I have gotten quite a few books lately that have wrinkly pages - does this constitute water damage?  I don't see any stains, but the wrinkly pages are noticeable.  I haven't marked them RWAP, but I don't know if I can repost them either.  I've been putting them in my unpostable stack, but I just wanted to know what other people thought. 

Thanks!!

Without seeing them I can't be sure but I would be pretty willing to bet that at some point the pages were wet(even if just wet from humidity). I personally would not be very happy to receive a book like that even if it were technically postable.

If the waviness is consitent throughout the book then it's most likely humidity.  Something about recent changes in publication technique produces wavy pages in brand-new books sometimes, but that's usually limited to waviness close to the binding.  But, If the pages are wavy all over, but it's uniform and again, consistent, it's probably humidity which is actually allowed according to the rules.  There have been recurring discussions on this specific subject, and I'm sure someone who recalls those discussions better than I will eventually come around and throw an authoritative two cents in, but I am quite positive as far as the results of those dicsussions:  uniformly wavy pages are postable.

Thanks!

Another reason for some wavy pages is using a paper clip for a bookmark.  It was a bad, bad thing I used to do.

I've noticed more and more new books in the store like this. 

I've gotten several brand-new books from Amazon lately with wavy pages.  I think it has something to do with them using cheaper and cheaper quality paper to make them.  If it's water damage, the pages will feel crisp and crinkly.

I think it's the cheap paper the publisher are using.  I have a book in my hands that I bought brand new from Borders a year ago.  Now the pages are all wavy and kind of stiff.  I know this book wasn't anywhere near any water.  It was in a box with a bunch of other books that are not wavy.  Yes, we get humidity in the summer, but my other books are not like this at all.

While sometimes the wavy pages in storebought books comes from humidity in the store, more often it's an interaction between the florescent lights and the paper they use these days.  If you look at stores that use those types of lights, like grocery and drug stores, the books on the top of the shelves will often have the warping more than books nearer to the bottom.  My fiancee used to have a merchandising job rotating stock in the book sections of stores like that, and most often she wound up replacing books that had become discolored and warped simply from exposure to the lighting.

I think it's cheaper paper quality.  I also have bought brand-new books and have found the pages to wavy, and they don't have that  rough feel that is left after a page has gotten wet and then dried.  The pages themselves also feel thinner. 

I agree. I have noticed several of my books straight from the store are wavy. It seems to be happening more often too. Please post them. If everyone stopped posting do to wavy pages that come from print or stores or whatever like that, we would run out of books soon.

Some of the books I've seen have wavy pages in sections - not the whole book.  For example, one book had wavy/wrinkly pages at the top corner about an inch in diameter for about 30-40 pages in the middle of the book. 

I'm just hesitant to post books like that, because when I got it, I thought it had water damage and I noted the boook RWAP, but the sender told me the book is fine, that's how she got it and I should just enjoy the book.  I didn't see any water stains, but it's very obvious.  So, I'd rather be safe than get accused of sending a book out like that!  I just wasn't sure if there was a hard and fast rule about humidity exposure.

Thanks for your comments!

I'm having this same dillema.  A book I recieved has a section of about 80 pages that are wavy.  I've looked incredibly carefully at those pages and there is absolutely no sign of actual water damage (no discoloring, "funny" texture to the paper, etc.) so I'm leaning toward this just being a defect in the way that section is attached to the binding, or some defect in the paper itself. 

The book is in readable condition, and I couldn't be sure about what caused the wavy pages so I did not mark it RWAP.  Now that I'm done reading though I'm trying to decide if it is postable.  It's a waitlist book, if that makes any difference in your opinion :)

I just bought a few  brand new books and most of them have wavy pages.