Cozy Mysteries discussion

While reading all the posts in the last month since I've joined here, I've seen several mentions of the PBS. I would like to hear some opinions on the site. I joined last night and am not really sure what to expect. I did post a few books and already am headed to the post office. Are their postage quotes usually correct?

I guess I want some of you who are long time members to give some feedback on the site and what your experiences have been. Thank you!

Yes, the postage quotes are usually correct, if not close.

I joined Oct. 2008 and have never had a problem with it. In fact, I get most of my cozy mysteries from there. My postage usually ranges from $1.50-$1.85! I would suggest starting a wish list. I always add new books on there as soon as I hear about them so when they start coming out I'm high on the list and they are still in excellent condition. My name is orosky17 on there.

I usually pay around $2.24 a book. I've got roughly 50 books off there this year since I signed up, and only once did I get a book I considered in poor condition. I got my credit refunded.

My suggestion is to be patient. It does take sometime to get a wish listed book. I have several that have been on the wish list since I joined in 2007. I enjoy PBS and have found some great new authors to read. I use DC so I get my credit right away and it is easier for me than going to the post office. I also like that you can be buddies with people who like the same books as you.
My nickname there is sumagoo.
Hope you enjoy it.

I have found their postage quotes to be generally close. However, I did have a book that I sent out last week where their estimate was $2.77, which I knew was wrong. You can send a hardcover book that weighs up to 2# for that amount via media mail. It cost me $2.24 to send the book by 1st class. PBS is a great place to get rid of books you don't want and get ones you DO want to read. I've been on there for 2 or 3 years now. I had a bunch of credits built up and recently got interested in J.D. Robb's (Nora Roberts) IN DEATH series. I put the whole set together on there using some of my built up credits! Very nice! Something like 30 books with an average price of $6.99? Saved me over $210.00!

I've been using PBS for the past few months and have been very happy with the service. Seems like you can't get the hottest titles right away, but I've found plenty of books I like.

This is a great site. Helps you move books in and out quickly. I have been a member for 3 years and have been very satisfied there. I have received a couple of books that have been in unacceptable condition but have had my credit refunded every time but once. You do have to deal with the sender for that and they can decide not to give the credit back to you. The postage quotes are generally in the ballpark.The owners are much more professional when it comes to problems there than they are at bookmooch. I would definitely recommend this site to you it is awesome.

Ok...I am such a nerd. I joined PBS and thought I'd just go ahead and add all the books I had ready to go to the used book store. I figured I'd mail a couple a week maybe. Who knew?? I have 33 books that are to be mailed ASAP! I wish you all could have seen my husband's face when I told him what I had done. He never says anything to me about the books I buy(and I buy alot!) but somewhere around $100.00 to the post office was more than he could comprehend...ha ha


If anyone else is going to join the PBS I have a suggestion...don't put but a few books up to start. I did already receive my first book though and am looking forward to reading it from seeing some of the reviews here.

wow, you must have had alot of popular wishlisted books. I have more obscure books, older books, or old harlequins. I've mailed my fair share out, but still have about 50 posted.

WOW, I bet he was shocked, LOL. Hey at least you got rid of them and will have lots of credits now!

I used to use PBS but now I do the book swap on Goodreads. This is easier to me because I can print out the postage thing and just wrap and drop the book off at the PO instead of waiting in line to pay for postage. And the person who wants the book pays for shipping - not you, the sender. I buy a lot of books and most of them I read once and then pass on (I don't have a lot of room in my house and will probably be moving in the next year). So I'll probably have a lot of new (purchased new, read once) books on my swap thing in June. I have a long shopping list. LOL

Caroline wrote: "I used to use PBS but now I do the book swap on Goodreads. This is easier to me because I can print out the postage thing and just wrap and drop the book off at the PO instead of waiting in line t..."

wow I did not know you could do swaps here. Sounds good esp since the person who wants the book pays for the postage. That would save so much money for me!

Understand the difference. If you want books here, then you have to pay the shipping. Personally, I'd rather pay the post office directly when I ship out the PBS books (or you can upload funds to PBS website and print the postage directly on the mailing wrapper) then figure out how I'm suppose to pay the other person using the GR swap.

Briansgirl "Master Book Sale Huntress" wrote: "Understand the difference. If you want books here, then you have to pay the shipping. Personally, I'd rather pay the post office directly when I ship out the PBS books (or you can upload funds to P..."

I did not know that the GR swap was something the 2 involved had to figure out. I know nothing about it and just assumed there was some system here to do it. You do have a point it seems like it could be a hassle to figure how to pay the other person. I guess paypal is always an option.

I don't think you pay the seller...you pay GR a set fee and the seller prints out the postage. I think that was what I read when I was trying to decide between the two sites.

I don;t know about getting books but it's easier for me to get rid of them here since I just print out the postage sheet (from what GR calculates) slap it on the package and drop it off at the post office (since weight limits preclude dropping it in the mailbox).

You could do the same with PBS, provided you uploaded money to your account. You can then choose to print the mailing label with or without postage added. Since I don't want to pay online, I pay at the post office instead.

I don't do the GRs swap because I don't want to figure out how to pay GRs or the person mailing it.

This might sound strange, but to me the GRs swap is just a way of giving away your books. You get nothing for sending them out, wether it's a couple books or a hundred. If you want a book, you have to pay postage. With PBS, I earn a book credit every time I send a book out (2 if it's an audiobook). Then when I want a book, I have a stack of credit I can use. Books aren't exactly free, since it costs roughly $2.24 in postage to send each one out, but I still feel like I'm getting something for my books, and reducing the costs of getting books.

I have been a member there for over a year and love it. I mail out and recieve at least 5 books a week. Getting involved in the discussion forums has lead me to try new authors. Also find deals on books. 2 books for 1 credit. I got 17 Cadfael books for 5 credits. By just mentioning that I was interested in trying them. One of the members was making space on her shelf and wanted them to go to a good home I was thrilled. I use the printable postage and get my credit instantly.

Now that I've been doing the PBS for a few weeks now I am really enjoying it. It wasn't quite as much to mail the books as I thought and I've got lots of credit saved up for later. I have ordered several books and always receive them quickly. I did find out pretty quickly that I like doing the online delivery confirmation so that I don't have to wait on the book to arrive before getting credit. I wish I'd known about that site a long time ago!

I'm also on PBS and love it! I've been lucky and have put a lot of books on my wish list before too many request that particular book and don't have to wait too long.

Another PBSer here that just found this group. I love PBS. I have no problems getting WL books there. There are some that don't get posted very often. In fact those are the ones that I try to WL because they're hard to find anywhere. I find most of the books with the super long WL lines are the same books that will have 500 copies in the system before long. I get so many WL books there that I usualy put my account on hold for extended lengths of time. I have a huge TBR and a limited postage budget. So I go on hold to stave of WL offers for awhile and read TBR books. I've never had a problem earning credits either. Even some of the heavily posted books seem to move pretty quickly and there's always Box Of Books.

Okay, I can see there are pros and cons. For me, I'm in a good place (financially) right now. I spend a lot of money on books because I usually buy as soon as they're released (if it's one of my favorite authors) and because I want to support my friends who are authors by helping their sales. : ) But since I don't have space right now for unlimited books, there are a lot I'm willing to pass on to someone else. I've sent out a bunch on GR bookswap and you get a credit for every 10 you send out. So I requested a book and didn't have to pay for postage. I guess GR paid for it? My friend who sent the book didn't have to pay postage either. I suppose I could list my books in both places (my PBS account is inactive right now) but I'm not sure if that would cause problems or not. I basically have a lot of books I'm trying to give away and when they've been sitting for a while, I'll just give them to a local friend who passes them on to a charity. The last time I tried to donate a bunch of books to my local library, they said they "didn't need any right now."!!!

I don't see a problem with listing them on both GRs swap and PBS. If by some chance, someone from both places requests the same book at the same time, you at least on PBS have the option to cancel the request/transaction. Newer books may go faster but I'd definetly list in both places for older books.

Thanks! I think I'll do that since I may be moving in the not too distant future and I really do need to lighten the load.

Wow! Now I know why I let my PBS account go inactive. Desperately trying to unload some books (almost all brand new - only read once) and it just cost me about $20 to "giveaway" about $80 worth of books! I already have 25 credits on PBS and just don't use them. Wonder if I can "give" them to someone else? It was good for getting rid of them though - I listed about 20 for swap and about 10 have already been requested.

Caroline wrote: "Wow! Now I know why I let my PBS account go inactive. Desperately trying to unload some books (almost all brand new - only read once) and it just cost me about $20 to "giveaway" about $80 worth o..."

Good job Caroline! I seem to go in spurts. I haven't had a book requested for a few weeks and yesterday five of them got requested. I'll have over 60 credits now. I was able to sell some about a year ago, but they seem harder to sell now.

Caroline wrote: "Wow! Now I know why I let my PBS account go inactive. Desperately trying to unload some books (almost all brand new - only read once) and it just cost me about $20 to "giveaway" about $80 worth o..."

Yes Caroline, you can send credit to another person on PBS. It's how someone refunded a credit to me as the book they sent me was not in the best of conditions. (Might be easier if they were on your buddy list.) I'm running low on credits there, having only 3 left, lol. I have used up credits almost as quickly as I got them for awhile as I was filling out several series that I could not find locally.

Briansgirl "Master Book Sale Huntress" wrote: "Caroline wrote: "Wow! Now I know why I let my PBS account go inactive. Desperately trying to unload some books (almost all brand new - only read once) and it just cost me about $20 to "giveaway" ..."
I have about 5 credits right now, but I tend to go through them quickly too.

I blame the folks on GRs introducing me to new series to start reading. lol New or old, I've managed to find alot of the books for the series on PBS.

I've got about 20 credits now. I had a ton of them, but used up a lot putting together the In Death series. I have a bunch of stuff on my wish list, but most of them aren't turning around too fast right now.

I have 7 credits at the moment. Ive been trying to stock them up before the baby comes, but I keep getting my wish list fullfilled ;) I have about 45 books on my WL at the moment.

That's a good thing Kimberly. Some on my wish list say I'm over 200 on the waiting list! lol

You can't find books to order with those credits? I have no problem getting WL books from PBS. I have my account on hold right now because I'm in the top 5 of around 100 WL books (#1 on over 50). I'm moving soon and don't want to worry about books going lost. Plus I have a tight postage budget. I'll have to be selective when I'm ready to go off hold and pick and choose which ones to leave on hold. I have 29 credits now and 3 or 4 pending. I usually have my WL maxed out although I think I have a few spaces available. I broke down and bought 5 of my WL books from a series because I couldn't wait and was worried about the move otherwise I would have waited on the WL-they were fast moving lines.

Gee Caroline, you can give them to me if they're bothering you that much. I spend my credits as fast as I earn them, so I can always use more. LOL.

I've been a member just over a year. I found that the postage was off periodically when I began but has been getting closer to being accurate lately. Still find some marginal books that cost a little less or I can send first class which gets them there quicker.

Ive been a member of PBS for over 2 years and love it!
Ive received so many books ( especially since I joined the Box-of-Books feature ) :)
Every time I get a book (s) in the mail, its like Christmas!
Im like Kate, I usually spend my credits as fast as I earn them.
Have you seen the new "list" feature that you can put on your profile?

Melissa wrote: "Have you seen the new "list" feature that you can put on your profile?..."

Hi Kansas buddy! I haven't seen that feature...I need to check it out!

Melissa wrote: "Ive been a member of PBS for over 2 years and love it!
Ive received so many books ( especially since I joined the Box-of-Books feature ) :)
Every time I get a book (s) in the mail, its like Christ..."

I've seen but haven't used it yet. Have you tried it?

Hi Susie and Sherrie, I have set up one "list" on my profile, its for cozy books that I have read.
I like it this feature, its kind of fun keeping track of my books on this list.
plus..there are all kinds of other lists to check out on the site, and you can also "vote" on them. :D

Caroline wrote: "Wow! Now I know why I let my PBS account go inactive. Desperately trying to unload some books (almost all brand new - only read once) and it just cost me about $20 to "giveaway" about $80 worth o..."
I was thinking..if you still have some credits left on pbs - they have a feature that you can donate to different charities or back to pbs. :D

Melissa wrote: "Hi Susie and Sherrie, I have set up one "list" on my profile, its for cozy books that I have read.
I like it this feature, its kind of fun keeping track of my books on this list.
plus..there are a..."
Hi Melissa, what is your screen name on pbs so I can look and vote on the books?

Sherrie wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Hi Susie and Sherrie, I have set up one "list" on my profile, its for cozy books that I have read.
I like it this feature, its kind of fun keeping track of my books on this list.
p..."

I will send you a message Sherrie.

Thank you so much for giving the info here. I joined last week, mailed my first book off today, and am looking forward to receiving two books I haven't been able to find for years. I'm so glad someone pointed the Cozy Books site for me.

I am new to your forum and am not sure if PBS is available in South Africa.

are you guys familiar with Bookmooch.com? Sounds like a similar concept.

PBS I think is only available with the US and it's territories. I've heard of bookmooch but to simply life am only using one bookswapping site so I don't have the same books in more than one place.

Guera wrote: "I am new to your forum and am not sure if PBS is available in South Africa.

are you guys familiar with Bookmooch.com? Sounds like a similar concept."

I think that PBS is only available in the US..sorry.

Ive heard of Bookmooch, and its kind of like PBS ~ I think you might want to try both sites out and see which one that you like best.
Im not a Bookmooch member, I trade alot of books on PBS. :D

Kate wrote: "Gee Caroline, you can give them to me if they're bothering you that much. I spend my credits as fast as I earn them, so I can always use more. LOL."

Kate - Go ahead and "friend" me on PBS and I'll be happy to give you some credits.

I finally got started with PBS and have sent two books out and have two coming my way. I am very excited about using this site as much as I can.

I started this thread on May 21 and already I've sent 61 books and received 35. Needless to say I am not sorry I joined. I get my new ideas here and then go searching there...a match made in heaven!