Does anyone know if PBS has an algorithm to throttle users who don't keep an active bookshelf to swap?  I keep my wish list full, near the 200 book limit, yet can go weeks or months between offers of available books.  It seems like I only get book offers when I have recently mailed out a book.  I have never been able to use up my available credits because there are so few books offered.

This tit-for-tat business would be OK if it weren't getting so expensive to use PBS.  The membership fee went up 25% this year, and there is an added $0.50 transaction fee for every little thing.  Not to mention that it costs about $5 to mail out every book. It's almost becoming more cost-effective to buy the books from Abe's.

On the other hand, maybe there are so few books offered because it is just getting too expensive to swap here?  I've always loved PBS but am wondering if it is becoming unsustainable.  Are people focusing more on Little Free Libraries and apps like Libby that make it so much easier to read books for free?

I still receive and post wishlisted books. But there is no guarantee that I will ever receive a book on my wishlist as that depends on my place on the wishlist and whether another member posts the book I want to read. Some genres get posted more often than others. 

it's worth every penny to me~ just having the 'gathering place' with friends on the boards for chatting and the occassional book mailed in or out to members~ I'm a kindle user and I still budget for those books too~ it's expensive everywhere~ 

I just renewed my account, the site's worth it although I wish the postage was less. When I first started on another book swap site, media mail was $1.59 for the first poiund.

I do not think we have a throttling algorithm.  Some books on my wishlist are simply hard to find...

But there IS an algorithm that puts your account on hold.  Here is an email that I received:

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Hello from PaperBackSwap. You've missed some book requests or Wish List offers, or you didn't mark some books as "received". We figure you're busy right now, so your account has automatically been put on hold for you - that way, you won't get more requests or offers until you're ready.

Don't worry, you can easily remove the hold - just log in to do that.

We understand that sometimes bookswapping must go on the "back burner"; we hope everything is OK with you and your loved ones. This hold will protect you from missing too many Wish List offers or requests for the books on your Bookshelf.

When you log in again, you'll be shown the reason why the system hold went into effect, and you can easily remove the hold - that will restore your account to normal function.

We look forward to seeing you back at PaperBackSwap soon.

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