Paperbackswap.com

I always struggle to find something I feel would be of value to other homeschool moms about which I can write a post. I hope this fits the bill!

If you have not heard of Paperbackswap.com, may I introduce you to one of my favorite websites? It was created by a man who traveled frequently and was always purchasing new paperback books. He was thinking one day, how nice it would be, to just be able to trade paperbacks with others, instead of buying them all the time. Paperbackswap.com was born.

You may create a free account by adding 10 books you do not want, but are still in good condition (books are not required to be only paperbacks). It's easy to add them, just type in the ISBN number. After you add the first 10 books, the site gives you 2 free credits. With 1 credit you may find and order a book you would like, and the member that has listed it, mails it to you at their expense (usually it's just over $2 for shipping by USPS). If someone requests a book from you, you agree to mail it to them at your expense. If you choose, you can even print and pay for shipping labels right on the site, this option gives you an automatic credit or when the member to whom you mailed the book responds that they received the book, you get 1 credit for another book of your choice. Isn't this a great idea? I love cleaning out my bookshelves and getting books that I really want! Some of the books we have received have been out of print or really expensive.

If the particular book you are looking for is not available, you may put it on your wishlist and you will be notified when it is added by another member. I have received several books from my wishlist that we use for our homeschool curriculum and library.

One thing that I have found, is that the more obscure books are the ones that are requested from me. So don't discard a book that you think no one will want, it may be exactly what someone else needs!

There is another feature that I think is interesting. Under my transaction archive, I can view a map of all the destinations to which I have mailed books, or another map of all the locations from which books were mailed to me.

There are also sister sites that may interest some of you. I am not a member of either of these sites, but I assume they work in a similar fashion. They are SwapaCD.com and SwapaDVD.com.

Happy book swapping! Maybe we'll end up trading sometime =D

Jenny is the nutty mother of 5 kids, with one more one the way, and is married to a child psychologist (it's great to have psych help on site). Her varied ramblings are found at We don't call people poopyheads. Her interests are basically anything that makes her abnormal, such as homebirthing, homeschooling, herbalism and natural healing, holistic iridology, and a survivalist wanna-be, to name a few.