I have a somewhat unusual situation.

I recently requested a book, and it's an older book (which is fine), but it's a pop-up book for my daughter.
Upon receiving the book, probably half of the pop ups are broken, torn off or don't work.

Is the considered a damaged book? Afterall, what was the point of me ordering the pop up version if it was broken?
WWYD in this situation? I expected the book to be in normal working order.

Thanks

You are correct Laura.  Some wear is to be expected, torn and broken is unpostable.  RWAP.

What does RWAP mean? Sorry, don't spend much time on the boards here.

RWAP = Received With A Problem

RWAP = Received With A Problem.  When you log a book in as received, you will get a pop-up window with several buttons...Received, Received With a Problem, and something else that escapes me just now (IIRC there's three buttons on that page). 

Therefore, when you log the book in as received, you also mark it RWAP.  Then you are asked if it was sender damaged or USPS damage.  In this case, it appears to be sender damage.  Marking the book this way will return you to your former position on the wishlist.  If you do not want another copy of the book, catch it quick and delete from your wishlist or place on individual hold until you decide.

There should be some guidelines in the Help Documents that can walk you through the process.  At some point, you will need to go back and mark the RWAP as resolved or unresolved, so think about what you would like to see the other member do that would make you consider the problem "resolved".

ETA - and do ask if you have any further questions.  Many unpostable transactions go unmarked because members are unfamiliar with the process (which like most functions here, PBS has made rather easy).

OK, thanks for the help. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't expecting too much.  Kinda disappointed - we were looking forward to the book!
 

The help doc you're looking for is called There is a problem with a book I received!

When you mark it RWAP, it will be returned to your wish list if it was a wish list book, or it will be put on your reminder list if there are other copies available.  You can ask the sender to refund your credit.

Sorry this happened!  That is disappointing.

A pop-less pop up book...I don't think so! RWAP!

Yes, definitely RWAP the book. How disappointing for your daughter, that is the whole point of a pop up book for it to work.

RWAP for sure. 

Since Viagra for pop-up books hasn't been invented yet.

-RD

(Sophomoric Yes....Sorry I couldn't resist.)

The person I got the book from responded to my RWAP message:

I would answer him very politely. And check if he returned your credit without saying so. Some people do. You can find out by looking in your Credit Registry. So, I would check there first, and then if he has not returned your credit, I would send him something like this:

"Sorry you were not aware of the book posting guidelines for PBS. "Readable" is not a criteria for a book being postable at PBS. Book pages with text on them must be intact, with no rips or tears. Any book that has torn pages within it is not postable, regardless of whether or not it is still readable, and regardless of any value it may have outside of PBS.

I would like my credit back for this order, since I will be reordering this book. If you do not feel that you can refund my credit, I will be marking this transaction as "Unresolved" which will count as a double black mark against your account. Thanks for your attention to this matter!"

Sara's message is great. I would add a time limit for him to return your credit before you mark unresolved (7 days is usually good).

Thanks Sara.  I sent your message.

Laura C., good luck and please let us know his response.

He is focused on how much he thinks the book is worth outside of PBS.  If he was that concerned about it, he should have not swapped the book and instead sold it for $20-40 like he claims he can get.  Since he didn't sell it on the open market, it's only worth one swap on here, and it needs to meet PBS standards.  So the prices he is throwing around really don't matter, because he did not take that route.

Well I got a response from him today:

Wow, the sarcastic side of me would have a hard time letting that one slide.

At least you got your credit back. If that's the way he swaps and acts good riddance.

If that's the way he swaps and acts good riddance.

I agree.

This place isn't for everyone, and we'd all be happier if people who can't be bothered to actually read the rules and inspect the books they sent out went someplace else.

A RWAP isn't pleasant to deal with, but it can help weed out those who don't belong.

Hi,

I'd email TPTB and tell them about what happened NOT to get the member in trouble but to add something in the help or rules section about pop up books and what condition they need to be in (IE must not have broken pop ups or obviously mended flaps). Because I could not find anything in that section and gave away the few pop up books I had. One did have no working pages and the one had a few repaired pages (professionaly done).

Funny, I've seen a lot of 'perfect 43 yo books'. In fact, I had a Second Edition Lord of the Rings hardcover boxed set (I believe the publication date on those was 1965), that was in virtually perfect shape up until it was destroyed in the fire. Plus, anytime you go to any bookstore that has old books in it (particularly the high quality stores that are choosy about what they shelve), a lot of them are in amazingly great shape, and many times can be found to be published even earlier than the 60's, paperbacks included. Even suggesting that it's fine for a book to be swapped here if it's badly damaged, just because it's multiple decades old, is just plain wrong. It's not only possible, but actually not even all that difficult, to find perfectly postable books that are that old. And don't even get me started on his perceived (and false) ideas on the value of the book. My guess is that he assumes that just because it's that old, it's worth a good amount of money even badly damaged, which would only be true if it were some kind of highly collectible in-demand title, which doesn't apply to the vast majority of books.

The club probably would be better off without him, as much as I really hate to say that about anyone. We need swappers who read and follow the rules, not ones that just mail books regardless of condition. But then, it's possible he could end up being 'reformed', so to speak. It wouldn't be the first time a member got off to a really bad start and then went on to become a model PBSer. Though, I have to say, his attitude doesn't exactly lead me to believe that he has any intention of trying to do so. I could be wrong though.

Tiffany- for the fantasy 2010 reading challenge we had to read a book in the year we were born. So I found a few and ordered them.. I was born in 1977 and the book I got was first edition, and looks brand new, maybe gently read but I could not tell.  It was also a paperback (was never published hardcover).

People often have really ridiculous ideas about what "antique" items are worth and very rarely take condition into account. (My mom has this thing about "collectors" wanting her old SF&F books, which have been badly stored, are utterly crumbling apart, and are not of the slightest value.)  He'll learn or he won't, but it's not your problem.

Haha.  I spent a good part of Christmas dinner attempting to explain this to my parents.  Very, very few books, regardless of age, are worth very much at all (aside from all the wonderful things they contain, of course!).  My mother's neighbor is moving back to Paris and she has a house full of lovely art books - a dealer came over, took a quick look around, and wasn't interested in any of it!  She and my mother were shocked, but, yeah.  Books have very little actual monetary value.

ETA - also, age and condition are seperate, unrelated issues.  In book collecting, there's really no such thing as "in good condition for its age".