emma_dixon70•6d agoProlific Poster

Question about keeping book condition during swaps

I've been trading books on here for about 6 months now and I keep getting books back with bent covers or sticky pages. I always wrap mine in a clean plastic bag before mailing. Yesterday I got a copy of The Road that had coffee rings on it. Is there some standard way people expect books to arrive? Or are my standards too high?

3 comments

3 Comments

michael_jenkins396d ago

I keep getting books back with bent covers" - man I feel you on that. But honestly I think you might be overdoing it with the plastic bag thing. The problem is that a plastic bag can actually trap moisture inside, especially if there's any humidity in the mail truck or it sits in a mailbox for a while. That moisture can make the book feel sticky or even damage the paper over time. A better approach is to use a cardboard mailer that's slightly bigger than the book, and wrap the book itself in some clean packing paper or even just a sheet of newspaper. The key is to keep the book from sliding around inside the mailer. Also for the coffee rings thing, that's just someone being careless and you have every right to be annoyed by that.

phoenixb344d ago

fr the coffee rings thing is inexcusable. but i gotta side with @fiona985 here. i hate opening a book and finding newspaper ink all over my fingers. its gross. plastic bags are way cleaner and they actually block liquid way better than paper. yeah you gotta let it air out for a sec when you open it but thats whatever. also cardboard mailers dont bend if you actually tape the edges good and use the rigid ones not the flimsy envelopes.

fiona9856d ago

Actually @michael_jenkins39, gotta push back a little here. Not everyone wants their books wrapped in newspaper that can leave ink smudges on the pages if it gets wet. Plastic bags are fine if you just let the book air out for a minute when you get it, and they actually protect way better against coffee rings and dirt than paper does. Plus cardboard mailers bend just as easy as anything else if the mail carrier isn't careful.