Netflix for used books?

I put out a book review yesterday and several people indicated they are interested in reading the book I reviewed. I am going to mail my copy to a friend rather than him buying another new copy. Another friend recommended a different book that I would like to read. So I am thinking…why keep buying new books? I have a ton of books that I have read already that are on my shelf. I might read them again someday but I have plenty to keep me busy for quite some time. I am sure others do as well. So why not exchange books with other folks rather than buying new ones? Sending a book via the postal service at the media mail rate is pretty cheap. Takes a little longer but it is not very expensive. Perhaps the sender would pay the minimal cost of mailing the book out to an interested party and then when that person is done they would pay the mailing cost to send it back or even to send it to another person who was interested. Sort of like Netflix for used books.

For example, the book I am sending is 6.4 ounces, well under 1 pound. According to our friends at the U.S. postal service I can send that book via media mail for $2.41. New that same book is $10.19. Because I am not an elected official, I can recognize that $2.41 is much less than $10.19 even though I haven’t passed a math class since the 80’s. I will spend more than that on lunch and many people spend that much on those  pseudo-coffee drinks at Starbucks.

I usually use my debit card reward points to buy books but that is drying up (thanks Federal government!) and I am loathe to spend money on more books. I would rather spend a few bucks to ship books to other people and get books in return as needed. That helps support my book reading habit without taking away from funds that could be used for ministry.

I am thinking that the people who read here regularly have a combined library that would be pretty impressive. Why not spread the wealth? If there is interest I can put together a list of books I have available and see if anyone wants to read them. There are probably some books that I am less likely to drop in the mail because of the size of the book or if it is a book I reference regularly. I also have a small number of books that are out of print and kind of rare. Other than that they are fair game.

Any interest in this?