- thanks so much for the perspective! And thanks to rainbowgirl28 and infiniteletters for the info as well.

I am due a raise Sept 1 and my husband starts a new job Aug 29 with much better pay, so I think I can probably manage some int'l mooch-sends (what is the proper term? they're not mooches if I'm sending instead of receiving, right?) at that time. Part of my worry was that if I listed 5 books at a time and they all went international, I'd be looking at a $60 trip to the post office. But OTOH, that's probably unlikely since proportionally I imagine there are lots more U.S. than non-U.S. members.

What a wonderful community!

#121 I've seen quite a few people who mention in their status message how many mooches they can send internationally (e.g. as of 20th August I won't be able to send any more books overseas until I get paid next month. If you're happy to wait then mooch away!).

Also if you're set to 'ask first' then that gives you the chance to weigh the book requested and work out postage options before replying and when you reply you can let people know when you expect to me able to send them the book (if it's a yes) and then they will (hopefully) only mooch the book if they're ok with that.

And as far as I know there are no penalties/requirements to accept any requests if you're set to ask first. It's slightly annoying when you get no response at all to a request but I am always happy even if someone replies to say no.

Speaking as a non-US member I really appreciate people who can send overseas from the US because I know how expensive it can work out especially with no option for surface mail. But it's so nice to be able to mooch the book instead of seeing the dreaded words 'only in their country'.

I also understand if people can't send abroad for financial or other reasons. Bookmooch is a wonderful place, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have (and may your TBR pile grow and grow...)

Speaking as a non-US member I really appreciate people who can send overseas from the US because I know how expensive it can work out especially with no option for surface mail. But it's so nice to be able to mooch the book instead of seeing the dreaded words 'only in their country'.

Exactly! Also speaking a s a non-US moocher who appreciates the angel system, I try for example to smooch extra points as often as possible to all the lovely angels who help me out, so they can get a better $/points ratio. My stats tell me I've given out 120 smooches, and I hope to give more in the future!

And, Spinifex, if we consider that points are worth approximately $3USD each, you've given out $360USD!!!

I don't know what that translates to in Euros, but it is a lot of money for books!!

and every angel appreciates every one of them!!

Here's a devious trick that works well for me. If you're in Europe, could you please go and wash your hands or look out of the window for a few seconds?

Timing can make a difference. I usually post books in the morning, when the moochers in Europe are still awake, but when I have overspent my BookMooch budget, I post books to my inventory in the evening, when the Europeans are asleep. I do make up for that with an angel mooch or two when the paycheck arrives and I have moochy money to play with.

I love sending books to other countries! I currently have packages addressed and waiting for the trip to the post office meant for Canada, France and Japan. It's just that I have a budget and would rather stick to it and I've found that with a bit of care, sending internationally is very affordable and allows me to mooch many more books than I would otherwise be able to do.

;-) @ RidgewayGirl

@RidgewayGirl

I do the same thing, but the other way around! If I want to post a highly wishlisted book and I'm low on points, I'll usually post it very late at night, (1am or 2am), my time. It tends to work!

#125 & 127 If you're adding something that's on my wishlist and you want an international mooch, feel free to shoot me an email before you add it to your inventory :-)

I have been thinking about finding another time of day to post my books too. :-)
I've always posted them in the 'European' evening, when all Americans still have a long day to look through my inventory, while my fellow Europeans are already thinking about going to bed...
As a result, lots of my books cross the big pond...

I have my status set to 'ask first', and today was the first time I've replied I wouldn't send a book:
It was a mass market paperback, that cost $ 8.00 at Amazon. It didn't feel good to accept that mooch, and pay € 11.45 ($ 13) to ship it to the states... (Since I live in a small country with few BM-members, most of my mooches are international too, so when I pay over $ 4.00 for one point, a mooched book is often $ 8.00)

...It didn't feel good not to accept the mooch either...
But I said in my status that I won't accept single mooches to the States for cheap paperbacks over 250 gr anymore...(but I'm more than willing to send two books) And so, as we say in Dutch, 'I made a stone out of my heart', and declined.

(edited to correct some of my silly spelling errors... How many are left?)

It's perfectly acceptable to set a two book minimum for international mooches.

Yes, two books in a flat rate envelope averages about $3 per point, which is approximately the same as media mail. You can also tell the requester that you can't afford to send it yourself, but you will look for an angel for them. If they are willing to put up with a bit of delay while the book changes hands to the angel then it won't cost you any extra, but you can get it into the hands of an international requester. I think there is always a way to get a book to someone who wants it, even if you are on a tight budget yourself, and it is greatly appreciated by members who don't have the ready access to books that we do here in the US.

And yet another question:
When a book is reserved for me, is there any means to undo that reservation myself?

I would like to mooch ''A Dangerous Fortune' by Ken Follett. There are several copies available, but all in the States, and all are 'only to my country' or 'ask first'.
So I asked one of the owners if she would be willing to send it to Belgium, or to reserve it for me until I found an Angel, but she answered by replying my mail (not by clicking the 'no'-button on the site) that she wouldn't.

So this book is still reserved for me, and whenever I click on the 'mooch this book'-button, I don't get the page where I can choose who to 'ask first', but the page to mooch it from the member who doesn't want to send it to me.

So now it seems that I have to wait a week (when the reservation will finish) until I can mooch it from someone else... Or is there a possibility to undo the reservation myself?

#132 If you mooch and then cancel, the reservation will be released.

>132 AnneTanne: I am relatively certain that it should still be presenting you with of all your mooch options on that page. Strange that it isn't.

You can try emailing her back and asking for her to actually hit the "no" button in order to clear the reservation. Nobody else can mooch it while she keeps your reservation up, so perhaps pointing that out will help . . .

#132 Isn't it possible to request more than one copy of the same book? I think you ought to be able to mooch another copy even if one is currently reserved for you by another member. Although requesting and immediately canceling would also resolve the issue, as mentioned previously.

132: Just mooch or ask on a different copy?

As 135 said, you should be able to just mooch another copy. I've never had trouble mooching multiple copies of the same book.

@124 : thanks Skittles ;)

I have a question which might be a bit frivolous.

I see on quite a few packages that I receive that some people put little pre-made stickers with their name and adress on them. I find this awfully nifty, but where do you get the stickers? Do you print them or buy them? I saw some were edited by NGOs, for example.

#138,

Do you mean Name & Address labels? I buy mine, altho if you EVER give to some charities here, they will then send you some free every year for the rest of your life, whether you ask them to or not.

You can buy sheets of Avery labels (and many other brands) and print your own using your computer printer. Publisher (and other programs) have templates for different sizes of labels. I keep a sheet of the small size (65 to an A4 sheet) ready printed with my name and address and use 4 to an A4 page for parcel labels. You can print one at a time - making sure you use a different position each time!

Office supply stores will also print you a sheet of labels cheaply, if you ask nicely when they aren't busy.

lol.. great ideas for address labels for anyone in the US, but spinifex is in FRance. Spini. are you planning on moving soon? If not, I can order 1000 labels like that for about $2.50 and send them with the next book I angel for you. Let me know by PM if you want them with your current address or with your future one.

and, earlier today, I PM'd her that I have extra sheets of the mini labels & would print them for her & include them in a box I'm getting together for her...

great minds think alike!!

good idea, skittles!! :-)

Glenda, I try... I really try...

and then there are the people who tell me that "I'm really trying...."

;)

.

#146: Oh, yes, you are hooked!!

WARNING: Another BM/LT addict has been born!! (or would that be created?)

I think you should be warned that the next symptom is searching for books that your LT/BM friends have on their wishlists!! You will scour the resources available to you.

Then you will mooch books for your RL friends & family (not that LT/BM friends aren't real)...

Then those same RL friends & family will give you books to put in your mooch inventory because it helps you to get them more books & they are running out of room for their books... or cleaning out & you are easier & nicer to give books to...

Suggestions:

Get more bookcases!! (note that I didn't use the singular!) (I found craisglist to be a good & less expensive source for bookshelves/cases)

Get a small postal scale. (helps to make sure you don't go over the 4 lb limit on cheap international postage)

Get multiple rolls of mailing tape.

Get paper grocery bags (unless you are in area where lots of insect pests hide in paper grocery bags) Paper grocery bags are heavier than brown mailing paper & hold up better in the mail than some envelopes... and they are usually free.

Save bubble wrap envelopes.

There are many hints that BMers can share with you... but you seem to be doing 'just fine'!!

Here's a newbie question -- well, comment first, then question! It drives me a little crazy the way the "pending" page is organized, mixing up stuff going and stuff coming in, with confusing status headings.

Here's the question: I have two similar statuses, and am wondering if I am interpreting them correctly. One is "Books waiting to receive, which have not been sent" and one is "Books to receive, accepted by sender". Since the second one specifies "accepted", that implies to me that the first status means that that book hasn't even been accepted. If that's the case, when is it polite to send a reminder to either accept or deny the mooch? The request was made August 20.

(Actually, in looking closer, I see that the one-word "status" down in the details is more clear. The first says "requested" and the second says "accepted". But when BM spells out the headings for those statuses, I find it much more confusing!)

The "Books waiting to be received, which have not been sent" is your Requested books. The books you have requested, but haven't YET been accepted by the owner.

"Books to be received, Accepted by sender" is your accepted books... books accepted by the owner/sender, but not yet sent,

"Books waiting to be received, which have been sent" are the books that the owner/sender has marked as being mailed to you.

just an FYI: at the top right hand corner of the pending page is a button to "Show Details" which is often overlooked, but very very very useful!!

Thanks! I wish they would change that first one to "Mooch requests, waiting to be accepted or denied". But I'm good, now that I know!

I'll go look for an FAQ to see if there are guidelines on how long to wait for a Mooch to be accepted or denied before reminding.

Thanks, all!

They might be changing the page soon... possibly going multi-page...

but don't hold your breath... which is a very bad idea... leads to lack of oxygen & then you miss out on mooching books which is very very bad!!

(sorry, I'm in a really goofy mood this morning... need more coffee maybe? or maybe too much!)

I wish the headings were:

Incoming Books
Incoming Books, Delayed
Incoming Books, Accepted
Incoming Books, Sent

Likewise
Outgoing Books
Outgoing Books, Delayed
Outgoing Books, Accepted
Outgoing Books, Sent

>152 infiniteletters:: That would be very straightforward.

amysisson, the amount of time before you cancel or send a gently worded email asking if they will be able to send you your book is up to you. If they have a dodgy record and a lot of book to mail out, I might cancel after a week to ten days, especially if they've been logging into BookMooch in the meantime. With someone with a good record, I'm willing to wait longer since their history shows them to be responsible and life does sometimes interfere.

Pushing that reminder button too quickly does come across as nagging, but there's no point leaving your point(s) hanging for weeks or months on a mooch that's unlikely to be successful. Waiting a week or more to cancel allows their account to be put on vacation--this keeps others from mooching from someone who's not currently participating.

People do know when they have books to mail out. It's up to you to decide how patient you want to be.

Thanks for the advice!

Generally, wait at least a week before hitting the remind button for a book you have requested. I'd recommend waiting at least another week after that before canceling, but if it's a member who has not logged in for awhile, you could cancel sooner without guilt :)

If you have sent a book first class, wait at least a week before hitting that remind button for your sent books. If you sent it media mail, wait at least 3-4 weeks before reminding. If you sent it overseas, it could be months, just depends on the country.

I'm someone that gets a little irritated when people get a little jumpy on the remind button (for books they have sent to me). The PO does not deliver mail to my house, and sometimes I can't make it there every single day, and sometimes the mail just takes its sweet time.

Thanks, rainbowgirl28. I hit remind (it has been 11 days) and will wait at least another 10 days before canceling.

I've also taken the plunge and have changed my US only to "Ask Me First". Next up: get some more of my books listed.

.

#158 - Oy ve, do I gotta fever! ;-)

I am new to the bookmooch site and very glad to see that so many people here use it. Very helpful tips from the group :) Now to just decide what books I am willing to part with...

>160 Clio08:

Clio, welcome to BookMooch and LibraryThing!

Start slow, offer maybe just 10 books at first, many will be mooched right away and you don't want to get overwhelmed with the packaging and sending. Then decide how you want to spend all those newly-earned points!

Ok, I am probably just blind as a bat tonight, but where can I hand enter wishlist books? When I try it puts it on my wishlist. There is a self-pub book I am interested in that is not showing up on either Amazon :(

As far as I know, you have to hand-enter the book as an inventory book, delete it from your inventory really quickly, and then wishlist the new book record.

Ah ok.. will try that after my morning cup of tea when I am a little bit swifter :P Thank you!

#152: I think I would also like to see a section titled:

**Books reserved for you!

and maybe:

**books in your inventory reserved for others.

Yeah, that is the work-around for adding a book not in the BM database nor on any of the Amazons to your wishlist. Although the odds of it ever coming up are pretty slim...

The re-working of the pending pages is one of the main projects underway now. Now that the forum is up, it is probably the area of Bookmooch that needs improvement most. And there will certainly be an integration of reserves (both ways) as these did not exist when the pending pages were first designed.

I manged to add it in! I figured the chances would be slim.. but it is book 80 or so in a book challenge where I am on book 8, so I have some time :P

I have about 20 mini paperbacks, published by Phoenix. I bought them as a pack but having read them I don't want to keep them all. They are much too small to offer individually so I'd like to offer them in batches - buy one get, three free or whatever I decide. Obviously people will want different titles (if any, that is!).

How should I do it? I thought I'd list them all, people can mooch them x copies at a time and then I smooch back x-1 points (the value of x to be decided). Is this the best way? Or is there some method that I don't know about? Advice, please!

I might post them in the pimp your inventory thread first with the stipulation that you much mooch X of them (or in batches of size X) but will only be charged y points?

.

You'll need to cancel your mooches and select the option "User didn't respond".

.

.

Hmm, strange. It might be worth pressing abuse - it doesn't necessarily have to be an obvious case of abuse, but it serves as a way of letting the site admins know that you think something strange is happening. That way, they can decide how best to proceed and ultimately it's a good thing for the site as a whole if people who aren't using it properly are removed from the system.

>173 I-_-I: Check their "last logged in ___ days ago" to see if that's the case. Sometimes people do login and check when they receive cancels, especially for a negative.

173: Moochers have to wait 7 days (8 days is easier) and pick "The book owner never responded" option from the menu of cancellation reasons. The visible feedback wording does not cause an automatic vacation.

Thanks for these two great threads, everyone.

I joined BM last night. Woke up to a few mooch requests and spent some time this morning reading through a few threads and wondering where I could find out how to be a good newbie. I was delighted to find these threads.

Took a walk to the dollar store to get ziploc bags and padded mailers. Made sure I had some nice strong mailing tape. Now, I've got 7 packages to take to the post office tomorrow.

This is going to be so much fun!

and Welcome to you CMS!!

Thanks for making sure your BM username is on your LT profile because then we can sneak looks at your inventory & MOOCH MORE BOOKS from you!!

(yes, I looked!!)

To all US moochers - you guys, collectively, have a huge amount of experience with the USPS. Please advise. I sent a package to the Philippines almost 6 months ago. I just had it returned to me today. Though there is a confusing variety of stamps on the front of the envelope, the upshot seems to be that it was unclaimed. I doubt that this moocher would've left it unclaimed had she known it was waiting for her. So, my question is this: do I have to pay all over again to have it resent to her? Is that contingent on my not having made any errors in addressing it? I fear I may have bungled her name, though only slightly (left off two letters of her first name).

#179: You've mailed it.... and they tried to deliver it... or whatever. She may have moved in that six months. I would try to contact her via her BM profile, but to resend it would require her to re-mooch it for postage costs. You should not have to pay twice for mailing the books.

Let's see what others have to say, too.

Yeah, after cruising the USPS site for awhile (which I still maintain reads like stereo instructions) it looks like they've done their due diligence in attempting to deliver it then in faithfully returning it to me. I had some vague idea that it might be like forwarding mail, but no. That was wishful thinking.

Can't they even charge you just to have international mail returned to you (as opposed to abandoned)? You definitely have to pay again to have it redelivered for anything international.

I have a question. How do you register yourself as an angel? Thanks!

183: It tells you all about it here.

But basically the bit you want is:
How do I become a BookMooch Angel?

Just send an email to bmangelnetwork@gmail.com. Please include your location, your BookMooch name and ID, and any conditions you would like to place on your Angel services, such as 2 mooches required, or you can only ship a certain amount each month, etc.

You can also send an email at any time to request changes to your status in the Network, or change your conditions.

Hope this helps.
BTW - you don't have to 'officially' join to help another member get a book from your country; mooch it for them, let them know and list and reserve it for them when it arrives and post it when they have mooched it.
QED. :)

I had one book that was sent overseas returned to me as "not picked up". The owner was quite good about smooching me a couple more points to cover the cost of resending the book. In this case, there was always someone at the house and there was no notice left by the post office that there was something waiting. We were both confused about what happened (and I had to learn spanish!) but it worked out in the end.

Oh my, I'd be very annoyed if an international mooch got returned to me, considering how much more expensive they usually are. Hope things work out!

Thanks Lman!

What are Bookcrossing books? Do I have to send them back out again after reading or can I keep them for good? I just realised I've mooched one, and I have no idea whether I can keep it or not.

Bookcrossers try to encourage sharing of books by leaving them for people to read for free, encouraging them to pass it along again after they do so. The books have an ID number and there is a web site where you can go to register the book to show that you have "caught" it. That way the person who originally released it can follow the book on its travels. They have both wild releases, where you just leave the book sitting in a public spot, and controlled released, where it is deliberately given to a specific person.

If you mooched the book then it is yours to keep. Bookcrossers would appreciate it if you went to their site and logged in that you caught the book and that you intend to keep it, but my feeling is that since you didn't get the book for free (as in a Bookcrossing wild release) but paid for it with a point that it is your choice whether or not to do so.

Thanks dadena and macsbrains for clearing up my confusion! I'll register it when I get it.

>188 espi_87:

I feel bad sometimes when I get a bookcrossing book because I keep them and I know that the bookcrossers would prefer that the book frolic in the wild. I always leave a note to the fact when I register the book on bookcrossing so they know it's found a home, but under no circumstances should you feel obligated to do so and the person you got it from should not bug you about it either.

If you want to, do; if you don't, don't. But if you put it up for remooching again make sure that you let people know that it's a bookcrossing book in the condition notes because some people really don't want bookcrossing books.

After being on BookMooch for two weeks, I've realized that I need to look at a member's history before requesting a book from that member. Good grief! People have a history of not responding to requests and not sending books for MONTHS!

Question...I canceled two mooches this morning from members how have histories of not sending books and not accepting mooches. I had only requested each book 4 days ago so canceling didn't put them on vacation. I realize now I should have waited. Is there anything else I can do to help this not happen to another member? Would it be appropriate to click on "abuse" in this instance? One of the member was logged in 2 days ago!

Thanks for answering a newbie question!

With the not accepting books or not sending them for months, it's best to vacation them by waiting a week before canceling. Feel free to leave negative feedback and a comment about being ignored. This lets later moochers know what to expect and it may nudge the book owner into better behavior.

Here's what I do (and you are entirely free to do whatever feels best for you), if the moocher ignores the request despite logging onto BM, I send a reminder after a week and cancel after a second week. If they accept, but then the shipping date they chose goes by without sending, I send a polite email after its a week late (because sometimes life makes deadlines impossible). If they respond, then all is well (people who answer their emails rarely fail to send the book), if they don't (and are visiting BM in the meantime) I cancel after another week or two (I tend to give them three weeks, so that I don't feel like a big meanie) and then cancel. If this is a pattern, I'll leave a -1. In general, though, I try not to mooch from people with a sea of red in their feedback. It's not worth it.

"With the not accepting books or not sending them for months, it's best to vacation them by waiting a week before canceling."

That's usually not very effective, because the chronic abusers of the system log in regularly and mooch books, they are just very spotty about reciprocating.

Yes, but those -1s and red feedback eventually do help others from having their points held hostage.

I have no problem with waiting for a book, even for a long time, as long as the book's owner is willing to be honest and stick to whatever shipping schedule they've communicated. I have a few books that I'm waiting for that won't be mailed until December (and one in January), but those time spans were announced at the beginning.

Thanks for the responses, gang. I'm still feeling this whole thing out. Right now, I'm checking feedback before mooching but if I notice that I have requested a book from someone with a spotty history, I'll wait the week before canceling.

I have had good communication from a few folks who won't be able to send books for a few weeks. I'm glad to have that info and I certainly am not hurting for things to read.

Thanks again.

Not sure if I still qualify as a newbie, but I didn't think this question merits its own thread necessarily.

Why am I seeing "Ask Me First" on some books when I'm in the U.S. and the person is also in the U.S.? I didn't think you could set to "Ask Me First" for your own country. I checked in my own "edit profile" page and that was not an option (not that I would want it anyway).

Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer!

>197 amysisson: I've actually noticed that happening on a few accounts. I think it's some sort of bug, because I ran across one guy who was listed with (USA:NY) but then his country was completely out of left field. Lithuania or something. The best thing to do is probably either email them (they might not know!) or send an email to tech support or both.

There's also the possibility that somehow you're seeing the page for people who aren't logged in, which occasionally happens. I used to get thrown to the non-logged in version of the site whenever I did a search for Terry Pratchett, even though I was still logged in.

#197: make sure you see all the tabs you normally see when you are logged in. Otherwise, put the /m/ after bookmooch.com so it looks like bookmooch.com/m/****

I've often inserted the m/ to get it to recognize my cookies & login.

but I would also mention it to the techies as a problem if that doesn't work.

Yeah, like Skittles said, a lot of the funky and weird things that happen can be fixed by adding the /m/ to the address bar. I wish it was better about staying logged in, even without the m.

OK, another GREAT Newbie thread has come to the suggested maximum post length and we need to let it rest.

There is a NEW NEWBIE THREAD!! and it is our third!!!!!

Please join us there!!

THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED!!!
THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED!!!
THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED!!!

Thank you for your kindnesses!!!