How to Trade Books Online

Register with a website that specializes in book trades. Bookmooch requires users to inventory the books they have available, thus earning points. Users can spend the points they earn to get books from other users. The only money required is the cost of shipping books.

Join an online book discussion group. Individuals in online book clubs often become good friends, thus opening the door for trading opportunities. Make a list of books you have for trade, and ask some of your online buddies if they would be interested in a trade.

Start a book box. If you have a number of books you'd like to trade, ask your online acquaintances through MySpace, blogs or a posting forum if they would like participate in a book box trade. Make a list of the participants, pack it into a box with your tradeable books, and send it on its way. Each recipient takes out books of interest and add the same number of books back into the box. By the time it makes its way through the list of participants and back to the person who started the box, he will have a new collection of books.

Join a community of fans. Posting forums are particularly popular among genre fiction readers. Many forums focus specifically on a particular author or genre (horror, mystery, science fiction). Members of these communities are often very friendly and willing to trade with new fans.

Advertise your interest in book trading. If you have a blog or website, post a list of the books you want to trade, and see who bites. If readers know that you're interested in trading books online and can easily access a list of available books, they are likely to inquire.