I just received a wishlisted book, which, according to the listing, should have been the hardcover edition.  It's not. (This is actually OK, since I dislike hardcovers anyway.)

It's an Advanced Reading Copy, which according to the rules aren't postable, so I thought that the sender must be a new member.

The sender has been a member since 2005.

The book is in great paperback condition, so I'm hesitant to mark it RWAP (received with a problem), but it isn't the final, retail product.

I haven't contacted the member yet.  What do you advise I should do?

I would mark it RWAP since ARCs are not postable. I would then PM the member and let them know you marked it RWAP and why. You don't have to ask for your credit back if you don't want to though. I hate marking books RWAP too so I know how you feel but it should be done when an unpostable book is sent. If you decide not to ask for your credit back you can always offer it as a freebie with an order from your shelf. That way you can try to recoup your credit. Good luck!

Tammy

Definitely mark it RWAP since you won't be able to repost it, given that it's an ARC. The poster should have noticed that it was the wrong book from two clues-- 1) the details said it's hardcover and this wasn't and 2) ARCs will state that they're ARCS, usually on the front cover, or certainly on the back cover somewhere. People are asked to verifty the "right title, author, type (ie, hardcover) AND that the book is not an ARC when they are posting the book. If the poster ignored it, they are in the wrong whether they joined last week or in 2005. AND I would politely ask for the credit back. If they don't give it to you within a week or so, you can always mark it "unresolved" and hopefully they will have learned their lesson and will check books more carefully next time.

Cheryl

I would definitely mark it RWAP. However, depending on how obvious the ARC markings are, it might have been an honest mistake. I review a lot of books and I know some publishers ARCs (Barbour Press for example), it's almost impossible to tell that they ARE ARCs.  I would still ask for my credit back though.

You can always offer the book as a freebie later or post it on another site. That's how I get rid of all my ARCs - they go VERY quickly on that OTHER site.

I had an ARC once that I offered as a free unpostable because a corner had been cut off the cover & it was larger than an inch.  It wasn't until I was getting ready to send it to someone that I even realized it was an ARC:P  I just happened to be looking at the cover, and saw it in very small print at the bottom of the cover.  They aren't always obvious, but they should always be marked RWAP.

Thanks for everyone's input!  Hope this gets resolved without too much of a fuss.