would any of you have sent the book with this RC?????

I am not willing to accept ex-library books or smoky or dusty or yellowed books or books that have ever been in a smoking environment currently or in the past.  When in doubt, reject mailing me a book suspect because it'd be useless to me.  Thanks much.

Depends on if my book met the conditions. Most would not since I bt them used and they clearly do not want books you don't know the history. If I'd bt it new I'd have sent it.  They obviously don't care if they get a lot of rejections, they want what they want  and thats perfectly fine; fill if you can, deny it and move on if you can't why the need to drag it in here and beat on it?

thanks melanie 

Unless it was a book I'd purchased brand new, I'd reject it.  I get most of my books either thru PBS or I buy them used online so I don't know if they've been around smoke or not.  Usually I can smell that but I wouldn't take a chance of sending a book I didn't know the history of.

Sarah,

I received a box of books yesterday and when my mail carrier knocked on the door and handed me the box she said " who is sending you a box of cigerette butts" the box smelled so rank I would not even bring it into the house.  Sad part is the box contains a few books that I have been wanting for a while now. I did go out and open the box and put the books into another box with some dryer sheets, I hope the smell goes away one day  LOL

No carfax for books, so yeah, unless I bought it new I wouldn't even feel remotely bad declining.  I would probably decline even if I bought it new as there would be absolutely no way for me to guarantee that it would not encounter smoke on it's journey as some carriers do smoke.

I would accept if the book was one I had bought new.  If they complained about a smoke smell-I would not refund the credit because this is smoke free house and if a mail worker somewhere along the line smoked-not my fault. 

I would only accept if I'd recently bought the book new. The dust here accumulates faster than I can keep up with it so I would be wary about the dusty part of the RC. Otherwise, I'd send. I don't really care if someone has a like new RC or even a detailed one with several lines. As long as they are nice about it and I can fulfill it, I accept.

Yes, I would have not sent unless the book had been in my possession all along.

Yup...I've definitely rejected it even if I've bought a book new. We don't smoke but we cook in my apartment so that could make my books 'smoky' (she doesn't refer if the smoke is from smoking or just from general smoke.)

Bertie, I would open up that box and dump a big box of baking soda right on the books, maybe shake it a little, and don't go near it for at least a week:P  I don't think it could hurt the books in any way & it would absorb more odor than the dryer sheets.

thanks for the hint Kim, I have to try something, I really want to read the books.  I can't believe that I smoked for over 50 years, and the smell never bothered me.  I guess once you stop smoking you can smell it a lot more.

If you have an air tight container (ie rubbermaid bin), sprinkle a box of baking soda into the bottom of it and lay down a layer or two of paper towels.  Sit the books on top, seal the container and wait for a couple of days.  This should work with activated charcoal or unscented (and unrecycled ) kitty litter, too. 

I don't know if this will work, but I read online that crumpled up newspaper does the same thing.

On a MSG board, I also found this suggestion

"It's too damp where I live to put anything valued out into the open
air.  I've experimented with several books that smelled musty by
wrapping them well in pellon (spun polyester material, sold in fabric
stores), then burying the wrapped book in deodorizing cat litter,
which has a zeolite (Such as activated charcoal) in it. After a few
days, the books smell fine, but as they weren't MY books, I don't know
whether they have remained odor free. However, no one has told me the
smell came back."


...


You could try a rag with vanilla extract on it, keeping it in a cup
next to the books in the container. I've also been told a cut up apple
in a bowl in the container would work well for removing smells as
well.

"Use vanilla extract. Put a large amount on a piece of rag. It will
draw the odor into the rag. When it starts smelling again, use more
vanilla. It works!"

Therefore, that's another option you could try.

Without a doubt, I would turn down that RC, unless I bought it myself brand new from a bookstore.

I have a friend who just puts smelly books right into big ziploc bags with litter box deodorizer, which is basically scented baking soda anyway.  She says she just puts them right in there together & shakes them up, and when they come out a few days later, she takes them out on the porch & shakes all of the powder out of them & fans the pages really well, so there's no dust left in them.  I usually sit them on top of whatever odor absorber I use, but I guess if you fan the pages really well & shake all of the dust out, there's no reason you couldn't let the pages come into contact with it.  Activated charcoal would probably leave a mess if it came into contact with pages, but I don't think any of the baking soda based powders would.

I don't think I'd accept that RC even if I had personally bound the book and it had never left my sight. It just sounds like a situation waiting to happen.

I would reject it even if I had bought a book brand new and hadn't even read it.  That RC has trouble written all over it as far as I'm concerned.  I would be surprised if she gets any books.

Without a doubt, I would turn down that RC, unless I bought it myself brand new from a bookstore.

Me too, and I would add the caveat that I had bought it very recently. I don't have a problem with RCs in general, but I won't accept any that are open to interpretation. My house, sadly, is not a dust free environment and as he or she says in the RC, when in doubt...

unless I had bought it brand new AND fairly recently, I would turn it down-also my house itsn't dust free either.

I used to smoke and used the crumpled newspaper in a rubbermaid bin.   I'd had people (my DIL and my niece) who are allergic to smoke say that they couldn't smell smoke at all on my books.   I did change the newspapers now and then.

BTW - I haven't smoked in almost 3 years so ya'll can order from me without a problem now.

I'd treat this RC like I do all of them.  If my book meets the requirements, I send it.  I don't assume they will be trouble.  If my book doesn't meet the RC, I decline and move on.

What Sue said (my home also isn't dust free)...unless I had recently purchased the book new, I'd decline.  The RC sounds snarky, so depending on my mood I might decline anyway.

I would send it if my book met the RC. I don't agonize over RCs and all the possible ways they could be interpreted differently if I squint hard enough.

Adding the no dust part seems a litle far too me. I don't think my books are dusty, but what if she decides they SMELL dusty?  But, then, I"m in control of the credit return,and if she was to say it SMELLED dusty, then I'd refuse to return it, because she didn't say they couldn't SMELL dusty, only that the couldnt BE dusty, and I think while I have a greater than usual amount of dust in my house, since I don't dust, simply by picking the book up and leafing thru it to double check for problems is going to fan off any dust that might be on it. So, that really wouldn't stop me either I guess. And the rest is black and white, either your book is or isn't an ex-library, has only been in your possession, since that's the only way you would know if it's NEVER been in a smokey environment, and so on.

So, no, there's really nothing too subjective about the RCs tho they are a little over the top, in my opinion. But, if they can live with all the rejections they are going to get, I can live with sending my books to someone else because they are 30 yrs old and yellowing, or an ex-library, or bought from a UBS or yard sale and I can't smell any smoke on them.