MAKE MONEY #33: Be Part of a Book Swap
Book Swap: Give a book, get a book
Difficulty: 2 (EASY)
Initial Investment: 0 (LOW)
Location: REMOTE, WORK FROM HOME, ONLINE
Good for: Students, Retirees, Parents, Writers, ALL
Love the classy look of fine black print on a white page, the feel of a creased spine in your hand? That great feeling of a good book never seems to go away.
Avid Readers: Apply here
IF you are an “avid reader”–consuming as many as three books a week or more–and eReaders leave you cold, but the price of new books leave you even colder, a book swap is for you–try Paperbackswap.com. It’s great for you and all old-school voracious readers out there. Especially as book prices rise–and rise. But is PaperbackSwap legit? See below!
You can satiate your paperback-book (and audio book and hardback and textbook) appetite and keep your hard-earned green while keeping your house book pile-free. How? Join a Book Swap at PaperbackSwap.com. There’s a nifty online “book” tutorial that takes you through the easy steps page-by-page, but it basically comes down to some pretty simple rules:
Trade Books with an Online Book Swap Club
- JOIN.
- LIST a book you want to swap.
- Get a request, then MAIL to the club member. You pay postage.
- CHOOSE from over 1,000,050 available books!
- RECEIVE your book, postage-paid.
SELL Books from the Book Swap
The books you request are yours to keep, swap, or even SELL on another site, like Sellyourbackyourbook.com (or Amazon, or others)! You can USE SCOUTIQ.com or other app to determine the value of the book and what it sells for.

IS PaperbackSwap Legit? A Word from the Founder–It’s Legit!
Richard Pickering, the founder of PaperbackSwap.com, and its sister sites, SwapaCD.com and SwapaDVD.com, explains, “As people try to save more and more money during these difficult economic times, these new clubs allow people to swap with each other for free! No gotchas, no gimmicks, no SPAM, no kidding! These are real clubs for real people!”. This site has been around for many years (since 2004), and stood the test of time.
Members can transfer credits between sites – and it’s easy to register on all three sites at the same time. If you like the site enough, consider spreading the word and earn free credits and PBS money that way.
Who is the Founder anyway and what are they all about?
The founder, Pickering, applied and received patents with the US Patent Office that involve the swapping process of books, CDs and DVDs. Pickering still runs the company currently. But don’t take his word for it! Here is the Wikipedia page for PaperBackSwap, which discusses the site thoroughly, its founding and the founder and its legitimacy in more detail.
TIP: See the Wikipedia page for PaperBackSwap here, which talks about the site and founder and its legitimacy in more detail.

Look for PaperbackSwap in all the usual places, like Twitter and Facebook, and check their blog for author interviews, contests, and more. Then Sit Back, Enjoy and Read.
Consider Creating your OWN Book Swap

OF course, you could also create your own book share / book swap with some friends and family, or even neighbors. The Little Free Library movement is based on a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota. They grant 24/7 book access and promote reading in high-need areas. Little Free Library grants no-cost Little Free Libraries full of books to underserved urban, suburban, rural, and Indigenous communities.
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