BWB REMEMBERS THE BOOKS OF OUR CHILDHOOD (3 OF 3)
The third and final part in our Children’s Book Week series on the books that BWB employees remember from their childhood. Don’t forget...
Who is this service for? Why should I use it? How much does it cost? What service can I expect? If we work with you can we still run our local book sale? What kind of money can we expect to make? Which charities does Better World Books work with? What type of books/materials does Better World Books accept? Who determines the ‘saleability’ of the books? No shipping costs? Really? What size boxes should I use to send our books? On which online marketplaces does Better World Books sell? Are books ever thrown away? What sets Better World Books apare from other similar services?
Who is this service for? Any library that would like to see its surplus books put to good use – and raise some money at the same time.
Why should I use it? We’ll find new homes for your unwanted books whilst making money for both your library and a charity that works to promote literacy. We sell the books online using our unique software, which allows us to get the best possible price and huge exposure for every book. They are sold on multiple online marketplaces simultaneously, with prices changing daily according to demand. Rest assured we’ll get the most out of your excess stock; you barely need to lift a finger.
How much does it cost? Not a bean! We often hear that our programme is “too good to be true”…but it isn’t! There are no service agreements (unless requested), sign-up fees, monthly fees or one-off fees. There aren’t even any contracts to sign. Other than the time it takes to properly box the books and seal the cartons, there are no costs associated with using our service.
What service can I expect? We pride ourselves on offering a friendly, helpful and efficient service and our small team will do all we can to make it easy for you.
If we work with you can we still run our local book sale? Absolutely. Generally the books that sell well online are very different to the ones that are popular in a local book sale. So we can ensure we make the most from every 'unwanted' book you have.
What kind of money can we expect to make? Your library, and the charity partner you select, both receive a percentage of net sales – so the more saleable books you send us, the more money you stand to make. Some libraries that are already working with us have already received hundreds of pounds. Net sales are defined as the sale price of the book minus any marketplace commissions. For example, a book sold on Amazon.co.uk for £10.00 would have a net sale price of £8.50, as Amazon’s marketplace commission is 15%. Payments are made quarterly once an account accrues a minimum of £25 in commission payable. Commissions roll over until this £25 mark is reached.
Which charities does Better World Books work with? Our partners in the UK and Ireland are the National Literacy Trust www.literacytrust.org.uk , READ International www.readinternational.org.uk, Room to Read www.roomtoread.org, Scottish Booktrust www.scottishbooktrust.com and NALA (NationalAdult Literacy Agency, Ireland) www.nala.ie
We selected them because they are credible, well-established and have proven operating backgrounds. We also work with equally fantastic charities in the USA. In addition to providing them with a regular stream of unrestricted funding, where appropriate we also donate books to these organisations.
What type of books/materials does Better World Books accept? We work really hard to maximise the sales opportunity of every book.
We essentially take all books that are in a saleable condition. If a book is in a dirty or mouldy condition, unfortunately we won't be able to sell it.
Converting certain books into sales is a challenge. These include Journals, Periodicals, Magazines or Directories which we can't sell and need to be recycled. We also can't accept VHS, cassettes, CDs or open software sets. Here at Better World Books we want to find solutions that work for you so will work with you on your requirements. If in any doubt, please don't hesitate to contact us at library@betterworldbooks.co.uk.
Who determines the ‘saleability’ of the books? Our unique system and skilled team enable us to process, list and price the books we receive. You can have confidence in our ability to sell the most books at the best prices.
No shipping costs? Really? Yes. We take tremendous pride in being able to offer this. Our aim is to provide collections on demand for any volume of books. Whilst it's great if you can store up books before we collect them, our minimum is one full box. Collections of fewer than 25 boxes can be arranged at the click of a button using our online Portal. For larger volumes we’ll liaise with you directly. In either case, it’s all free.
What size boxes should I use to send our books? It helps us a lot if you can reuse the boxes sent by book distributors and publishers (approximately 45cm x 29cm x 27cm). If this is problematic, we can provide our standard boxes on request. Packing them fully is also important so the books are not damaged in transit.
On which online marketplaces does Better World Books sell? Better World Books is one of the largest online booksellers in the world and our American operation currently sells on 53 online marketplaces. In the UK we currently sell on 11 marketplaces including Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Abebooks.com, Alibris.com, Play.com and Biblio.com. The books in our UK warehouse are sold on www.betterworldbooks.co.uk and those in our American warehouse are also sold on www.BetterWorldBooks.com. These are the perfect destinations for the socially conscious book buyer.
Are books ever thrown away? No. We are very conscious about the environment and recycle everything we cannot sell. Where appropriate, we also donate books to our charity partners.
What sets Better World Books apart from other similar services? Better World Books is a social venture and very proud of the positive social and environmental impact of our activities. We provide a stable source of unrestricted funding to both libraries and our charity partners, which has totalled over £9 million. We are ambitious in our plans to provide the best possible service to the UK library community.