I received a wishlisted book today in the mail that was wrapped with the PBS wrapper.  The book got bent (scrunched) at the top.  The cover has some bending and the first 70 pages at the top have rippling.  It is definitely not water damage.  My question ...Is there any way to straighten this out?  This book has over 300 wishers, and of course, I want to repost it. But, I am afraid that some members may take the rippling and wavy pages as water damage.

I received another book today that someone had wrapped in plastic, then duct taped the whole book, with the label taped to the duct tape.  Wow, it took me forever to cut the duct tape off without damaging the book.  Has anyone else received books wrapped with duct tape and had as much a problem as me removing it?

You could try to put something heavy on top of the book.  I have a heavy statue that I use to straighten out some books.

I have received books wrapped in the PBS wrapper and sealed with duct tape.  It was a pain to cut through the tape. You could try and PM the sender and tell them that duct tape is not appropriate for mailing.  Other than that, there isn't much you can do but roll your eyes at what some people do when mailing books.

Regarding the first book, you might try piling something heavy on the book for a few days to flatten it back out. I've also heard of people 'ironing' pages too (without the steam). As it's not liquid damage, I think it's perfectly swappable and you could post it and PM the wisher to give them a heads up. If they didn't want it you would cancel the order yourself and they wouldn't lose their spot in line. Then you'd have to wait a while to try posting again for the next person in line or risk getting the same person again. But really, it would be fine to swap without sending a PM and if they RWAP then you would be justified in declining to refund a credit as it is postable.

The second book was a 'book brick', or 'mummified' as they are called around here. They're usually just the wrapper completely covered with clear plastic packing tape, but I guess duct tape qualifies. And yes, many members hate them because they are so much trouble to open, risking damage to life, limb and page. Others are quite proud of creating them, as they usually are impervious to anything (including being opened). Plenty of commentary if you search the forums.

Thanks to all with your comments. 

I do not think I will try the ironing.  With my luck, I would cause real damage.

Tibben, this book is completely postable by the posting guidelines.  I did not leave a RWAP, because it is postable.  And, I definitely would not call it damaged.  I have received worse books than this one.  I just wanted to try to straighten out the rippling, so it did look better.

I hate the "mummified" books......I have actually damaged some books trying to open those ridiculous packages.

I disagree, the rippling would make it unpostable IMO.  You should have RWAP'd it as damaged in mail. You can still offer it in the forum for unpostable WL books.

I disagree, the rippling would make it unpostable IMO.  You should have RWAP'd it as damaged in mail

I really don't think it does. Books can be wrinkled or bent. I do think the best bet might be trying to press it under something heavy for a week or so. As it's not water damaged, it should work (or at least help).

I hate mummified books, too. I've cut through a perfectly postable book with an x-acto knife. So annoying!

I think the "ripply" book is postable--unless the ripples are caused by water damage, which of course is a big no-no.
 

I am just not having any luck this week at all.  I received another wishlist book.  Flipped through it and didn't see anything wrong and marked it received.  I was reading the book in bed, with the reading lamp over my head.  There were dried flakes of food and small staining that I had missed when flipping through the book.  It looked like someone was eating and coughed on the book.  This would have been a RWAP for sure if I had caught it before marking it received.  Gross.

A book that has wrinkled pages is actually postable as it is not generally considered damage to the book, and the book is still perfectly readable.   This does not mean that someone might not mark it RWAP, but you would be perfectly within your right to refuse to refund the credit.  I think if you want to be certain that it does not get marked RWAP, your best bet is to offer it in the Book Bazaar as a damaged WL book and you can still ask a credit and certainly someone will pay for it.  You could also just weight it down under a few volumes of the encyclopedia and see if if straightens out.  :)