I received a book in the mail yesterday - it is a paperback.  The back cover is ripped and the rip continues onto the spine.  It looks as though this happened during shipping.  Is this book re-listable?  If not, should I mark it as 'received damaged'?  I've never had a damaged book from PBS before.

Thanks for any info.

If the tear is longer than 1 inch, you cannot repost it. You would mark it RWAP, damaged by USPS.

If the rip is greater than one inch, it is not postable!  So, yes, in that case, you want to mark received with a problem, even if it looks like it happened during shipping.  If it happened during shipping, it's probably faulty wrapping that caused it.  You can ask the sender for your credit back if you wish, and then it's up to him/her to give it to you or not.  When you are done with the book, you can offer it as a damaged unpostable free with any book order.  See my signature line for an example.

Edited to add:  Yes, the above poster is correct, it could have been damaged by USPS even with good wrapping.  You'll probably be able to tell just by looking at how it was wrapped whether it's the sender's fault or USPS's fault.

Is PBS like Swap A CD?  If my item is received damaged, what happens?

Do I have to rely on the sender to credit me back or does PBS resolve the issue?

PBS doesn't resolve issues unless they get really out of hand, you rely on the sender to do the right thing

If it was damaged by the PO it is not necessarily the sender's fault. If it looks like the pkging was poor then you can ask, but if it was wrapped according to the guidelines shown here on PBS, it is not guaranteed to make it thru the PO, and the sender is not at fault, the USPS is. I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say that all damage by the USPS is due to faulty wrapping. The PO is pretty careless and is very hard on mail, and the wrapping instructions on here are very flimsy but if the sender followed them and the PO still damaged it, its not fair to say it was automatically faulty wrapping.