PaperBackSwap.com Blog


Posts Tagged ‘Condition of Books’

Dear Librarian,

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Dear Librarian- Why doesn’t the site “remember me” when I go to log in?  I click that box on the Login page to “remember me” but every time I come back I have to fill in my login information.  Why doesn’t this work? — Forgotten in Fairmont

Dear Monty,

Login information is remembered by your browser, using a “cookie” (a little bit of information stored on your computer).  Your login information will be remembered by your browser indefinitely as long as you log in here at least once every two weeks and don’t clear cookies in your browser during that time.

The following actions will cause your login information to be deleted:

- clicking the Logout link in the upper right corner of the page
- deleting the cookies from your computer (this may be done manually or by an automated cleanup program setting or by your reboot)
- waiting more than two weeks since your previous login

Additionally, you will not have access to the previously remembered login information if any of the following are true:

- you use a different computer
- you login to Windows using a different user name
- you switch to a different browser (e.g. from IE7 to Firefox)

Most members who have experienced the problem of being “forgotten” by the login page are either clicking the Logout link, or have found that they have some software installed that cleans up their browser cookies for them.

Dear Librarian- I saw that there is a “textbook exception” that allows textbooks to be posted if they have underlining or highlighting or writing in them.  How do you define a textbook?  What if I have a novel that was used in a class?  - Hesitant in Hattiesburg

Dear Hattie,

The “textbook exception”  has three parts, really.  Each one is very important, and together they help the textbook exception work well in the club.  First, the textbook exception allows textbooks to be posted with writing/highlighting/underlining (no non-textbooks may be posted with such markings). Second, the textbook exception includes the stipulation that the sender write a Personal Message to the requestor describing the book’s condition and third (and most important!), the sender must receive a Personal Message in reply from the requestor, agreeing to the described condition, BEFORE sending the book. If the requestor does not respond, or declines the book in its condition, the sender must NOT send the book - the sender must let the system cancel, or cancel it by clicking “cancel order”.

This requirement of a PM exchange with the requestor accepting the book means that it is not possible for a sender who is following the rules to send a “surprise” highlighted/written in book to a requestor.   For that reason, it does not matter what the sender considers a textbook - if it has markings that will allow it to be posted only if it is a textbook, then the sender is bound by the textbook exception rules to describe it in a PM, and must receive a reply PM consenting to its condition, before sending it. In this way, matters will naturally sort themselves out: the math textbook that a requestor would expect to have writing in it will be accepted when it is described, while the novel that is read for a class will probably NOT be accepted when it is described.  The sender needs to decline if the requestor refuses the book in its condition.  At some point (after enough refusals from requestors), the member who is trying to send a novel as a textbook will realize that since it is not generally perceived as a textbook, it will probably not be possible to send out a marked-up version of that book here.

Hope that helps clarify this issue! You can read the textbook exception in the Help Center, of course, in the Help doc “Book Condition Criteria”.

COMING SOON:

  • new feature on the Book Details page
  • projects coming out of beta-testing
  • new stuff in the PBS Store!

DEAR R&R: Newsletter - January 2008

Tuesday, January 1st, 2008

Dear R&R—I requested a book from another member, who apparently read my Requestor Conditions wrong. My conditions say “I only want hardcovers if they have their dustjackets”, but this was a paperback book! I have no conditions for paperbacks. She declined the request! How do I get this book from her? –Frantic in Phoenix

Dear Franny,

Bottom line: you can’t. If the sender declined your request by clicking “My book does not meet these conditions”, then you will not be able to re-request that copy of the book from her.   It is very important to word your Requestor Conditions as clearly as possible for this reason: once the book is declined, you will not be able to get this copy. If you have Requestor Conditions on your account, review them to make sure that they reflect exactly what you mean.

In your case, Fran, the sender may have read only as far as “I am only willing to accept hardcovers…” before she clicked to decline. Yes, that’s her error, but you can’t eliminate human mistakes! Everyone makes them sometimes. The best you can do is prevent them as much as possible, by wording your Requestor Conditions as clearly and unambiguously as possible.

We suggest that all members read the Help Center item “How to Use Requestor Conditions” to learn how this feature works from both the sender and the requestor’s point of view.

Sorry, Franny, you will have to wait until another copy of the book is posted into the system.   If this book was on a Wish List, it was passed to the next Wishing member when the sender clicked “My Book Does Not Meet Conditions”. If it was not on a Wish List, it will have to be requested by another member before you can put it onto your Wish List.

Dear R&R—My Requestor Conditions say “I don’t want books that smell funny. If you have any questions, PM me.” I got an email from PBS saying that the book couldn’t be sent, but the email included a message from the sender saying “It doesn’t smell funny to me, but I was born without a sense of smell.  I had my sister smell it, and she says it smells okay to her.  Do you still want it?”     YES, I do!  How do I tell her that?  –Disappointed in Denver

Dear Denny,

You can’t.   She clicked “My book does not meet conditions” on the request, and that copy of the book can’t be requested by you now.

There are a couple of things about your Requestor Conditions to consider: (1) they are very subjective.  What smells “funny” to one person may smell fine to another.  If you have a problem with odors, it may be tough for you to get books here that meet your conditions, and you may miss out on some books you might have been okay with.   And (2) Requestor  Conditions should NOT ask members to PM you to ask for more details. The Conditions should be clearly interpretable by themselves, without added PM communication. The reason for this is that the sender does not have a way to PM you before accepting or declining the request; she or he may think declining is the first step toward further negotiation/discussion about this book.  And once declined, that copy of the book can’t be re-requested by you! So if you MUST have something like this in your Requestor Conditions, it should be worded as “If you have any questions, please ACCEPT my request and send me a Personal Message. If you decline this request, I won’t be allowed to request the book from you!”

Dear R&R–I am allergic to cats, so my Requestor Conditions ask for “No books from a household containing cats, please, due to severe allergies.”  I requested a book as a present for my sister, who is NOT allergic to cats.  But the sender declined it.  How can I tell her that it would be okay to send?  –Sniffly in San Jose

Dear Jose,

Did you know that you can toggle your Requestor Conditions on and off when you request a book?  Yes, you can do this in your account settings: choose “No” at the top of your Requestor Conditions and then click Update.  Then request the book, and go back to your Account Settings and choose “Yes” again, and click Update again.

If a book that you don’t need to apply Requestor Conditions for is on your Wish List, don’t set it to Auto-Request: if you do, it will be requested by your account and your Requestor Conditions will be applied to the request.  Instead, set it to Auto-Request: No, and when the book is offered to you, you can turn OFF your Requestor Conditions before accepting the offer.  Then turn them back on again, and they will be applied to your future requests.

We are sorry that you will not be able to get this copy of this book from this sender.  We hope that it is posted again soon, and you are able to get it by turning off your Requestor Conditions just before accepting the offer, as above.

Dear R&R–I am so upset about the coming Wish List changes at PBS that I can’t sleep at night.  What should I do? –Insomniac in Idaho

Dear Ida,

Don’t fret.  We know that change can be tough.  Will it help if we sing a little lullaby? (to the tune of Brahms’ Lullaby)

Lullaby, and goodnight…don’t let the Wish List upset you…You will be quite sur-prised…By how well it’ll work, we bet you!
You will not… lose out on books… you have been waiting for…In fact, we expect…that you’ll get even more.

The club… needs to evolve…to keep alive for many more seasons…We wouldn’t make this change if there…weren’t a heck of a lot of good reasons…
We don’t have…a date yet…for im-ple-men-ta-tion… You will see…when it comes…that your fears were largely mis-in-for-mation.

Shhh…she’s sleeping….

Dear R&R–Why don’t you shut up about the coming Wish List changes?  Either do it, or don’t do it, but stop talking about it! –Annoyed in Arizona

Dear Ari,

We only mention it because it came up in the Discussion Forums, and there has been a lot of incorrect info bandied about.  We don’t want to ignore our members’ concerns, even if they are premature.  We would have informed the membership well in advance of the change, but some members demanded we discuss it now. So we did.  We’ll be happy to shut up about it.  This is how it sounds when we shut up.  :)

Condition of Books: Newsletter - August 2005

Saturday, August 6th, 2005

As a reminder, we ask that all members comply with the “Condition of Books” statement in the posting and shipping area of the site. Remember, the club policy on book conditions is listed on the posting page. It state:

“Please remember our club is based on honesty and integrity from our members about their books. You will not receive a credit if your book is shipped in poor condition. In order to post this book you must AGREE to the conditions of the book listed below:

1. My book is not missing its cover.
2. My book is not an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC)
3. My book has no water damage of any kind.
4. My book is not excessively worn, and it is in good condition.”

In addition to the above conditions, all members will be required to agree to the statement below in order to post books into the system.

“By posting books, I agree to fulfill shipping the requests of other PBS members. I understand that the posting of books without the intention of mailing them upon request constitutes fraud and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

This condition was required because we were alerted to a handful of members who were posting books only to receive their three free credits. Some would even accept a request only to never mail the book. As you all know, one bad apple can affect the entire basket if we don’t take action to prevent it in the future. We thank you in advance for understanding the need for this action.