I just recieved a book that the sender marked mailed 11/9.  It arrived today, 11/19, first class with a postmark of 11/16.  So they actually mailed it a week after they said they did.  When I put the postmark in when i marked it recieved, will this count against the sender in anyway?  I'm not mad or anything (well, not too much), just wondering what happens when the PBS system notices the mailed date and the postmark date are so different.

If it was a postmark that was stamped it's very possible it was mailed 11/9 and only stamped on 11/16.

It won't matter unless the sender has a pattern of mailing late.  Then she may have a chat with the PBS Team.

It wasn't stamped, it looks like it was printed at the post office.

Ok, thanks for the answers!

It there is a difference of 8 days or more, an email will go out to the member telling them that they need to mail the books within 24 hours of marking the book mailed. Since this one appears to be just below that, they may not get the email, but it will go on their record and if they make a habit of it they will get contacted by the Team.

Did you mark it as a Problem? Under the new receiving proces there is now an option under Problem for late mailed books that will also flag it in the system to be tracked. It should still track it from the postal information even if you didn't though.

OH!  I didn't realize you could mark it as a problem, I marked it good condition since it was like new.    I keep that in mind though, for the future.

Although postmarks (the round inked stamp) are often applied at the intake PO, they can also be stamped anywhere enroute (I've seen USPS staff postmark when customers pickup at the counter). 

Counter Postage is the date on the postage sticker you buy at the USPS counter, those are the most accurate for determining actual mail date.

APC looks alot like counter postage, only smaller with a pink band (top or bottom, I can't remember which).  APC does not go 'stale' and can be confusing b/c this postage can be purchased ahead of time and used later.  Therefore, the purchase date can actually be prior to the book transaction!

You can mark it differently when you receive it now. However, even though you can mark it,  I do not believe that behind the scenes PBS does anything different than it did before (which is generate the email and keep a record).