One of the great things about the internet is the ability to speak to people from all over the world and from all walks of life. It is a chance to exchange information and culture. Now it is a chance to trade that which we hold dear to us in exchange for others we like to have the chance to experience.

I am talking about the trading and swapping of books online.

There are quite a few places where you can do this but only two sites come to mind that have a wide variety of books to select from and is frequented and updated daily.

The first such place is PaperBackSwap.com (PBS). Now PBS is unique in that all books are traded on a one to one basis, unlike other places where some books, depending on popularity, will cost you more or will earn you less when you list and swap them. When you join all you need to do is list an initial nine books that you would like to swap. Once you have listed those nine books you receive three automatic credits. You are then free to browse around the selection and find a book that you want. When you have found a book that interests you all you need to do is click ‘request’ and a swap request is sent to the owner. The owner will then ship the book to you at their own expense, which is usually no more than $1.59 for shipping. You don’t need to worry about labels and packages because the site gives you a pre-addressed label to print from your computer and instructions on how to wrap the book so that it can be mailed.

Even if you do not immediately have any requests made for the books you list you still get to select three books. That’s essentially three free books ladies and gentlemen, and as all avid readers know books aren’t cheap anymore. Contrary to the site’s name the books are not all paperback. There are many hardback and audio cassette books listed as well. And if a book you would like is not listed there then simply add it your wish list and when a copy becomes available you will be automatically notified.

The next noteworthy site is BookMooch.com. BookMooch also has a wide variety of books to choose fro, and after your initial joining with bookmooch and listing of ten books you get a point to use to request a book, the more books you list the more points you get. Unlike PBS though some books will cost you more. Say you request a book from out of the country, the book will likely cost you 2 or 3 points, but a book from a moocher in your own country will only cost you 1 point. Bookmooch’s wishlist is also a bit of a pain. Whereas PBS’s system will reserve the book for you up to 48hrs, during which time you can choose to accept it or pass on it, bookmooch sends out notices at once to all people who have requested the book. What does this mean? The person who checks their email most or logs into the site most regularly will get the book.

Even Bookmooch is not nearly as up to par as PBS I would still highly recommend joining this site as well. Chances are, any book that you want that is not listed at one you will find at the other so it is good to have both available.

Given the attitude and over all rudeness of the admins and some of the members there I can no longer in good faith recommend this site to anyone. For more information as to my change of opinion you can read this post on my personal blog.

Are you a member of any other online bookswaps? Please share your experiences!