Reading another thread made me think of something I've been wondering for quite awhile. Dust jackets are not required on PBS, so if you have a book that has a dust jacket that's torn or has a stain and the book is otherwise good, if you want to post it, is it okay to just send it without the dust jacket since the dust jacket isn't required?

This has always puzzled me. I guess my thought is, if the dust jacket is messed up and the book is otherwise good, then you could send it without the dust jacket. But if you sent with the dust jacket then it could be marked  RWAP? It's confusing to me.

I haven't run into this situation at all--I'm just wondering.

It's a good question.  I guess you run the risk of having it marked RWAP if you include it or if you don't, by those who don't know the rules.  I've received a book with a damaged dust jacket and my first inclination was to mark it RWAP until I remembered that DJs are technically not required so you can't mark RWAP based on that.  So, I guess it would just be a judgement call on your part as to whether to include it.

If I have the dust jacket and there's no RC requiring a dust jacket-I send it out.  On the off chance they complain then just point out that they didn't have an RC requiring a dust jacket and if they want a nice dust jacket they need to add an RC for future requests.  Point them to the posting guidelines that say no dust jacket is required.  I believe if they have a dust jacket RC than the jacket has to be in good condition. So if you have a beat up dust jacket-decline an RC for a dust jacket. 

My understanding is that the dustjacket isn't required, but if there is one it has to meet posting guidelines (no more than inch tear, etc). So, without other factors like reading conditions, you should probably send it without a torn or stained dust jacket. However, if I had a book like that I would be more like to PM and say "I have a stained dust jacked for it, shall I include it?"

From the Help Center:

Dust Jacket:

• The DUST JACKET (this is not the same as the cover of a book) does not have to be included with a book at all, unless the requestor had this in their Requestor Conditions. 
• So DUST JACKET condition cannot be considered as part of the condition of a book, unless there were Requestor Conditions on the request specifying that the dust jacket be included.
• If the Dust Jacket was to be included as specified in the Requestor Conditions on the request, the Dust Jacket must meet the same conditions as defined for the cover, below.

So the condition of the dust jacket doesn't matter as long is there are no requester conditions regarding the existence of dust jacket.

I've sent out books on a request to someone who didn't have RC's but wanted the HC.  The dust jacket was missing.  Since there are so many new people (and others who do not read the rules) I PM'd first saying that even though the rules say the dust jacket isn't required and I didn't have to PM I wanted to give them the option before I mailed it just in case they did want a dust jacket.  My thinking was that I was informing them that there was no DJ, that they had no RC for one, and the rules say I don't have to send one without RC's.  That would knock out any future arguments ahead of time.  It's worked so far.

Ruth

If you're going to PM someone give them a deadline to respond and say you are going to either mail the book anyway or cancel the request.  Be aware though that if you have to cancel the request-you will have to repost your book and start at the end of the FIFO line again. If it's a WL it'll just get offered to the same person again.

You don't have to PM.  It's up to new members to read the guidelines. It's not your fault if they don't take the time and it's not your responsibility to educate them about site rules that are easy to find and read.  But if you decide to PM give a deadline. Some people only come on if they have an email telling them there's a pending request of a WL offer.  So you're stuck waiting for them. Then what happens if you mail the book on the deadline and they PM the next day saying I don't want the book afterall. 

If someone that didn't have dust jacket RCS complains about the condition of the dust jacket or lack of one-direct them to the site rules. 

if i have one that's ripped or stained i toss the dust jacket, but I also always pm the requestor before i send the book out to make sure they no the book doesn't have a dust jacket so there are no surprises later on. And if they want to cancel then I just cancel.

What I've done is if the dustjacket has problems, I PMed the person who requested the book to see if they still want it included.  If they don't have a dustjacket RC, then they can't really be expecting one at all-- so I leave it up to them whether I toss the jacket or send it on to them.

I agree with every point you made, Mary!  I just hate the hassle of dealing with people who don't read the rules or want to cause a stink.  Not that a credit is worth lying about a book, but there are people who think if they can get away with it there's nothing wrong with scaming people.

And I never look at my email.  I check the PM's and Club Communications here.  I like being here.  Email is too depressing.

Ruth

Ruth,

While those sort of pm's are not required, I really appreciate when I get one . . .

Thanks for going the extra distance!

Cindi