Better World Books - How To Recycle Books and Make Money

As a librarian, sometimes I find myself drowning in a sea of books. Mostly these are books that have been donated that we choose not to add to the library collection, and books that have been weeded due to age, wear, or lack of use. As a small library we regularly house about 10,000 items and we can’t keep every book forever and ever. At the Pioneer Memorial Public Library in Harman, West Virginia, we do maintain a small book sale and we probably make about $8-10 per month selling these books. We also sell books on Amazon with all proceeds benefiting the library.

In the past two years, we have weeded about 3,000+ books from the shelves of the library. Excessively worn books go into a dumpster and are disposed of in the local landfill. Because of our rural location in West Virginia, there is no place within a 50+ mile radius to recycle books. Other books have been lovingly packed in boxes and shipped off to Better World Books in Indiana. In the last two years, I have personally boxed up 78 boxes of books that have been shipped off to BWB. Better World Books pays for the boxes and the shipping, making it even easier to expedite this reciprocal relationship. Assuming that each box holds about 20 books, I estimate that I have recycled well over 1,500 books in the last two years through BWB.

So what is Better World Books?

Better World Books was founded in 2002 by three friends at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. The goal of BWB according to their website: “Better World Books uses the power of business to change the world. We collect and sell books online to donate books and fund literacy initiatives worldwide. With more than 8 million new and used titles in stock, we’re a self-sustaining, triple-bottom-line company that creates social, economic and environmental value for all our stakeholders.” Sounds great, right? In short, Better World Books promotes literacy, creative book recycling, and environmental responsibility. I wrote a brief article about Better World Books a while back but I wanted to write an update on the success of our partnership with BWB.

Better World Books accepts donated books and resells them on 50 different outlets online. I have even bought books for my library from Better World Books (via Amazon) and I love that my library's relationship with BWB completes a full circle. If you are interested in buying books from BWB, you can check out their site here.

Where Does the Book Money Go?

One of the great aspects of BWB is transparency. Via an online portal, I may see how many boxes of books BWB has accepted for the Pioneer Library and I can see how much income has been made via online sales. So far, Better World Books has sold $458.77 worth of discarded books from the Pioneer Library. We only make 15% of sales, so our cut is $58.28. Five percent of the sale go to our Net Proceeds Literacy Partner (NPLP) so they have earned $19.43. Our NPLP is Worldfund, a nonprofit that promotes literacy in South America, and I got to choose this nonprofit from several choices. I chose Worldfund because South America is our neighbor and also in acknowledgement of the fact that Latinos are the fastest-growing minority population in West Virginia.

Environmental Benefits From Better World Books

OK, so the Pioneer Library has not made a ton of cash from selling books via Better World Books, but there are other benefits besides cash. The same portal where I may view sales shows the environmental impact of our book donations. Since I only recently sent another batch of 26 boxes of books, BWB has not caught up with the full total of items that have been sent. But, according to the portal, of the 749 books they have received, 439 have been recycled and 310 have been reused. This adds up to 1,024 pounds of books! Also according to the BWB calculation I have saved the equivalent of 11 trees, 6,595 gallons of water, 1,594 pounds of greenhouse gases, and 2,463 kwh of electricity. This makes me feel even better about sending books to Better World Books.

But wait, there's more. As of May 2014, Better World Books has raised $16 million for literacy worldwide! Not bad for an organization that began with three friends who just wanted to recycle books and promote literacy. Please keep in mind that half of that amount has been reinvested into literacy programs and libraries in the United States. So while you can buy and sell from BWB as a library, they also give back to libraries in donations and grants. You can't say the same thing about Amazon.

Is BWB Worth the Effort?

Overall, Better World Books is serving our library and the world amazingly and creatively. I am thrilled to keep hundreds of books out of our local landfills. I am pleased that BWB offers carbon offsets to individual book buyers for just a few cents extra. BWB has a holistic approach to literacy, recycling, and philanthropy that seems to cover all the bases. What has it cost the library? It does take staff time and tape to pack up 26 boxes of books (per shipment). BWB provides free boxes, labels and shipping. I have to place UPS labels on all the boxes and call UPS for pick up, but I still feel like the time I spend on preparing these books is well worth the return on investment. If a small rural library with two part-time staff members can participate successfully with Better World Books, so can you.

How To Sell Books, CDs, and DVDs on Amazon

I started selling books and CDs online ten years ago when I realized that I had too many and that I needed to part with some of my collection to make room for newer items. It has taken me a long time to become good at selling online. I have also made a lot of mistakes along the way. But below, in cheat sheet form, is how to sell stuff on Amazon.

Open an Account

If you have never bought anything on Amazon you need to start an account. If you have bought on Amazon, you already have an account that you can use as your seller account. Go to Amazon.com to get started.

Start Small

Start with a small stack of books, CDs, or DVDs that you would like to sell. Using the ISBN, author, or title, search (on Amazon) for the item that you would like to sell on Amazon. Once you find the record for it, if you look to the right of the page you will see a small button that says, "Have one to sell?" Click on this button and follow the prompts for listing your item. (This part is just like Level One cataloguing. You cannot create a new record on Amazon--you have to attach it to a record that already exists.)

Condition 

Take some time to examine each item so that you can accurately assess the condition of your book, CD, or DVD. Does the book have a dust jacket? Include a description of the condition of the dust jacket ("mild shelf wear", "a few small rips", "like mint"). How is the binding of the book? Are all the pages intact? Has someone written their name or notes in the book? Does your book info match up to the Amazon book info? If it has a different copyright or printing date, you want to include that. Does the book smell funny? Has it been kept in a smoke-free household? Is the cover scuffed? Is the CD lightly scratched but still playable? These are all aspects of each item that you should consider and include in an accurate description that will help you sell more easily. Be careful in your descriptions. Discerning book buyers will not hesitate to return an item that is not as described.

When evaluating condition, always err on the side of reducing the condition.

Condition choices include:
Like New - This item should look like it just came from a bookstore shelf. I have had books returned for minor scuffing on the dust jacket.
Very Good - This item might have minor cosmetic blemishes but is almost Like New.
Good - These are books that have writing someone's name on the inside cover, perhaps the pages are slightly yellowed, but the binding is tight and all the pages are intact and readable.
Acceptable - I almost never sell books that are rated at this level because it means a book has serious condition issues. If these books don't have substantial resale value these "acceptable" books are also great for lighting your fireplace in winter.

Pricing 

Take a look at the number of other copies that you are selling. If there are several hundred copies of a book for sale, chances are it is selling for not a lot of cash. It is up to you to decide what your financial threshold is for selling books. For example, I have decided that books that are worth less than $10 are probably not worth selling online personally. (These books probably go to the library book sale or Better World Books.) I try to price my books ten cents below the lowest price on Amazon, therefore my listing gets picked first by the shopper looking for the cheapest price.
The price of a book is just like a stock or bond in that its value may fluctuate regularly based on the number of available copies. As a dedicated bookseller, I update my inventory pricing once a week to remain the lowest price seller on all of my items. I also usually tweak inventory on Fridays knowing that weekends are the busiest shopping time.

Shipping 

Consider which shipping options you will offer to your sellers. The more options you have the more chances you have at making a sale. However, because of my location (in a remote state), I only offer "regular shipping". One-day and two-day shipping is just not viable options when you live in the hills of West Virginia.

Yay, You've Sold a Book! 

Once you sell a book you need to be diligent about shipping out within one to two days, otherwise, customers will complain. When shipping books, CDs, or DVDs, I recommend shipping via Media Mail as this is usually the cheapest form of mailing. First Class mail may be cheaper for smaller and lighter items such as CDs and DVDs. Talk to your local postal employees and make those people your friends. They can be very helpful in recommending shipping choices that will save you cash.
Amazon makes order fulfillment easy by providing you with a shipping label (use it, it avoids typos) and a receipt, both of which you print out from your printer. Technically, if you include even a handwritten note of thanks on the invoice the post office can make you pay First Class. The Postmaster of any USPS center has the right to open and inspect any Media Mail package to confirm that you are sticking to the rules, but honestly, in all my years of selling and shipping, this has never happened.

Make sure that you package your book, CD, or DVD for safe shipping. A cheap way to handle this is by buying bubble mailers in bulk at a place online called ULine. (There are many places and just like books, these prices fluctuate too. Do some research to find the best price.) Imagine that the item that you have sold is going to get thrown and tossed by the package handlers and pack accordingly.

Getting Paid 

Amazon pays out twice a month directly into your (or your library's) bank account. They hold cash out in case of refunds and they also take their cut. (You didn't think Amazon would help you sell for free, did you?) Amazon is purposefully vague about their percentage, but as best as I can figure, they take about a third of your profits. Amazon also reimburses you for shipping, but if you are shipping larger or heavier items you might lose money in this process. That is why it is more profitable to sell small things rather than big things. (Avoid heavy coffee table-sized books.)

That's pretty much all you need to know to get started. The real trick is being able to figure out quickly which books have resale value and which do not. This skill has taken me years to hone.

Better World Books - Creative Book Recycling That Earns Cash For Your Library

In my continued quest to find alternative revenue streams for the Pioneer Memorial Public Library, I have connected with Better World Books. A fellow librarian tipped me off about BWB, so I made contact and set up an account. Here's how it works:

Once you sign an agreement the portal to order shipping supplies is open to your library or school. BWB sends free boxes and shipping labels that make this book recycling program even more attractive. To make sure you are not creating a larger carbon footprint through excessive shipping, BWB asks that you send no less than six to twenty-five boxes of books at a time. When you have filled up your boxes all you have to do is call UPS for a pick-up and the shipping is prepaid by BWB.

Better World Books sells these books on 50 online sites and sends your school or library 15% of the profits. An additional 5% goes to the charity of your choice. While 15% may not seem like a lot, BWB is keeping books out of landfills and creatively recycling these materials by reselling them online. The customer service representative that I spoke to said that they process about half a million books a week! That is a mind-boggling figure.

Founded in 2002 by three friends from the University of Notre Dame To quote from their website, "So far, the company has converted more than 58 million books into over $10.4 million in funding for literacy and education. In the process, we’ve also diverted more than 40,000 tons of books from landfills." That's a financial and environmental coup by any standards.

There are a few rules that you need to adhere to in packing up books for BWB such as:

* no Reader's Digest Condensed books

* no Who's Who books

* no damaged or marked-up books

* no Harlequin Romance novels

* nothing from the Modern Library series.

BWB suggests that these be recycled locally, while some may recommend these books as excellent fire starters. ;-)

I'll report back at a later date as to the profits we have received from Better World Books. Even if it's not a lot, it makes me feel good to know that these books may be reused and reread by people who need them or want them. I think of Better World Books as good reading karma.