I have received the wrong book twice now. I'm wondering what the customary response is. The first time, the sender did not ask me to return the incorrect book. Though I felt bad for her, that seemed fair to me as I didn't want to essentially pay for the transaction twice. This time, the sender has asked that I return the item or post it, very politely. Either way I end up  paying twice for shipping when the error wasn't mine. Suggestions?

In some cases, it is appropriate to not mark the book received.  As you did not receive the book you ordered.  I'd recommend reading the help or contacting your Tour Guide.  (As I do not know the details of your wrong book.  Totally wrong book?  Wrong binding?)

That said, you do not have to return any book without receiving an additional credit.

If you got a completely different book than what you ordered then you should not be markign them received.  How can you when you haven't received the book?  The Wrong book options is for when you get the wrong binding from what you were expecting and what the listing says. 

Several people lately have reported finding the same ISBN listed for both paperback and hardcover books with the same title. I wonder if this is happening more and more?  Someone posting their book will not know both versions have the same ISBN and it's only when someone receives the wrong version that it's going to be found!

Jeanne,

When a book is posted, it should match the ISBN, Book Type, Author and Title of the PBS listing.  If someone has a paperback and the PBS listing says "hardback", they should post it using the Post a Book Without an ISBN.  If they post to that listing anyway and then mail the book, then it should be RWAP - Wrong Book.

ETA:  - Publishers are re-using ISBNs more and more so this is something we are likely to see more of in the future.

Someone posting their book will not know both versions have the same ISBN and it's only when someone receives the wrong version that it's going to be found! - No, the sender should know right away when they verify the 4 fields they are required to verify match - ISBN, Title, Author, and binding Type. If the binding Type doesn't match they cannot use the ISBN to post it. A book should never be sent that has the wrong binding regardless of what ISBN it bears.

Kathi, did the sender refund your credit? Have you marked it received? If you haven't marked it received and the book is completely wrong, don't mark it received and you will get your credit back when it goes lost. If it was the wrong binding and they HAVE returned the credit you have been reimbursed and you can do as you please with the book. If they want it back, they need to cover the postage with a credit or send you the funds.  Reposting it will earn you another credit and that would cover the postage to send it out again. If they haven't returned the credit and they insist you return the book before they do that, send them to the Help Center A requestor says there is a problem with a book I sent!

Harlequin and Scholastic are the two publishers I know of that routinely reuse ISBNs. Harlequin seems to be reusing very old ones for newer titles and Scholastic reuses the hardcover ones for the paperback. If I were ordering Scholastic books on a regular basis, I'd have a requestor condition asking people to double check that the binding type of the book they have matches the listing and to click I Cannot Mail if it doesn't match.

It was all explained well up above -- here's the help doc explanation:

Problem: You enter the ISBN on your paperback and the book Listing Preview says "hardcover".

This means one of two things:

1.  Your book is an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC)

If your book is a paperback, and the ISBN brings up a Book Listing Preview that says "hardcover", please check your book to be sure it is not an ARC.   If it is an ARC, it cannot be Posted for swapping at PBS.

Solution: You can offer this book to others in the Book Bazaar Discussion Forum, but you cannot Post it to your PBS bookshelf.

2. The publisher chose to assign the same ISBN to more than one version of this title.

Publishers sometime choose to assign the same ISBN to multiple versions of a book.  However, PBS can attach only ONE booktype to the listing for an ISBN.  If your book does not have the booktype assigned to the ISBN in the PBS database, you will need to post it with a customized listing, using the Post a Book Without an ISBN link on the Post Books page, so that the booktype matches your book.

Solution: You will need to post this book with a customized listing for the book, using the Post Books without an ISBN link on the Post Books page.