I have a thick adult paperback that looks to be in good condition (a little wear here and there, but not bad at all).  Except there is one small spot that puzzles me.  At the very bottom of a page, across four or five pages, is some discoloration.  It's a tiny spot, not even the size of a pencil's eraser head at the biggest, and on the first and last of those five pages you can barely tell that anything is off color.  The spot is not warbled at all--it's quite flat and feels more or less normal.  Does that sound like water damage to you?  Should I post it?

If it's not a stain, and the pages are flat, then it sounds fine to me. 

Well, it looks vaguely stain-ish--it's a dark brown sort of discoloration on a light yellow-ish page (no clue what it is)--but the pages ARE flat, not a bit of warbling anywhere, so I'm in a quandary.  I'd like to go ahead and post, as I got this book precisely for posting, not because I really wanted it (though I should have noticed the spot beforehand--it just passed my notice, I guess).  I'm just a little scared of getting in trouble for it if someone thinks it looks like water damage to them.  But I don't really think it looks like water damage to me.  I guess the term for it is a fox-mark . . .

It doesn't really sound like water damage to me. I think you would be fine posting it. I wouldn't have a problem in getting a book with the issue you described.

Even if it is not water damage, stains are not postable either. Is it something you can take off with a light grade sandpaper? If it is bled into the pages too far to sand off, then I would say it is unpostable because it is stained.

Yeah, don't post it if it has stains.

Sounds like a no-post then--some of the pages would be able to get it off, I suspect, but the centermost page does have it stained through on both sides, so despite it being a TINY stain, I guess it's an unpostable.  Well, it's now free with any request (the 2nd book in my signature).

Thanks for helping me figure it out. :)

Post it in the book bazaar & ask for a credit...a deal could happen.

It sounds like Foxing to me, which is allowable. Foxing is when some compounds in the paper that make up the book oxidize. (Hence the "ox" in fOXing.) When metal-containing compounds oxidize, they turn brown/rusty/red. Not a sign of damage ....just a sign that the book has been present in an atmosphere containing oxygen.

(- J - the HS Chemistry Teacher)

So a single spot somewhere could be foxing?  For some reason I thought that it was only when the whole book or portions of it were discolored slightly.  This is a mid-brown discoloration from a lighter yellow paper, and it appears only at the very bottom of a couple pages.  It is clear which the center page of the discoloration was, as pages on either side have less discoloration till it fades on about the 2nd page out either way.

I'm not experienced with the book bazaar--I guess I need to do some reading.

Yep, usually the pages will turn yellowish first (that's the first step) and then you will start to see spots. Since you have just one spot, I'd wager you are still in the earlier stages.

Good luck with the book!

You know, you don't need to offer it as a freebie. You can still ask a credit for unpostables. You just aren't allowed to post them into the system or to anyone's shelf. Advertising in the Book Bazaar works well for this.

In any case, this actually sounds like foxing to me as well, which would make it postable. To be safe, you could PM the requestor and let them know, or just offer it in the Bazaar for a credit.

OK, I've finally made up my mind from that.  PM-ing the requester sounds like a great idea--then I can make sure they're OK with it and won't mark it as water damage when it's just foxing.  Thanks for being so patient and listening to my description and all!  You guys are great. :)