Can We offer free books with requests that have no cover?

I am pretty sure freebie items have no limitations. 

Thanks Lita!

I think because it's a non postable, it's fair game for freebie incentive... :)

Wanted to make sure

If it's a hardback book, you are not required to have a cover to post it.  So, if there is nothing else wrong with it, you can still post it.  Now, if it's a paperback, that's a different story - those do have to have covers.  But you could still offer it as a freebie.  As the others have said, freebies can be in any condition.  If I were you, though, I'd disclose the condition either on your profile, in your signature, or at the time it is requested.

Edited to add:  Clarification.  Hardbacks do have to have the actual hardback cover, but they don't have to have the dust jacket.  Sorry if I confused you!

"If it's a hardback book, you are not required to have a cover to post it. "

I'm assuming you mean DUST-cover, right? ;-)

Thanks Lisa.

I was talking about a pb book. I don't have any free HC's yet. Great info, just wanted to make sure!

Nice Zappa image Patrick and Chris

I'm looked at various places in the help center and do not see anything that says that PB have to have a cover if offered as a freebie.  they do have to have a cover if offered for a credit, but where does it say you can't offer them for free?

IIRC you can offer them as free, per site rules, but please be aware that  PB books with the cover removed often are books that were marked as  "unsold and destroyed" and so, the publisher never got paid anything for that book.  It's sort of like passing around a bootleg copy of a movie.  No one involved in the production of that copy was ever paid for their work, creativity, etc.  For me, it's unethical to do so - YMMV.

Not always L older books lose their covers a lot. Especially cheaply made pocket books. So it may have been a bootleg copy but theres really no way to tell.

This is a hard one. Most books that are just not postable are fine to be added as freebies, but books without the front covers are usually the illegal ones and if I were R&R, I really wouldn't want them being in any transaction on the site. Yet they are perfectly readable and those of us who love every book really want to get them passed on to be read again... Maybe you'd want to ask them.

I know I ordered from someone and got as a freebie a book without a cover and it wasn't from being well worn.  While I know that these are supposed to be books that are destroyed obviously they are not since they are floating around out there.

on a freecycle site for my area someone was selling books fairly cheap, i was going to buy them until she told me that they had no covers.  I knew that mean they were "illegal" (for lack of a better word) and I wasn't going to pay money for them. 

this is one of those grey areas it seems

I've had books where the cover came off bc of age/poor manufacturing/wear and tear.  I think it'd be fine offering one as a freebie, but I would include the problem (as others have stated) and maybe take an extra step of informing the recipient of it's history so they don't worry that it is an illegal copy.

Edited for typos

Chris, that's why I said "are often books..."  I didn't say always.

I know I was just saying its sortof up to the condition of the book for what I do with it. Sorry I guess I wasnt clear on that (whats new)

For example if I get a book at a yardsale thats 30 years old and has no cover I'll offer it as a freebie. If however the book is fairly new I'll toss it out so that Im not risking sending on an illegal copy.

Most of my books that have no cover are books my son got a hold of when he was about 18 months old LOL...