Hello all,

I fear I may have received my first RWAP today. Part of the back cover is torn (not sure if it's within 1"--time to get out the old ruler!), as is the very last page. Also, a number of pages seem a bit crinkly, like they have water damage. I've enclosed photos below...

(ETA: They don't seem to be showing up for some reason. Let's try this again...)

Being quite new (I just joined a couple of months ago, and this is only the 17th book I've received), I'm wondering if it would be too nitpicky to mark this RWAP, considering it's the very last page that's torn and I'm not really sure how to determine if a page has water damage or is simply showing its age. (Of course, the fact that it was mailed five days late makes me less willing to be lenient...) Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks all!

The back cover may be torn up to 1 inch.

Is the last page a text page? If so, it is not allowed to be torn. If it is some other page (like a blank page or a book advertisement page) then it is allowed to be missing altogether, so a slight tear is probably OK.

Water damage is always unpostable. Wavy pages are not necessarily water damage, though. Water damage usually has a texture change in the paper, or a water stain mark. (Not always, though). There are a lot of cheaply made paperbacks that are coming right from the store with wavy pages.

I don't see a link to a picture.

As to RWAPing ... only you can decide if you think it is too nitpicky for this book. Here is how I decide personally ... if I see damage that I think that the sender could have easily overlooked, then I might not RWAP. (I might just send a PM, instead, especially if they are a new member).  If the damage is so obvious that no one could have missed it, then I always RWAP.

If the damage is such that I am going to order a new copy of the book, then I always ask for my credit back in the RWAP.

If the damage is such that I am going to use the book anyway, then I don't ask for my credit back.

This is just what I do personally, though, Others will no doubt give you different advice.

The rules say that you can RWAP and request your credit back on any sender damage to the book.

Thanks Sara! I forgot what the rule was on cover tears--I thought it was 1/4 inch, not 1 inch (this one is between 1/4" and 1/2"). I don't want to RWAP if I'm not 100 percent certain the pages in question are water damaged, so I'll assume it's just cheap paper/typical wear and tear.