vixen1
Agatha Christie Whodunnit
Bookworm, fangirl, historian, biscotti enthusiast!
Posts: 222 
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Post by vixen1 on Sept 15, 2019 9:05:28 GMT
So in the absence of the old RISI I have been considering bookmooch more and more so I wanted to get peoples opinions before I take the plunge and join.
I'm not sure about it being better value for money than just buying books and I was wondering how sucessful it was for people getting the books they want at a reasonable rate?
I usually just go to Amazon for cheaper books I'm looking for but I do miss swapping. I never joined before as I was unsure if the international aspect made it worthwhile or just more expense and hassle?
Any advice gratefully received!
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Post by adelynechan on Sept 15, 2019 10:14:03 GMT
I'm on Bookmooch, it works but not quite the same as old RISI. I try to make it a bit of a "swap" for me i.e. if someone mooches one of mine I have a look at their list and mooch something back, but it doesn't always work. It's not great (at least for me, in part because I am so impatient) for getting hold of wishlisters, but generally works well for my purposes of finding books that I hadn't heard of. If you're looking at value for money for specific books I think it's quite difficult, but if you just miss the swapping then it works fine.
Also there's a large number of inactive users on there, so half the books which are "available for mooching", you will actually never hear back from the other user. It gets frustrating if the first one or two you attempt to mooch just gets no reply, especially if you are sending out quite a few in that time, since unlike RISI Bookmooch doesn't couple the sending and receiving. I prefer this platform, but the user base on Bookmooch (even if only considering active users) is still much bigger than on here. There are a quite a number who switched from RISI to Bookmooch, judging by what people say on their profiles!
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Post by mandyj on Sept 15, 2019 18:40:47 GMT
I use Bookmooch, but not very often, It's certainly not an important source of books for me, just occasionally I can find a book I've been looking for, but often they are overseas and that costs 3 points so it's not worth it, even if the person is willing to send. I do send abroad, but only very thin and lightweight books as the postage is too expensive, and I only do it to earn points. You don't have to send internationally and lots of people don't. Most of the time Amazon or Abebooks is the cheaper option. But no harm in joining - you might find something you want.
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Post by geminii on Sept 15, 2019 20:34:26 GMT
I did vaguely look into Bookmooch after the swapping part of RiSi ceased to be, however, it all looked a bit complicated, so I didn't bother to join up ..
Now I'm using the Library lots more, especially as they offer a range of formats .. on numerous occasions I've just picked a random Audio book to download & listen to whilst doing chores .. otherwise eBay is a good place to buy cheaply, esp if you're just looking for a reading copy, quickly ..
Let us know how you get on, if you join up ..
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Post by josette on Sept 15, 2019 21:25:29 GMT
I joined Bookmooch when the swapping here stopped but didn’t have much luck with it. I had quite a few books listed and started off by agreeing to send internationally but as Mandy said, it just became too costly....I wouldn’t have minded as much if I’d have received some books in return, but a lot of my requests for books from overseas went ignored. Eventually I changed my preferences to UK-only, but even then I struggled to find any books I wanted (I’m impatient too!) and the (very) few books I did receive arrived in awful condition...falling apart in a couple of cases. In the end I decided to jack it in and I gifted the points I’d collected to a couple of RISI members who don’t use the forums anymore (anyone remember Jenny and Dani??).
It could just be that I was really unlucky, but personally I couldn’t be bothered with the palaver. These days I get my books from charity shops, Amazon Marketplace or the library. And the books I’ve read get passed on to friends and family and the charity shop.
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Post by pennyt on Sept 16, 2019 7:37:17 GMT
I joined Bookmooch when the swapping here stopped but didn’t have much luck with it. I had quite a few books listed and started off by agreeing to send internationally but as Mandy said, it just became too costly....I wouldn’t have minded as much if I’d have received some books in return, but a lot of my requests for books from overseas went ignored. Eventually I changed my preferences to UK-only, but even then I struggled to find any books I wanted (I’m impatient too!) and the (very) few books I did receive arrived in awful condition...falling apart in a couple of cases. In the end I decided to jack it in and I gifted the points I’d collected to a couple of RISI members who don’t use the forums anymore (anyone remember Jenny and Dani??). It could just be that I was really unlucky, but personally I couldn’t be bothered with the palaver. These days I get my books from charity shops, Amazon Marketplace or the library. And the books I’ve read get passed on to friends and family and the charity shop. This is almost identical to my experience of BM. I really struggled to get any books I wanted and ended up with loads of points I felt I couldn't use. Like Josette, I gifted them and called it a day. To me it was nothing like swapping in terms of ease, friendliness or satisfaction in terms of getting books. Having said that, though, I'm sure it depends entirely on what sort of books you're after - if they're largely ones that are readily available from UK moochers, you're bound to have more luck with it than I did! |
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vixen1
Agatha Christie Whodunnit
Bookworm, fangirl, historian, biscotti enthusiast!
Posts: 222
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Post by vixen1 on Sept 16, 2019 11:55:49 GMT
So I joined! And if anyone is over there my name is HistoryNerd.
Any other RISIers on there let me know and i'll check out your lists!
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lainy
Novella
Working my way through a never ending tbrm
Posts: 168
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Post by lainy on Sept 16, 2019 15:15:47 GMT
I am on there, not used it in a long time but pretty much all good experiences when I did xxx
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Post by lorraine5 on Sept 17, 2019 6:20:38 GMT
So I joined! And if anyone is over there my name is HistoryNerd. Any other RISIers on there let me know and i'll check out your lists! I'm on there as lozza63 (I think, might be Lorraine tho'). It's definitely not a good as RISI for books but the 14 books I've had in 2 years have been good quality. I've sent you a BookMooch friend request |
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Post by adelynechan on Sept 17, 2019 8:08:06 GMT
So I joined! And if anyone is over there my name is HistoryNerd. Any other RISIers on there let me know and i'll check out your lists! I'm adelynechan! Although you can also check out my list on here and we can do a swap the old way if you prefer.
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Post by janetandjohn on Sept 18, 2019 21:50:50 GMT
I used it loads when I first joined years ago, but now..... I have had several books listed for some years but nothing! And last week, a woman in the US asked for a mooch and then cancelled because I was not in America!! I emailed back and said "remooch, I am perfectly willing to send to the US", but she wasn't having any!!
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Post by kaydee23 on Sept 19, 2019 21:04:29 GMT
I stopped using this ages ago, for the same reasons as others. I don't even know if my account is still valid, I think I had quite a few points in credit but could never find anything to use them on. If I can find my password and login in, I'll try and gift them to someone.
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Post by adelynechan on Sept 19, 2019 21:32:08 GMT
I used it loads when I first joined years ago, but now..... I have had several books listed for some years but nothing! And last week, a woman in the US asked for a mooch and then cancelled because I was not in America!! I emailed back and said "remooch, I am perfectly willing to send to the US", but she wasn't having any!! Presumably she didn't want to "pay" the 3 points it costs for an international mooch, otherwise that makes no sense! Usually it's hard to get people who are willing to send abroad. |
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