Since there have been a lot of water damage/ink marks/decline because of conditions posts... and because the only chance you get to view somone else's condition is if they request one of your books...

I am looking for ideas of what I might like to include as my conditions in the future. If you have conditions, what do they say? Are you satisfied with the books that you get? Do you feel like there are a lot of books you don't get because some people refuse every request with conditions? Are you GLAD you are getting all those books that say they don't meet your conditions?...

Other than the PBS conditions, I also ask for no ex-library books and that all hardback have their dustcovers.  I've only been turned down a couple of times. 

You know, for me it's sometmes not the condition itself that bothers me as much as the way it's phrased. 

NONE of my books are smoky or water damaged or musty smelling.  A substantial percentage were bought new and read once. But when I get a condition like "I REFUSE TO ACCEPT books that are smoky or water damaged...," I feel a little personally offended, like the person is accusing me of trying to send them a substandard book.   Do I really want to deal with them?   Are they going to be hyper-picky?

The only condition I have is for my Diana Gabaldon Hardbound books to come with the dustcovers.  I have been swaping here for quite a while and have only had 1 person turn me down bacause of condition, and it wasn't even a gabaldon book!!  Go figure?LOL  I have only been dissapointed in a book I have recieved maybe 3 times.  Pretty good odds I say!!

Whatever you decide about listing conditions, do it nicely. 

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Mine says:

No smoky books please.

I'm not hard to please. LOL

I don't have any conditions at all and out of 147 mailed TO me, I've had 2 I wouldn't repost.  And those two met the PBS standards just were old enough I was their last read.

I have no conditions and have gotten great books.....except one and that was an older book.  Now watch me hex myself and start getting less then acceptable books!!!!

I don't have any conditions.  It's a used book swapping site - I expect the books to be a little less than perfect.  If it is readable, I'll take it!

Allie, I never thought I would see someone saying no large print!  Just shows that everyone has their tastes/needs.  :)

After a lot of frustration trying to get Large Print for myself and the various ways I put the conditions I finally settled on:

"Please make sure the ISBN number that I have requested matches the ISBN number on your book. You can verify this by clicking on the title of the book. If the ISBNs do not match, then (1) please cancel the order and (2) remove your book from your bookshelf and repost it with the correct ISBN so that someone else who orders your book will receive the correct book.

The reason I have this is bececause a number of the books I order are Large Print, which may or may not show in the title.  I alos order normal print books so please do not decline if the book I ordered from you is not Large Print but the ISBN matches.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send me (EasyForTheEyes) a personal message before accepting the order and mailing the book. Note: if you send the wrong book, I will click on 'Requestor Conditions Not Met' when the book arrives. Thanks so much for your help in this matter."

Like others have said, being nice and being as simple and clear as possible is your friend.

I should note that I have only twice received books that I would not repost....one (the cover was shot) was a credit order and I was still new, so sadly did nothing.  The other was a BoB and invovled childrens books and was resolved.  That out of over over150 books ordered and over 40 BoBs.

Edited because the spacing geeked up.

My only condition is "No books from a smoking environment please.  PM in borderline situations."

Note that if you want to make it possible for folks to PM you before accepting you must provide your nickname in the condition wording.  Your conditions should not be unclear or 'require' a PM but as in my case I found it to be nice to some of the newer members if I had the info there.  I have had one person ask if I meant the ISBN 10 or 13?

I get turned down rarely.  The first year I was here, I received a ton of water damaged, and/or dirty/yucky/moldy books.  Since I have added my condition, I think I have been turned down a handful of times and maybe received 4 or 5 unpostable books.  Here is what mine say:

Sorry to have to list conditions - I have received quite a few books that were in poor condition.

Please - no water damage or mold.

Also, due to allergies, only books from smoke-free homes.

Second-hand books are ok as long as they don't smell like smoke to you, and you are a non-smoker. I buy many second-hand books from sales and used books stores and haven't had a problem.

Thanks for your understanding! :)

Mine says: "Please don't send books that have a heavy cigarette smell"

Have not had a huge number of declines (although I would much prefer a decline than a smoky book!) and the books sent to me have all met this condition.

-Deb

I always feel better if someone says why, like "due to allergies, I won't accept books that...." 

I have no conditions, and I have gotten several books I've been disappointed in (several out of over 1,000 isn't much), if they were children's books that reek of smoke.  Since I don't feel desperate for credits, I will occasionally turn down orders with any conditions, just because I feel like it.

Someday, I will put on "Due to my Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), I only accept books in a pristine condition", and see what happens.

At first, I was trying not to, but I had to b/c of a smoke allergy and severe mold allergy.  I assumed the mold would probably not be a problem since no water/liquid damage, but I was wrong.  I don't know if some people don't care or just don't follow directions.  Most people here are great though!

Mine say:

Please no books that are currently in a smoking environment.  If your household is non-smoking and the book does not smell like smoke to you, it is fine to send even if you got it used.

For Stephen King's Hardcovers (Dark Tower series ONLY): Dark Tower series hardcovers must include the dust jacket. They will be keepers on my shelf.

Thank you!  ~ Kylee-CT-mom

My conditions say "I do not want hardcovers if they are missing their dust jackets. This is just a personal preference. If the book obviously never had a dust jacket, that is fine, please send it. I also do not want book club editions or large print editions."

Certain times of the year I will add a condition stating "Please wrap books in plastic as we are experiencing heavy rainfall here and I have received several rain-damaged books recently. This is necessary because our part-time mailman likes to leave packages sitting on the ground despite the weather."

I have been turned down several times on the first condition b/c people believed I was looking for hardcovers only and declined paperback requests. I have been turned down once on the second request because the poster said I sounded like a prima donna who wouldn't be happy with any book I got. I thought that was unacceptably rude and was just as glad not to get a book from her if she was going to be that way about it!

Lately I've been considering adding a condition about no books that reek of smoke, but I know that is awfully subjective. The people who are going to send books that reek of smoke are the heavy smokers, and most of the time they are so used to the smell that they don't even notice it anymore.

My conditions, coming from my experience here, are: no loose pages, a creased spine is ok but I want to be able to identify the title of the book, no ex-library, bookcrossing books or HC without DJ.

I do not have conditions, and I have not received any nasty books.  I have had to reorder a couple books when I did not like the version/print I received, but of course that's not the fault of the sender.

I have no conditions stated.  And in my two years membership, I've received only one smokey book and only a couple of damaged books.  I know; I'm very fortunate. 

But I received a request from a member with rather long, drawn-out conditions in which he/she ended by saying she wanted to be pm'd about the condition of each and every book before it was sent to her.  Needless to say, I replied that I couldn't meet the requestor's conditions.

Thanks for all of your input. It seems like smoke and water/(mold) are the most common things people feel the need to have conditions about.

I sometimes worry that I haven't checked every page for a drop-of-water stain--and will that cost me a credit:?  I hadn't thought of something like "send if YOU don't smoke"...

I don't think there is any condition about smoking that isn't subjective.  lol   I don't smoke!!!!!!!!!!   However - a month ago I did - so I'd turn down a "If you don't smoke" condition, unless I bought the book in the past month.        AS a former smoker I will say again - I appreciate those of you that have "no smokey or no smokers" conditions.   I DO NOT want to send you a book that would be hazardous or just plain unappealing to you.