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Help Center - Can I send a book to a friend or a non-member Ior to myself at an alternate address)?

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Yes! This is very easy to do.

If you would like to send one of your own books to a friend (PBS member or non-PBS member) in a non-credit (creditless) transaction:

This is called the mail-to-a-Friend feature.

  • Go to the Book Details page for the book (click on the book title or cover image anywhere on the site)
    • Choose "Mail-to-a-Friend" under More Options to the right of the book cover image
    • If the book is currently Posted as available on your Bookshelf, there is also a Mail-to-a-Friend link on the upper right of the Book Details page.
  • Fill in the name and address where you want the book sent
  • The transaction will appear on your My Account page, on the "Books Sent to a Friend" tab
    • From there, you can print out the wrapper and send the book as usual - you may use Printed Postage if you like
    • The transaction will stay on your account page on the "Books Sent to a Friend" tab until you mark it received.
  • When your friend receives the book, mark it received from that tab.
  • This is a non-credit transaction. No credit will be deducted, or granted, for sending your book out this way. However, if you use Printable Postage, the shipment will earn a Free Swap (which will allow you to request a book in future using only Book credits and no PBS Money/Swap Fees)

This feature can also be used to generate postage if you have to remail a book (for example if you have printed postage already from a swap but used it to mail the wrong book; you can generate new postage from a "mail-to-friend" transaction to re-mail the correct book).

If you would like to request a book FROM ANOTHER MEMBER to send to an alternate (not your own) address:

You can supply the address when requesting the book:

  • Click on the book listing
  • On the next page, you will be asked to confirm the mailing address.  Choose the option in the middle "Specify an alternate address" and enter the name and address of the intended recipient.
  • Click
  • This will submit the request with the mailing address you provided.
    • A credit will be deducted from your account, just as with any request made to another member
    • When your friend receives the book, she or he needs to tell you that it was received.  Then you simply mark it received from your the "En Route to Me" tab on your My Account page, as usual, so the sender can get credit. Please follow up with your friend by the 2-week mark after the book is mailed - almost all books will have arrived during that time.

If you would like to accept a Wish List book FROM ANOTHER MEMBER to send to an alternate (not your own) address:

You can supply the address when accepting the Wish List offer:

  • When you are offered a book from your Wish List there is a button "I want this book, send to an alternate address!" that you can click (and then supply the address) if you want to direct it to a different address.
  • Please note that any books on auto-request on your Wish List will be requested automatically to be sent to your account address.  There is not an option to choose an alternate address for auto-requested books.

The option to request a book from another PBS member to send to an alternate address is available to you ONLY after you have first used your startup credits to receive 2 (or 3 if your account was registered before October 2007) books from PBS.

 


Note: If you are the sender and get a request to send a book to an alternate address, you will notice that the second page of the wrapper is different:

  • It will say "This book was sent to you by ----" (this will NOT be your name)
  • The name on the second sheet will be the name of the member who requested the book, to be sent to an alternate address
    • This message is there to tell the recipient of the book who requested the book to be sent to him or her, and it asks the recipient to let the requestor know when the book arrives
    • When the recipient gets the book, he or she should tell the friend who requested the book from you, so that the requestor can mark the book received
  • When the book is marked received, you will get your Book Credit, as usual

If you want to send a book to a friend without posting it to your Bookshelf (ie, if it is a Wish Listed book):

  • You can generate a wrapper from the Book Details page using Mail to a Friend as described above
  • You can print the wrapper with Printable Postage if you like - as a Mail to a Friend swap, it won't earn Book Credit, but if you use Printable Postage, the mailing will earn a "Free Swap" (which will allow you to request a book in future using only Book Credit and no PBS Money/Swap Fees)

Don't forget to tell your friend about PaperBackSwap.com!