I'm not entirely adverse to Mass Market Paperbacks, I just like trade paperbacks as they are easier to hold and fit nicely in my book shelf. I've noticed recently that I'll request and I'll get it and it's a mass market (At no fault to the user because they entered the proper isbn).  Lately I've had to copy/paste the ISBN into amazon to see if it's a MM or trade paperback. Kind of tedious...no?

Is this a bug in the system or am I missing something about the types of paperbacks?

If the system actually say Trade Paperback, then they cannot use that ISBN to post that book, they need to post it as a book without an ISBN and you should be marking the book RWP - wrong book.  The problem arises because many of the books just say paperback in the PBS system and that can mean either. In fact I don't recall ever seeing one say it was a tradeback, only mass market paperback or paperback.  The only thing to do is add an RC that you only want tradebacks or PM the posters to find out. I don't see this being changed since the info the system has in mined from other areas and that's how its listed. 

Also, some people might not quite know the difference between trade size and mass market....

Umm...what is the difference? ^_^

Thats really interesting. I guess thats why it's a major no-no if someone tries to post a book w/o it's covers. It also makes me think I need to aquire Trade paperbacks or hardcovers for any books I plan on keeping in the long term, rather than swaping.

If the system actually say Trade Paperback, then they cannot use that ISBN to post that book, they need to post it as a book without an ISBN and you should be marking the book RWP - wrong book.

Problem is, it sounds like the person is entering the correct ISBN on their book and the system is calling it a trade paperback -- not the user. Shouldn't PBS fix that?  I know you get the screen that asks if your book matches the one shown, but then says the cover art doesn't have to match. How is a poster to know?

Among the 140+ books on my shelf, there are both trade and mass market paperbacks.  However, the system is inconsistent in naming them.  I don't think I have ever seen any book here listed as 'trade paperback'.  While none of my "trades" is listed as mass market, not all of my mass markets even have that designation...many say just 'paperback'. 

I don't think 'trade paperback' is even one of the options given when listing a book.  I think the only way you can be sure you are getting that type is to PM the member to ask or enter a Requestor Condition that you wish to get trade paperbacks, not mass market.

Problem is, it sounds like the person is entering the correct ISBN on their book and the system is calling it a trade paperback -- not the user. Shouldn't PBS fix that?  I know you get the screen that asks if your book matches the one shown, but then says the cover art doesn't have to match. How is a poster to know? - PBS cannot fix this. There are tons of books that use the same ISBN for Hard Cover, MMP, and Trade Paperback. PBS can only list one of the binding, the rest need to be posted as a book without and ISBN. The system clearly states this in the Help and it also prompts you when you post the book that the ISBN, Title, Author, and Type (which is where the binding is listed) MUST match or you cannot use that ISBN to post the book. Cover are doesn't have to match, but cover art does not mean binding type.

I guess I expect the poster to read enough on the site to know how to use it and to read whats in front of them when they are posting the book. I understand people make mistakes and I understand new people might miss something, but I do expect people to pay attention to what they are doing. This is one of my biggest annoyances and have an RC to repeat the binding rule so those who haven't read the prompts will have to see it on the order.

I think the OP is saying that the binding comes up as "paperback" and doesn't specify mass market or trade size and she is right.  If one posts a trade paperback, there is no option to call it that.  If I see that my trade paperback was to be listed as mass market, then I would post it with no ISBN, but i don't think that ever happens.

I guess I expect the poster to read enough on the site to know how to use it and to read whats in front of them when they are posting the book

Melanie,  Where on the site, othen than wading through the forums, would one find this distinction?  I've searched the Help Docs, and the best I can find is this

http://www.paperbackswap.com/help/search.php?terms=mass+market

I read that page to indicate that even the site doesn't make a distinction between the two and the only way to ask your sender to make a distinction is through an RC.  Even if the ISBN pops up "trade" or "mass market", IMO the sender would seem to be justified in seeing "paperback" and believing they have the same book.

If you want to be on the safe side with books I guess you could err on the side of caution and get the Hardback even if it means waiting for it on your wishlist. What I've been doing is copy/pasting the isbn into amazon and when I do, if it's still availiable for purchase, if the price is ~$7.99, then I assume mass-market. If it's not on clearance, and retails ~$14.00 then it's  a trade. I know that the PBS system does NOT say if it is a trade paperback. I was just looking for some more tactics to try and determine the book format.

Does anyone else find that MM paperbacks are harder to hold when you're reading them? I am having more of a problem as of late because I had surgery on my hand. But even beforehand, I've always preferred trade format.

And by the by, if anyone is a freak like me and browses the clearance section of Barnes and noble (sometime amazon), you can find old editions of hardcover books and trade paperbacks for next to nill. Before tax, I've spent an average of $3.50 per book and they are brand new. Plus, then I can share the wealth with my fellow pbs'ers when I'm done with the book. (As the copy I get is usually wishlisted all to high heck)

This is a problem outside of the Swap, too.  I was pursuing a set of trade paperbacks for a series I collect and even when ordering them through the used book store it was difficult.  The poor guy had to keep sending books back because even as a professional it's just not always that easy to track down the right books.  The only way I have for checking is to look at the measurements on Amazon, but they're not always there and they're not always right.  For the most part you just have to keep trying 'til the universe gets it right by putting the book you want in your hands.

I wish PBS had a category of binding that told people it might be one or the other - like 'massmarket or trade paperback.' Then that could be the official ISBN version, people would understand they might get one or the other, and if they wanted a special one, they could put that in requester conditions.

The technically correct solution - that you're supposed to create a non-ISBN version of the book if it's a different binding - is too unfair to the poster. It makes it much less likely to ever get 'found' by someone looking for the book.

I guess I expect the poster to read enough on the site to know how to use it and to read whats in front of them when they are posting the book. I understand people make mistakes and I understand new people might miss something, but I do expect people to pay attention to what they are doing. This is one of my biggest annoyances and have an RC to repeat the binding rule so those who haven't read the prompts will have to see it on the order.

Melanie, I've checked the posting requirements, and even though I'm new, I am careful to make sure the binding matches -- that is, hard cover vs. paperback.  But I know there are many books out there that have MMP and trade paperback editions and if PBS doesn't make a distinction, I would be hard-pressed to do so without seeing an RC.  I appreciate, however, the information that some publishers use the same ISBN for their various editions of the same book, so you have to make sure it matches precisely. So far, I've only posted paperbacks and I haven't seen any come up with the designation of trade paperback vs. MMP. They just come up as paperback so I click "OK" that it does match.

Melanie, I've checked the posting requirements, and even though I'm new, I am careful to make sure the binding matches -- that is, hard cover vs. paperback.  But I know there are many books out there that have MMP and trade paperback editions and if PBS doesn't make a distinction, I would be hard-pressed to do so without seeing an RC.  I appreciate, however, the information that some publishers use the same ISBN for their various editions of the same book, so you have to make sure it matches precisely. So far, I've only posted paperbacks and I haven't seen any come up with the designation of trade paperback vs. MMP. They just come up as paperback so I click "OK" that it does match.

That is all I really expect Carol. If my post came off as expecting more I am sorry, as I said it is one of my pet peeves so I can sound a little crotchetty about it. I did say in my earlier post, the plain old 'paperback' can mean either trade or MMP and would take an RC to let us know what they wanted. The OP indicated she was asking for only Trade books-to me that meant the PBS system label, and that would qualify for a RWP on  a MMP. Since it sounds like PBS does not ever list anything as a Trade, then the book poster is in the right and OP would need to set RCs to ask for Trade only.