Can someone please tell me what the difference is between a book club edition and a book from Amazon or a book store? I am getting a headache from people complaining about book club editons. Who can afford to buy books at double the price from book stores? I buy from Amazon used, but if the person says no BCE, then I don't risk sending it because I can't tell the difference. I had a lady send me a nasty PM because she claimed a book I had gotten from Amazon NEW was a BCE.  Thanks for the help.

Hi Donna, I understand your confusion.  I personally do not care whether I receive a BCE or one purchased elsewhere.  All I care about is that the ISBN# matches what I have requested.  Someone told me that the way you can tell the difference between BCE and those purchased from other places is that the the BCE ones won't have the price listed insided the DJ on the inside front cover.  I did a quick check through some of the books on my shelf and did find this to be true.  Those I had ordered from DoubleDay Book Club didn't have a price inside and the size of them was somewhat smaller.  Some people just don't care for the shape I suppose of the BCE ones.  They want their books to all be uniform in size that they put on their shelves.  If there are other ways of telling the difference between BCE ones and others I hope they will let us know so that we don't make the mistake of sending the wrong book.  Good luck, Donna with all your future swaps!

so very much for helping me in my confusion. It makes sense now! I don't care either..............these are used books and a great deal for someone who reads constantly like I do. The sizes are different...................but I don't care about pretty.............I just want something to read to help distract me from the fibro pain and get lost in another world!

Well, I also like book club editions. Sometimes it is the only way to obtain a hardcover version of a book that was only published in paperback.

Here is a link that might help.

http://www.biblio.com/blog/2010/11/can-you-identify-a-book-club-edition/

If you are unsure Donna, feel free to decline RC's that mention BCEs. 

Since BCE's are allowed per PBS guidelines, if the requester does not have an RC they have no legitimate complaint.

*hugs* hope your swaps go smoother in the future!

Nothing to add other than don't feel guilty about turning down RCS asking for no BCE's if you aren't sure or just don't want to deal with figure it out.  People have a right to RCS and senders have a right to decline them. If you aren't sure then decline and just put in the reason that you aren't sure if it's a BCE or not.

Thanks, Sara and Marc, for the links to help identify BCE from regular ones! Found it to be very helpful!

People may have RCs against BCEs because they are collectors, plan on keeping the book, and want it to be the same size as the other books they have by that author.  Or they plan on re-selling the book after they read it (rather than re-posting it here), and cannot resell BCEs.

Among science fiction fans, BCEs have a mixed reputation.  On the one hand, the SFBC has been using better-quality paper than the standard editions for years, and often publishes in HC books otherwise available only as PBs.  On the other hand, non-BCE books are considered more collectible (even if re-sale is not a consideration).

I have bought many, many children's book club books and many of them did not have ISBNs so I have to post as non-ISBN, but some (like Dr. Suess early readers series and Disney book club) have ISBNs and look just like those for sale in stores.