Help
Please ask your question, or browse our frequently asked questions below.
General
YES!! Why else would we say so? As fast as you can read your books and ship them back to us is the same speed that we will put new books in your hands. There is no limit to how much you can read on our "unlimited" plans. Listen, Speedy McReader, try not to abuse us!
You can keep a book for as long as you want/need. This is without late fees, or any other hidden penalties that other book clubs will charge. This convenience remains as long as you are a member! Yeah, let's just say that we're more generous than your neighbor.
However, if you decide to cancel your membership (Now why would you do that?), we require you to send your book(s) back within ten (10) days of that cancellation date.
Now what happens if you don't want to part with a beloved book?
Every package sent to you has a list of books and their “Keep My Book” discount prices. When you decide to keep a title, simply log onto your account and click the “Keep my Book” button next to the titles you wouldn't dare give back. After you check out and send proper payment, they’re all yours!! Immediately following that transaction, we will ship your next book (s) in your Rental Pool free of charge!
However, yes there is a catch. Some irreplaceable, out-of-print books simply cannot be sold and these books will not show a “Keep my Book” button. Sharing is caring folks! Don’t be greedy – share these special books with other members.
First of all, why would you do that?! But if you must, you can cancel your membership at anytime by
clicking to contact us. In order to help us out, please let us know why you're canceling so that we can continually improve our service. Who knows, it's likely the reason for canceling can actually solved! Once the cancellation is finalized, you have up to ten (10) days to return any books you still possess back to BookSwim otherwise the full amount for those books will be billed to your credit card.
We have tons of 1-book-a-month readers on our 3-at-a-time plan. So why give you 1 book when we can give you 3 for the same price? It's more cost effective for us and it's more cost effective for you! The average bestseller retails for over $22. For less than that, we'll give you AT LEAST 3.
So why 3-at-a-time?
Books are heavy and considerably more expensive to ship than, say, a DVD. We group together multiple books because shipping 2 or 3 books in a package does not cost us much more than 1 -- so why not give YOU more for LESS, and pass the savings on to you?
Shipping time each way also takes at least a few days through USPS Media Mail. We don't want you to feel the hunger pangs of literary emptiness, so we'd rather you hold on to a book or two while any others are shipping.
The first question to ask yourself is if you're looking to manage an account for someone else or if you simply want to purchase an online gift card? Differences -- perpetual billing or one time charge.
Sponsored accounts:
Simply sign up as you normally would by first selecting the desired Rental Plan and then on the second step choosing "For Someone Else" when asked "Who is this account for?". You'll use his or her shipping info and email address and your billing info. It's perfect for those who might not be internet savvy or not have access.
Gift Cards:
Birthdays? Holidays? Visit http://www.bookswim.com/gift.html to send a gift card in any denomination and select the date you want the person to receive email notification of his or her gift, which is then when the account can begin.
When you first click "sign up" you need to select the membership plan you want and then type in your gift code number at the bottom; click CONTINUE. You must select a rental plan.
Enter your shipping and billing information, including credit card number (so you can continue service after the gift card runs out) - no worries, you won't be charged. Click continue to the 3rd step.
You must make sure to finish the 3rd step and an account will be created for you. If there are any more problems, let us know.
A. When the gift runs out, if you wish to continue membership, it can continue seamlessly. No worries, as you'll be given much advance notice when the gift will run out if you wish to cancel
B. You will have possession of potentially $50-$75 worth of books and if for any reason you didn't want to send them back after your gift is up, what are we to do? Luckily, as of today, we have never charged any of our customers for damaged or lost books.
C. If you wish to buy a book and your gift amount doesn't cover the charge, the balance can be charged to you. We wouldn't want your gift giver to have to pay above and beyond the original gift amount.
You have nothing to worry about, as your card will never be charged until your gift credit runs out. I know you'll love your new BookSwim membership -- especially now that it's free :-)
What's an audiobook? Only kidding, but call us old-fashioned. We send out paperbacks and hardcovers only.
Billing
Your flat monthly membership fee (plus tax) is automatically billed on the monthly anniversary (we call it a monthiversary) of your first charge. For example, if your first charge was on the 17th of the month, your next charge is on the 17th of the following month. Not too complicated, right?
Unless specifically stated (due to a promotion, a promo code, or us losing our minds), you will be billed your entire first month's fee the moment you sign up with us.
What are you waiting for? There is no need to wait. Your flat monthly membership fee is automatically billed on the monthly anniversary of your first charge.
Should you forget your sanity and cancel your membership, the full current month's charge will still be billed to your credit card.
No. We require a valid credit card for every BookSwim Subscription Plan, including all promotions. This is to verify account information, secure orders, and prevent fraud. Thank you for your understanding.
Shipping
You're in luck if you're a Yank!! We only ship within the United States, to any state or territory within. We also ship to overseas military addresses.
Due to various losses, we will not ship to transitional addresses, such as a hotel. We hear there's a $100 bill tucked away in that Gideon Bible in your nightstand drawer.
All our books are shipped (and returned) using the
United States Postal Service (USPS) Media Mail Service . Simple, fast and convenient, this service will place your books directly in your mailbox. No need for signatures. Also, if you're returning our books at your local post office, you may use our mailers through the metered mail slot, if available.
Or you can simply leave your book packages in your mailbox to be picked up by the postal carrier.
Oh he’s going to
love you after your 83
rd package this year.
When you have an open rental slot, we make every effort to ship your book as soon as inventory is available. Books usually arrive within 3 to 7 days, but due to the unpredictable nature of the United States Postal Service (USPS) Media Mail, occasionally some shipments may take longer than 3 days to arrive because of postal delays. Patience is a virtue!
Orders received on Sundays and holidays are processed the following business day.
If you have any shipping problems, such as delayed arrival of your rentals, or any other problem with your order, you can report it within the
Contact BookSwim page.
Life is definitely unpredictable and often times the mail system makes mistakes. Therefore the
contact form is provided for you to report the occasional lost book.
However, theft of books will not be tolerated, buddy. We have US Postal Service inspectors on the case. If this becomes more than an occasional occurrence, we will be forced to suspend your account, pending a full investigation by the US Postal Service, and fraud divisions of credit card companies. All prosecution laws apply. Please think twice before deciding to keep books and blaming it on your poor mailman.
To keep books the “right” way, use our
“Keep my Book” program.
All our return bags keep the books virtually protected from any destruction that would tear or bend the pages or covers while shipping. The bags are tightly sealed and would never let in any water. Thus, it is your responsibility to handle all books with care.
If books are returned in a damaged condition, BookSwim has no choice but to charge the book's list price plus the cost of return shipping to your credit card.
Honesty is the best policy, so 'fess up. If you think you may have damaged a book, let us know through our
contact form before you try to mail it back. We will reward your honesty by only charging you the book's USED* value. You won't have to incur any shipping charges and you don't need to send it back to us. We understand mistakes happen -- we promise we won't be mad at you.
As soon as you become a member, you should start building your queue right away. In many cases, the books you've chosen are already in stock, but occasionally it will take from 1 to 2 additional business days for us to purchase any books you've chosen not currently on hand.
Once confirming all of your titles for the initial shipment are ready, we will ship out your BookSwim Welcome Package through USPS Priority Mail, to ensure your first goody-bag of books arrives in a flash!
"Did you send my package yet?" you say? Don't worry, you'll get an email the day we send your initial shipment.
MAKE SURE TO ADD MANY MORE TITLES THAN YOUR FIRST SHIPMENT. In case we can't get you a book or two to fulfill your first shipment but have some of your other requested books, we may switch around your queue in effort to at least get you some books in your hands. We're all about satisfying you as fast as possible ;-)
Upgrade books ship along with your next outgoing package. That means upon your next return, you'll get the upgraded books AND the replacement books together.
You are charged a pro-rated amount for the difference in price over your remaining billing month
We request that you send back your books within 14 days of downgrading. But why would you ever want to?
And for all you money-back jackals, there are no partial refunds or credits upon downgrading. Simply your next month will be billed at the new rate.
As long as you have an adequate books in your rental pool, just kick back, relax, fix yourself a drink...or three. They'll ship out automatically as soon as they're in stock (if not already) and you'll get an email notification the day they ship.
Actually, it's very important to keep at least 2- to 3-times your rental plan in your pool at any given time, just in case a top-requested book isn't available we can ship you an alternate to get books to you ASAP.
Returns
We give you a free, postage paid return mailer with every shipment. The number of books to ship back in a package depends on your Rental Plan:
2-Plan and 3-Plan: Return 2 books
5, 7, & 9-Plan: Return 3 books
11-Plan: Return 4 books
Place your books in the prepaid return mailer. Mark the books you're returning (in your Books In Possession page) so we can prepare your next shipment. Then drop the books into your mailbox for the Postal Service to pick up.
Once your books are given the A-OK, you will receive an email confirmation of their return. We will then promptly ship your next available titles from your personally selected Rental Pool. Notification of returns are also listed on your My Account Page. If more than a week passes and you haven't received a notice from BookSwim, please use our
Contact Us Page to report this issue.
My Book Request List
Your 'Book Rental Queue' is ultimately your rental wish list. You can update or edit your Queue at any time. Initially, we'll send you the first available books from your Queue.
Based on your rental plan guidelines, when you're finished reading 2, 3, or 4 of the books you have out, send them back so we can ship the next 2, 3, or 4 titles available from your Rental Pool. To rent a book, browse the BookSwim.com
catalog and click the 'Add to Rental Pool' button next to any book.
Availability can sometimes be limited for certain titles. After you return a book or have an open slot in your Rental Pool, we make every effort to ship your first choice. However, to help you get the most out of your membership, if a title in a higher spot is out of stock, we'll send your next available in-stock title. This way, you will always have great books on hand! Those unavailable titles will remain in your Pool and if they become available, will be sent out upon your next return shipment.
If books are unavailable from any source, it will be removed from your Pool. Don’t worry, we’ll let you know through an email and replace it with the next available book(s) in your Pool, and laugh at your poor taste in literature. Ha, just kidding...not really.
Calm down... everything's OK. It's very possible that one of your requested books may not be on hand at the time of shipment, but other books further down your Rental Pool are in stock. In an effort to get you the books you love as soon as we can, we might replace those out-of-stock books with something you wanted that IS in stock. It's important that you have reading material. Don't worry, when that book becomes available again we'll make sure to get it out to you with another shipment.
For this reason it's extremely important for you to always have your Pool full of titles you'd love to read.
90% absolutely. Any books you'd like to rent that aren't in our catalog, you can request to be added through our
Book Request Page
We specialize in literature and fiction. We also have plenty of non-fiction.
However, do not rent textbooks, reference, or technical manuals. If you add any titles of this nature, they may be removed from your Rental Pool.
Still Need Help?
Mailing Address
101 Church Street
Suite 2
Aberdeen, NJ 07747
Toll-Free Telephone: 1-877-BOOKSWIM (1-877-266-5794)