If books were described as 'in good condition, only read once' what would you reasonably expect?

[Whippet]

What would you expect a paperback book in 'good conditon -only read once' to look like?

Would it have:

• very creased spine
• yellow page edges
• writing on some pages (in pencil/biro)
• wrinkling at edge (as if wet, then dried)

?

I'd expect minimal creasing to the spine, no yellowing unless it was particularly old/rare, no writing unless that was actually stated in the listing and no wrinkling.

Abe's terminology of book conditions states -

Good (G) - Describes the average used worn book that has all pages or leaves present. Any defects must be noted.

This book should probably have been described as "poor" due to the wrinkled pages.

Poor - Describes a book that is sufficiently worn, to the point that its only merit is as a Reading Copy because it does have the complete text, which must be legible. Any missing maps or plates should still be noted. This copy may be soiled, scuffed, stained or spotted and may have loose joints, hinges, pages, etc.

The seller could arguably have been correct with a description of "good" had she noted all the defects.

Read once to me is still perfect, but then I'm a reader who never breaks or creases the spine on a book!

'Normal' people would lightly crease the spine - maybe your seller left it one shelf for ages, then read it the bath......

Well, when I've read a book once it looks awful. I read in the bath, I turn over the corner of the page (even though I have a book mark and they generally look 'used'. However when my dh has read a book it looks brand new. He won't let me borrow his books