But maybe not water damage.  I recieved a WL book today that there is, well, something wrong with it, it looks like water damage, but then again it doesn't. The pages are all wavy (from the front to about 1/3 of the way through the book) and the book doesn't close all the way, not due to the spine, but due to these pages not being flat. But there are no stains or spots as if there was water. 

There is a place on the outside of the pages that looks like a pencil or something has been run down them, there is an indention, but I don't think that would have done this to the pages.

i don't particulary mind the shape it's in, it's readable so it's okay with me. But I do think the rules are important.  If it's not water damage, then I suppose it was postable.......however not in good shape. It's a brand new release Feb. '09, so this is not "normal wear". How do I determine if this should be marked RWAP? If I don't know how to determine water damage.?

Some of the newer books that are being distributed now have those wavy pages, I guess because of the lower quality of paper. I came across two of those at KMart this weekend, so I know what you mean. Sometimes it's hard to discern between water damage and just those wavy pages though. If it's a brand new release I'm thinking it's probably the quality of the paper if you don't see any other evidence of water damage.

I'm not an expert on water damage, but I think that the pages would be stiff it it actually had water damage.  The wavy pages may be due to humidity.  I had a book I bought brand new and within a year the pages became very wavy, the book wouldn't lie flat because it became so thick.  I think the cheap paper that is used today makes this happen more often.  I don't believe the help documents address this situation, but I may be wrong.

If this is the case, I do not believe it should be marked RWAP unless there are other problems with it.  But, others may have a different opinion.  I chose not to list my book because I figured many people would believe that it was from water damage.  I didn't want the hassle.  The book was sent as a freebie with a book order.

It may very well be due to the type of paper. I've just never swapped or bought one that looks like this before. The book is pretty banged up, but not unpostable (assuming this isn't water damage).

I probably won't repost it, because someone else may chose to cause a hassle over it, and I honestly don't know, which sucks, cause I originally had no plans to keep this one, it had such a long wish list, I planned to read it and pass it along. Ah, thats life, huh?!

Offer it as a freebie with the order of another book for credit on your bookshelf!  You can put the offer in your signature line and on a "banner" on your bookshelf and post in the Book Bazaar. It can still be useful to you that way and it doesn't cost much more (if any sometimes) to mail 2 togethr!

Ruth

I was going to buy the new Jodi Pocult novel last week.   Couldn't find ANY copy that didn't look like that, and right on the sellers shelf!  Made me so mad I wouldn't buy it.   

Yea.  What is it with these new books?   A whole bunch have this new paper.  It's even wavy on the store shelf.  Is it thinner?

Seems like all books now are made total crap quality.  The covers are paper thin and the paper is worse.  I've had some recently purchased books where the paper is so thin the text almost bleeds through to the other side.  Its ridiculous.

How about bindings? I had a brand new (trade size) book and it started to separate as soon as I began reading. Gave it away.

I stopped using a booklight that I bought (one that clips to the pages) because it caused the pages to look wavy from the pressure of the clip. It made me nervous to send out the books because I'm afraid it'll be judged as water damaged and I didn't want to keep having unpostables. (though now that I'm thinking about it, I might be able to clip the booklight onto something else when I use it)