I have several Unpostable Wishlisted books, minor damage but NOT postable by PBS guidelines.  I've offered them in the Bazaar (even 2/1 deal).  I haven't had any takers on them.

 Is it okay to post them, then PM the member to inform them of the damage to see if they still want it?  I hate to see these books not get read by fellow members.  I'm going to donate them if they aren't taken.

thanks

No, it is never OK to post an unpostable book. It isn't fair to the first person in line to have their request tied up with your offer of an unpostable book.

Try adding them to your signature line, shelf header or profile. If they are popular books that people can easily get a postable copy through the system then you may very well not find a taker. Otherwise, if you don't want to wait until the right person sees them in the Bazaar, donate them.

These are WishListed and not available in the system.  They are on my Profile page.

There's a Damaged Books Virtual Box in the Games forum.  We do 1 or 2 rounds a month-basically trading unpostables witch eachother and frequently WL books. There's also Bookmooch which has a place to put notes on book condition and has no posting guidelines. It's not nearly as  good of a site as PBS but it is an alternative.

i have had good luck with finding takers for books not wanted on pbs on bookmooch.  I have had less luck finding books I want on bookmooch, but I do find them sometimes.  bookmooch is international (which I like) but cost to mail international can be high.  you can set your account to say you will only send to your country if you wish.

Also try the genre forums.  Many of them have wishlist threads and you may have more luck finding people who want the books even with the damage in those areas. 

Or see if they can be sold on another site. Some books have a semi-decent selling value, and sometimes what's unpostable here can be Good or possibly even Very Good condition somewhere like the Amazon marketplace (depending exactly what makes it unpostable). Even if you only make a very small profit, or none, after the cost of shipping, at least the book gets out of the house to someone you know for sure wants it, and it doesn't cost you anything to get it to them.

Of course, in keeping with PBS rules and philosophies, you need to be careful about this. As we all know, it's okay to sell the occassional book after reading it, but not to obtain books just to sell, or to habitually sell books obtained via PBS. Granted, there's nothing specifically saying that this applies to unpostables as well as postables, but out of caution I'd probably tell people to lean that way.

I actually never had sold a book that I got through PBS, or even a book I got on my own (since joining here) that goes on PBS reasonably quickly or is wish listed here (so, in other words, I always give PBS members the first chance at any books I have, even the ones I get on my own that may really be worth something if sold). But, this last week, I offered an unpostable that I had gotten through PBS in pretty bad shape (not falling apart, but definitely unpostable) on the Amazon Marketplace, and it sold right away to someone that just wanted a reading copy. Of course, by the time shipping is paid for on it, I make maybe a quarter in profit, if that, but the point is that it gets out of the house and stops taking up space. Considering I had it available on my profile here for months, with no interest at all, and the goodwill places were just going to throw it away if I donated it, I'm pretty content just with the fact that somebody is getting the book that wanted it, and I'm getting enough out of it to cover the shipping.

Edited for typing errors

Forrest - I took a look at your list and there doesn't seem to be anything that makes the following books unpostable (according to your description):

Amos Fortune, Free Man
Author:?Elizabeth Yates?-- Ex-Library. ?No dust jacket, has "Discarded" written on front cover under title.

The Slave Who Bought His Freedom: Equiano's Story (Black autobiographies)
Author:?Karen. Kennerly?-- EX Library. ?No dust jacket, has "Discarded" written on front cover under title.

And the following one you can send under the textbook exception as long as you get clear permission from the requstor prior to sending:

Captivating : Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul
Author:?John Eldredge,?Stasi Eldredge?--?There is underlining throughout the book and some notes in the blank spaces on some of the pages. ?Perfectly readable, nothing obstructing the text. ?The very last blank page has some names written on it. ?Other than that, pretty good shape with dust cover.

Unless, of course, there are condition issues you have not mentioned.  But these all sound postable to me.

The Discarded is written in black marker on the Front side of the front cover.  Looking at the book closed it is written in black marker.  That is acceptable to post?

I know you said you posted them in the bazaar, but did you post them to the unpostable WL thread? Books seem to go pretty quick on there and you can request a credit per book.  If you really want them to go to a PBS member, the regular unpostable thread, where you cannot request a credit for the books, is really well watched.  Most books go within minutes of posting.

No Forrest, unpostables are not allowed FIFO.  Some members report they have been approached in this manner (offered unpostables FIFO), but frankly the requesting member is likely to become cranky b/c it puts them at risk to loose their wishlist place (and other reasons).

If you have not already done so, try the Unpostable Wishlist Books thread...it's on My Watched Topics page    I thought you could ask for a credit in any of the discussion forum threads, just not FIFO.

The Discarded is written in black marker on the Front side of the front cover.  Looking at the book closed it is written in black marker.  That is acceptable to post?

You are referring to the page edges? Yes, writing on a page edge as long as it does not bleed into the text is OK to post. It might be ugly, but it is postable. Writing on the cover is postable, nothing in the rules except no writing on text pages without following the textbook exception. 

From the Help Center:

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.

Books that are postable, just might have undesirable things can be posted and no PM is required, though some members like to PM and explain with an offer to cancel if the receiver doesn't like it.

I'm a newb and glad to see that experienced members saw what I was seeing about the postability of some of your books (I have already received a book like those you are offering that are ex-Library and couldn't be happier).

As for the other three:

Captivating - if that is your edition then no-one is currently wish-listing it anyways, I notice that someone has WL'd several other versions though (although it is probably only one person), just keep posting in the bazaar and they will find it.  If you wanted you could post it under the text-book guide-lines, but having seen other forum posts complaining about this not being done properly, do this completely by the book.

Catherine, the Queen & Tony Evans Speaks Out - Keep posting these in the bazaar.

I should note that no versions of any of these three books have more than three WL'ers.  It is entirely possible that the people wanting them aren't even subscribing to PBS.  When I posted my books I'm not exactly sure how many but ~70% of the ones I posted that had 1-3 WL'ers were all denied and are sitting as the only copy of that version in the system.  None of my books fit these genres though, and I have noticed that the fans of the different genres deal with PBS differently, good luck.

Well, thanks everyone.  Appreciate the input.  The one book was WL, but not anymore.  Other than that I posted the ones that you all said were postable with the Discarded written on it.  All the others are in the "Unpostable WL Thread".  We'll see what happens.  Happy New Year!  Thanks again!