Swap your unwanted books for a new read
I don’t know about you, but there are very few books I feel compelled to tackle again once I’ve read them.
Because I read a lot of books, I’m always pushed for shelving space, even though I have quite a few bookshelves in the house — as a former librarian, I can’t bear to throw out a book, even a lousy one.
Luckily, I do swap some books with an elderly uncle with lots of reading time on his hands and my local bowling club has an informal book swap thing happening between members, but not everyone has such an option. Until now, that is.
You can now swap books with other Aussie book lovers online via The Book Swap site — you get rid of your unwanted book to someone who really wants it and you can choose from the other books for swap on the site and have them sent to you.
It’s currently free to join (for a limited time; the joining fee was $9.99) and all you need to do is register with the site and upload the ISBNs of three of your unwanted books to get started. The site will then compile all the details and a cover image to go on the site.
You earn points for the books you put up for swap based on their recommended retail price and these points entitle you to receive available books that interest you. The cost of postage is the responsibility of the sender.
So, if you’d like to swap some of those old unwanted tomes gathering dust on your bookshelf for a new read, why not give The Book Swap service a go. All it will cost you is a few dollars in postage, which is way cheaper than buying a new book in most instances.
Gail Lipscombe has worked for some of Australia's hottest tech magazines for over 10 years. In her blog, she focuses on demystifying technology, gadgets and the web for average consumers.