I recently posted the following on John's Blog and realizes it might be more appropriate to post here. I am very upset at the ridiculous increase in the cost of shipping overseas from the U.S. Up to US$23.95 for a pre-pack capable of holding 2 or 3 PBs. While I ramble a bit, I am also interested in any thoughts others have that would allow for shipping books internationally at a reasonable price, say US$4 per book.

John,
I've been a member for a few years and have enthusiastically shipped my "used" books all over the world. I accumulated a lot of points doing that proving that altruism is just another name for self-interest.(Grin)

I am now back in the U.S. and was very disappointed to discover that the Int'l Priority pack has gone up to $23.95. I would ship my U.S. based PBs in a priority pack and could always get 2 and somtimes three in the envelope which cost U.S.$12 or 13.95.

I just posted the folowing on my profile page:

"Unfortunately, thanks to the political football we in the U.S. call the U.S. Postal Service (the service part is an oxymoron) I will no longer pay the ridiculous charges to send books overseas. Last year, a Priority Mail Pack, good to hold 2 or 3 PBs, was US$12.95. In January it went up to US$23.95. In most parts of the world, one can buy new PBs or used HCs cheaper. While this site is more than just a way to get books for a reasonable cost, US$8 to US$12 per used PB book is beyond reasonable. Methinks, I see a business opportunity here for someone far younger than myself, shipping books and other heavy weight items via surface and then re-distributing them at various points using local postal services or couriers.

I feel sad about this development since I made some good Bookmooch Friends around the world by shipping them books from Hong Kong which is still civilized enough to handle surface shipping at a reasonable cost. Reminds me of the song, "Those Were the Days"."

It might motivate some U.S. members if the moochee received 6 points
for a book shipped internationally from there. I know there are other places in the world where Int'l postage is even greater and perhaps these places could be included. Another possibility would be to accumulate books in some less expensive spot like Hong KOng and re-ship them. I wish I had thought of this before I relocated back to the U.S.

Unfortunately as my good friend Dick Gottlieb, President and founder of Grey House Publishers, said to me recently, "I seem to be involved in a dying industry, which may be appropriate as I celebrate my 74th birthday."

Whatever the problems, I hope Bookmooch can continue to be a global organization.

I also hope others who read this might have their own take on the issue, if they see it as an issue.

I have always asked overseas moochers (in my profile) to request more than one book to help defray the costs, but most either a) don't or b) request a huge, heavy hardback as well as a paperback, which makes it impossible, also, to send because of the cost/weight and then I have to turn them down for the heavy book and then they don't want just the paperback.

I don't think there's any easy answer, as far as this situation.

Prices vary from country to country, it appears.

Having had great success shipping internationally from Hong Kong, I am trying to come up with a way for moochees in high postage countries to ship Internationally thereby increasing the scope and potential of the entire Bookmooch community.

I may be on a fools errand.

Ed

Congress idea of saving the USPS? prefund retirement SEVENTY-FIVE years! ouch

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr6407

I have tried to use your math, BUT I can't seem to figure it out.

$2.06 per Credit?

How do you figure?

I send ONE (1) TPB book to GB and it cost me $18.60 (1st class). That's $6.20 per BookMooch CREDIT. At these numbers, international shipping of BOOKS for me on BM is completely out.

I don't understand your numbers. Please enlightened me.

MP

- Can we, ALL OF US I mean here at BM and elsewhere, advocate the US Postal Service for an international Media Mail rate?

Of course, the answer will probably be "no", since we're a very small customer base, but I have had this thought now for a few years, and I wanted to share it with you all.

Additionally, the people in Canada have been complaining for years about the cost from there.

And so on...

I honestly don't find USPS rates that egregious. They are much higher than they used to be, yes, but so are the costs of fuel, planes and trucks, labor etc. UPS and FedEx are even more expensive in most cases, which suggests to me that that is what it costs to send packages across the country or the world these days. The USPS is not funded by taxes or anything, and has to pay its own bills and make ends meet just like any other business.

I'm just glad that USPS still has the option of media mail within the US, because books are heavy and the non-media package rates would be hefty indeed. Fingers crossed that they don't get rid of it anytime soon.

i fear that the world-wide aspect of Bookmooch might be endangered and even the domestic exchange as Media Mail keeps going up and up. I can go to Goodwill or a used book store and often get a book cheaper than it costs the sender if I mooch it from someone. I recently did that with a DeMille title, I had mooched but saw at the Goodwill for $2. Overseas it's a given that the moocher can buy the book for about what it would cost to mail it. Add e-books and libraries to the mix and you can see that we in Bookmooch might be living on borrowed time.

We had better enjoy it while we can.

Anyway... Royal Mail has grown so expensive here in the UK that it's often cheaper to buy a secondhand copy for someone on Amazon than to send my own duplicates in the mail, now. And that's profoundly depressing, not to mention frustrating since it more or less negates the point... I had a book returned to me by RM a couple weeks ago that said I hadn't paid enough on postage - wanted a total of £4.50. For a small, mass-market-sized paperback, from Manchester to London. Not even international mail.

I've started to use courier services in some instances. It often proves cheaper than Royal Mail - or USPS either, according to my American friends. Sigh.

What am I doing wrong?

First, check the experience of the person you are mooching from. It could be they have quit bookmooch but not officially quit. The last time they were on the site is there in the list of owners. I never mooch from anyone who hasn't been on the site for a month or more.

Second, If they are still active, after a week, send them an e-mail message asking for a response. If they do not respond to the e-mail, report them.

I had a couple of similar problems, early in my membership so I became much more selective as to who I mooch from.

Good luck

Time in Tokyo Time in Austin
09:23 AM
Thursday, August 23, 2018

Tokyo time zone: UTC+09:00 or JST 07:23 PM
Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Austin time zone: UTC-05:00 or CDT

Also some Bookmoochers may only be able to check their email every once in a while.

I try to reply quick saying I will send a book but not everyone can.

I am having problems adding books to my inventory too and this is since last Friday. I also have occasional problems with books not coming off my wish list once I mark it received. I have to remove it manually. I think the listing issues could be due to amazon. I hope this is resolved some time.

Jessy

When you canceled you should have gotten points back Are you sure that didn't happen? Check your points analysis on your member home page.

If that isn't happening, you can e-mail Bookmooch and ask what's going on. You'll find the link on the About Bookmooch link.

Good luck,

Ed Hahn