Is there a place to put a note about I book I have available?  It has a very small amount of damage to the front cover. 

Sharyn,

No, there's no place to put a note about book conditions. You must make sure that all books you offer follow the Book Condition Criteria for 'Swappability' at PBS.

Check out the link and it will help you to determine whether the book you have can be posted or not, depending on what kind of small damage it is (is it to the cover? the dust jacket? Is it a stain? Or just a small cut? etc.)

If the damage makes it unpostable, then do not post it! If it is deemed postable, then it should not matter what the damage is. To answer your question, there is no area (that I know of) that you can put condition notes.

Here are the postability rules-

When you Post a book, you are asked to confirm that the book is "in good condition, and not excessively worn".  It is impossible to list all of the ways in which a book might be considered excessively worn, but the criteria below are as comprehensive as we have been able to make them.

If you feel your book falls into a "grey area", you can either post the book and send a Personal Message to the requestor, or not post the book.  We have delineated what we can, and we expect members to follow these guidelines, and use their common sense in cases that are unclear.  If you would not mind "paying" a credit for a book you are considering posting, then it is probably okay to post.  However, book condition can be a subjective matter.  Keep in mind that a pattern of sending out poor-condition or inappropriate books will jeopardize a sender's membership.

These Guidelines are not suggestions.  They are criteria to which all books Posted here MUST comply.

All of the information below apply both to swapping for credits and Box-O-Books swapping.

General remarks:

• This is a used-book swapping site; books are not expected to be in like-new condition.
  • Older books may have some page yellowing or spine-creasing or dogeared pages; these are all OKAY.
  • Decirculated library books may have various markings and/or stamps inside or outside or on the page edges of the book; this is OKAY.  These may not obscure text.
  • BookCrossing books may have stickers or stamps or markings on the outside or inside covers or page edges of the book; this is OKAY. These may not obscure text.
  • Hardbacks do NOT have to include their dustjackets.
  • Audiobooks MUST be the original cassettes/CDs, but do NOT have to include the outer "box" that held the set.
  • Audiobooks must be playable and have all the CDs/cassettes.
  • Books that require batteries to work do NOT have to have working batteries.
  • "Playaway" books must include working headphones.
  • Since this is a used-book swap, members should not expect to receive non-Media items with the books.
  • There is an exception to general condition guidelines for textbooks; see below.
  • There is an exception to general condition guidelines for cookbooks; see below.
  • There is an exception to general condition guidelines for travel guides; see below.

• We do NOT have a place for members to describe the condition of a particular copy of a book.
  • ALL books on PBS are expected to be in "good, not excessively worn" condition
    • note the specific cases for textbooks and cookbooks  and travel guides.
  • Books are requested in FIFO (first-in, first-out) order
• If you would like your books to be in "better-than-PBS" condition :
  • You are responsible for setting Requestor Conditions on your account.

Guidelines:                                                                                                                                       

Overall Condition:

• No damage at all from water or other liquid
• Not soiled
• No stains (exception for cookbooks--see below)
• No mold
• no highlighting, underlining or writing on text pages (exception for Textbooks/Workbooks and travel guidebooks --see below)

Dust Jacket:

• The DUST JACKET (this is not the same as the cover of a book) does not have to be included with a book at all, unless the requestor had this in their Requestor Conditions. 
• So DUST JACKET condition cannot be considered as part of the condition of a book, unless there were Requestor Conditions on the request specifying that the dust jacket be included.
• If the Dust Jacket was to be included as specified in the Requestor Conditions on the request, the Dust Jacket must meet the same conditions as defined for the cover, below.

Cover:

• Must both be present (front and back)
  • note that a paperback missing its front cover is  usually an illegal, unsold copy
  • "cover" does not = dust jacket.  Hardcovers do not need to include their dust jackets to be swapped here.
• Cover not water damaged (there may be no water damage to any part of the book)
• Cover not torn or chewed/gnawed
  • some used book stores cut out a small part of the cover; if the amount missing is less than 1 square inch, this is OKAY
  • a small rip (less than 1 inch) in the cover is OKAY
  • yes, that does say "chewed/gnawed" above.  That means no pet-chewed (or human-chewed) books.
• A bookplate inside the cover or on the flyleaf is OKAY

Binding:

• Must be intact, with no separation on the inside or outside of the book
• If the book tends to open at a particular page, this is OKAY
• Small amount of fraying or denting at top or bottom is OKAY

Pages:

• No torn or chewed/gnawed pages
  • yes, that does say "chewed/gnawed".  That means no pet-chewed (or human-chewed) books.
• No loose or missing text pages
  • for travel guide books - maps if designed to be detachable may be detached, but must be included.
• Cover not water damaged (there may be no water damage to any part of the book)
• No writing or highlighting or underlining on text pages
  • a signature or note on the flyleaf or inside front or back cover is OKAY
  • an author's signature on the title page is OKAY
  • writing or highlighting or underlining on the text pages is NOT OKAY
    • Exception: if it is a textbook or workbook, these are expected to have highlighting/underlining/writing
      • if you post a textbook/workbook, the condition must be described to the requestor in a Personal Message
      • AND the described condition MUST BE AGREED TO in a reply PM before the book is sent
      • This is the one of the ONLY three cases in which a PM exchange about a book is required before the book can be sent (the others are for travel guidebooks and cookbooks--see below).
    • Exception: if it is a travel guide (not a picture book but a guide, such as Fodor's or Lonely Planet), some writing on text pages could be expected.  All maps must be present and included with the book - if detachable it is OK if they are detached, but they must not be missing.
      • if you post a travel guide that has writing in it, the condition must be described to the requestor in a Personal Message
      • AND the described condition MUST BE AGREED TO in a reply PM before the book is sent
      • This is the one of the ONLY three cases in which a PM exchange about a book is required before the book can be sent (the others are for textbooks/workbooks and cookbooks--see above and below).

• • No staining

    • Exception: Cookbooks may have some mild staining, since these are used in the kitchen and while cooking, and some minor degree of staining could be expected in a used cookbook.  Also a small amount of writing in cookbooks could be expected
    • • HOWEVER, if you post a cookbook and it is stained and/or written-in, the condition must be described to the requestor in a Personal Message
    • • AND the described condition MUST BE AGREED TO in a reply PM before the book is sent
      • This is the one of the ONLY three cases in which a PM exchange about a book is required before the book can be sent (the others are for travel guidebooks and textbooks/workbooks--see above).
  • this exception applies to the covers of cookbooks also.
•  Page edges: remainder marks are OK.  A name written on the page edges is okay (if it does not bleed in and obscure text on the text pages)

Hope that helps! What type of damage is it exactly?

If it is a stain or liquid damage, it is unpostable.

If it is a rip of less than 1 inch, or if some of the cover is missing but its less than 1 inch square, then its postable. Rips or missing pieces larger than those are unpostable.

If it is bent, curled or creased, its postable.

There is no way to make a note about a particular copy of a book. If it is indeed unpostable, then it can be offered to other members in the Book Bazaar, either for a credit (although it is unlikely that someone will pay a credit unless it is also wishlisted), or perhaps free with another book order.

You can list it in your profile, a book list, and/or in the Book Bazaar if it is not postable.

Thanks everyone for the info.  The edges of the front cover have a few tears but it is still postable according to the guidelines. 

I wasn't sure because it is not "like new".

Hi all-  I am new to PBS, and i know this is used book swap which books come with some wear, but I received a book and i noted it as damaged from sender.  I didn't mean to ruffle anyone's feathers, but i just noted it as... "Dear Sender, This book has a coffee/water stain on the lower left inside back cover page and to include pages 250 to 294. This stain is very noticeable." 

The sender responds back to me, "When I received it I did notice a slight stain on the last few pages. It didn't bother me at all in reading it myself.Then when it was requested of me, I showed several people to see what they thought.No one including myself thought it was noticeable enough to warrant concern.It didn't affect or interfere with the print whatsoever. It was in really good condition otherwise.I'm sorry you found it to be damaged to the point of complaint."

I emailed the sender back and said the guidelines specify there is to be no stains.  What does one do in this situation? I can't post this book because of the stains. Right??

Ah, Elisa, you got the ole "I could read it so it's okay" excuse.  If there is a liquid stain, it's unpostable.  Did you mark it RWAP or received with a problem and ask for your credit back?  There are a number of tour guides and others who can help you with this.  You can do a search of this forum and find where others have asked about what to do with a RWAP and a swapper who insists that their book is readable so okay.  This situation has come up several times.  And, no, you can't repost it.  Unfortunately, if they don't give your credit back, you can only mark it unresolved and lose the credit. 

Welcome to PBS and hope you have many really great swaps.  They are more the rule.

Elisa -since that member CLEARLY states in the PM that they knew the book was stained (no amount of staining is ok) and sent it to you anyway, if she doesn't return the credit use the Contact Us link in the lower right under Company and send a copy of that PM to the PBSTeam via Feedback. The site doesn't get involved in he-said-she-said situations, but they will get involved in situations when a member admits they broke the rules and refuses to make it right.  They have taken the credit away from members who admit they break the rules and refuse to return the credit.

Welcome to PBS Elisa, and yes you are correct to be concerned. 

Jeanette and Melanie have posted excellent advice. 

Thanks Jeanette, Melanie, and Denise.  The sender sent the following response to me: "As I said,it was such a minor flaw that did not affect the overall book itself,I didn't even consider it to fall under the stained description. But we all have a different opinion as to what "Good Condition" is I guess. As this is a site for swapping used books, it also states that you can't expect them to be like new books.I have no problem giving back a book credit to you if that's what you'd like"

I will follow up on receiving the credit.