I had a request for someone with stringent conditions. 

" Must have a dust jacket if the book is hardcover.

No coloring on the pages or any defacing of the pages.

Book must be free of any food stains or spotting."

Is this a normal request or the sign of a resaler?  I found a recent post about how someone uses the book exchanges to get books to sell.  http://ezinearticles.com/?Using-Book-Swap-Sites-to-Find-Profitable-Books-for-Resale&id=5730672

I'm not crazy about sending a book to be resold.  I could donate the book to a local charity if I wanted it sold!  Are there any rules about resale of books?  Anybody tracking this?

Thanks,

Sue

Other than the dustcover requirement, the other two requirements are standard PBS rules.  They've probably been hit a few times getting unpostable books, so are just repeating a couple of the PBS rules.  This RC wouldn't make me think they were reselling the books.  Pat

Two of the three conditions fall under normal posting guidelines - the only extra condition they are asking for is the dustjacket. I also have a rc for dustjackets, and I can assure you that I am not reselling books.

I would think this one is a normal request.

Only the requesting the dust jacket is above the site rules for posting. So I don't find the RC stringent at all. Books with stains are unpostable. Books with coloring or writing on the pages are unpostable. I'd interpret the RC as the requestor likes to look at the dust jacket and plans to repost the book after reading that is why he or she stressed two conditions that make the book unpostable.

This could also be someone who's been burned before.  Except for the dust jacket request, everything else would have made the book unpostable. 

It could be a reseller but you'd never know.  Could also be someone who likes their hard covers with dust jackets. 

Believe it or not, I don't care if they want to make a small buck off of my book.  I don't think there's a lot of money in book sales.  I could do the same thing with my own library if I wanted but I don't want the trouble.  Maybe someone in this economy needs to pay a few more bills and this is what they're looking into.

Susan, look at it this way... if this is the worst, we've got it made. :)

This is from the help documents:

Can members resell books received from PBS?

• PBS may not be used to obtain books for the purpose of resale.  Commercial use of the site is prohibited.

• When you receive a book you requested, it does belong to you, and you can do whatever you would like with it after you have read it.   An occasional resale of an item obtained here for personal use is OK.
  • Of course we would like to see you repost your books on this site when you are finished with them, because it makes more books available for our many members to choose from.
  • Again, the occasional PBS book that is obtained for personal use, and then ends up being sold elsewhere, is perfectly okay. However, any systematic attempt to obtain books for resale (instead of personal use) will jeopardize your membership, and may lead to criminal prosecution.
  • That means: if you obtain books to read, and sell an occasional one, that is fine. If you request a book not to read, but in order to re-sell it, that is NOT fine.
• We do have some booksellers who belong to the club.
  • They contribute a lot of books here, and booksellers are usually avid readers too!
  • Booksellers per se are not prohibited from membership.
  • But if there is a pattern to a bookseller's (or any member's account) of systematically obtaining books for resale, or if it becomes clear that a bookseller is attempting to use PBS to stock his or her (online or brick-and-mortar) bookstore, we will close his or her membership permanently, and legal prosecution may ensue. Again, commercial activity is prohibited at PBS.

It's possible that the requestor likes to receive books that are better than PBS conditions because they intend to give them as gifts. Some members like their "keepers" to be in better than PBS condition.

Happy Swapping!

Thank to everyone who replied, especially Diane.  It just seemed strange to me to see the conditions written that way.   And then, finding the article, made me feel even more nervous.

Well, if reselling is prohibited (except for the occasional here and there) then it's prohibited.  I'm ok with that, too.

Thanks for answering that, Diane. : )

I know one member who has stringent conditions on the books she requests because she gives them to a school library.

I've sent feedback to the team with the link you posted.  I also made copies of all associated web pages.  The team will look into it.  They do boot off re-sellers who use PBS as a source of books for their business, but they also give people the benefit of the doubt.

I usually turn down "like new" requests.  I figure that I'd rather surprise someone with a nice book than give it to someone who demands it.

Well...I learned something here.  ; )

Looking at the article linked from the original post and the other articles posted by the author of it, It looks to me like Bill WP is trying to sell his "book scanner" by getting others involved in selling used books.

I'm glad NewRuth sent in feedback and hope the PBS team is able to track this down.

I would imagine a reseller would take the chance that we all do ; that we might be at the end of the line for a books condition. Unless they want a like new book and I would guess that 85% of people here turn that RC down. I have had the same ?'s about resellers, but the books are out of my control once they leave me. I have learned to let them go.

Depending on the book, I will have similar conditions as the ones you posted. But I am not a book resaler. I do have a half.com account, eBay account, and Amazon.com MarketPlace seller account, but the only books I have posted for sale on those sites are new releases that I've read fast enough to make some of my spent money back on that I have purchased myself or were given as a gift. I have never sold a book I received on PBS, and would feel funny doing that, so I won't.

Why do people think if you have an RC you are a resaler?  I use RCs because of the books I have gotten that should not have been posted.  I often get turned down and they always state that I resell books.  In all my life, I have NEVER sold a book; I do COLLECT books.  My home has over 25,000 and we are culling books all the time so I post them to PBS.  Please don't ASSUME some are selling books.  There may be a few that do but most of us are collectors or maybe just want a decent book as opposed to one stained(unpostable but I get them), written in(unpostable and gotten three) or just beat up.  I think some of the senders disregard the stains part, perhaps not reading the rules or simply not caring as it did not bother them or basically saying who cares. 

I just can't imagine that anyone could make a great deal of money getting books to sell in any quantity here. Considering the wishlist (where most new releases go) is limited to 200 books at a time (which is why they put a cap on it a few years ago I think), and they have to either pay for a credit or pay postage to ship out another book to get a book--it just seems like a lot of work and a lot of potential things that could go wrong. Plus as someone else mentioned, it's not likely they actually GET many books with the super-picky RCs as a lot of folks don't take a chance to send to someone who wants "like new." Just seems like there must be a lot easier ways to go about acquiring books to re-sell.

I just don't worry about what happens to a book once it leaves my hands. The person acquiring it paid for it with a credit, so it's theirs to do with what they wish as far as I'm concerned.

Cheryl

Wow, that article was disturbing.

I can't see anyone really making any kind of serious money on books received from a swapping site. Unless they can get credits super cheap somewhere and happen to score some rare books. Unless they get on the WL of the next mega-best seller early and near the front and get the book in good condition before it's available easy in every UBS and thrift store around and becomes the book on PBS with 500+ copies. 

Even if you bought discounted credits from someone in the BB for $2, for most books that would be a low profit margin.  Most books just aren't worth much money once they've been purchased (heck even before that if they end up in the discount bin).   The exception being out of print, hard to find books that they're likely to wait a long time for on a trading site.  Then you factor in books that come damaged and the sender won't refund the credit, books damaged by the post office, books that go lost-you get the credit back but then have to wait on the WL again or for another copy to arrive etc.., 
 

I just don't see it being very profitable. 

Interesting discussion Susan, but IMO there's nothing in the RC's you received that indicate the requester is a reseller.  Those RC's are actually fairly common for members who prefer dust jackets on their hardcovers and might have been burned receiving books that are not postable per PBS guidelines.

Curious when that reseller article was published.  I wishlist alot of trade size paperbacks, and frankly in the last couple years (ie recession) the lines have become so long and postings so scarce I question anyone that says they are acquiring any significant number of books in this manner.  Unless the reseller is very active on PBS (and wishlisting pre-released books) . . . still the valuable ones are wishlisted out 6, 8, 10 months in advance.  With many Americans cutting back on personal spending, the wishlists for the more sought after books are extensive and move very slowly. 

And PBS Admin does watch the resale market, we've seen member accounts closed for violating this rule.

Those are very common requests - the last two being in the rules of the site and the DJ is probably the most used RC next to no smoking.

That article is disturbing and makes you want to smack that guy upside the head for acting all smart for his great idea that breaks the Terms of Use of the site I think making any significant money off the site is doubtful, but I am pretty sure we have casual sellers that pick up the good trade paperbacks in areas that would sell easy like paranormal and erotica and that is why some of those areas have really really slow moving wish lists.