PaperBackSwap / National Book Swap
Reviews and Complaints

I don't know if you'd ever see this but it's because you can't send books directly to inmates. One reason is that prisons have very strict rules on what can be sent to inmates. Books must be ordered and sent directly from the publisher or online bookstore to be able to send them to a prison, so PBS wouldn't qualify for that. Another reason is the person sending the book would have their return address on the package and that's one of the reasons they don't want the packages being sent to prisons.

They are rude and beligerent in email and there are a couple great book swapping sites aside from PBS. I would never use them again. I was gone for 4 months, came back tried to sign on and found my account frozen and all my credits and money GONE. I tried to get ahold of them and they sent me a very rude email. They are the worst.

It is absurd to assume the original poster of the complaint is the one at fault with no proof or evidence to support that assumption. Furthermore, here are PBS's terms of service, admitting that they will steal the credits and money of anyone they don't like. They will also steal your money and credits if they decide for any reason to close their site, or if you don't use their site for a year.

National Book Swap reserves the right to immediately terminate the service and forfeit all Book Credits of any member who National Book Swap determines, in its sole discretion, has violated one or more conditions of this contract. In the event such termination occurs, National Book Swap has no obligation whatsoever to refund any portion of fees paid or to pay compensation for Book Credits forfeited or lost use of Site privileges.

also:

National Book Swap reserves the right to terminate service at any time without notice. In the event of service termination, Site members will not be entitled to any compensation for outstanding Book Credits, whether earned through book shipments or purchased.

and let's not forget:

An account may be deemed "dormant" when no items have been ordered, shipped, or purchased within any 1 year period. Dormant accounts may be closed and any accumulated PBS Money forfeited without compensation to the account holder.

I have found paperbackswap duplicitous in their requirements. When I received a rude message, I sent a rude reply. Because the person who sent the first message (which, I repeat, was extremely rude) complained to pbs about my rude reply, my account was canceled. They stole my credits and money, but not before sending me... a rude message. Beware. Don't talk to anyone. If someone is rude to you, ignore them (or report them so pbs can steal their money and credits). Better yet, don't support pbs. Give your money to your local public library.

Somebody tried to game the system and got burned. Tsk.

Ditto, I have been sending and receiving several hundred books from PBS for over 3 years with no problem at all. Their website is great and user friendly. I have built up a good library of professional books in subjects I am interested it. Also I've found novels, mysteries, cookbooks and other light reading, and hard to find titles.