PaperBackSwap (PBS) is a

book swapping Book swapping or book exchange is the practice of a swap of books between one person and another. Practiced among book groups, friends and colleagues at work, it provides an inexpensive way for people to exchange books, find out about new books a ...

website which was founded in 2004. The purpose of PaperBackSwap is to use the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

to facilitate the parity trading of books among members in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

using a credit based system for swapping. The club also operates sister websites SwapaDVD and SwapaCD to facilitate parity trading of DVDs and CDs, respectively.

History

PaperBackSwap was founded in 2004 by Richard Pickering, a former

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

student, and his friend, Robert Swarthout. Sister websites SwapaCD and SwapaDVD were founded in 2008.

Operation

A credit system is used to enable members to trade books for credits and credits for books. Credits may either be purchased, or they may be earned by mailing books which have been requested. Consequently, a member need not seek another member who desires a parity trade; credits are the

medium of exchange In economics, a medium of exchange is any item that is widely acceptable in exchange for goods and services. In modern economies, the most commonly used medium of exchange is currency. The origin of "mediums of exchange" in human societies is ass ...

. Both

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...

and

hardback A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...

books may be traded, as well as

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

s. Within the PBS system the value of any bound book is one credit, and the value of an audio book is two credits. Pickering patented several embodiments of the program with the

US Patent Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...

involving the swapping process of books, CDs and DVDs. Pickering continues to successfully run the company to date.

References

External links

* {{official website, 1=http://www.paperbackswap.com/
www.swapacd.com

www.swapadvd.com
Book swapping American book websites Internet forums Internet properties established in 2004