Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Stephanie Elam’s article, Building better world a book at a time, published July 2, 2000 on cnn.com. http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/07/01/mainstreet.books/ is a great example of what a little initiative and hard work can do. Elam puts the spotlight on Xavier Helgesen, and his partners, Kreece Fuchs and Jeff Kurtzman, who started the company Better World Books. The trio’s idea for Better World Books started when they were in college, trying to sell back their used textbooks to the university. As we have all surely experienced, the university wouldn’t buy a majority of their books back, so the guys started selling their books on half.com. Soon after, they decided to hold book drives, which were an immediate hit. Their first drive in 2002 collected roughly 2,000 books which were then sold for $20,000. Within a few years, the company branched out from just textbooks to include drives at libraries with every kind of book imaginable.In order to get a little exposure, Helgesen, Fuchs and Kurtzman attended an ALA conference where they proceeded to hear atrocious stories about the libraries they were advertising to. Helgesen talks of libraries that literally dumped books down a well at night because they were unable to shelve or recycle the books.In the seven years since Better World Books has been operating, the founders have managed to expand their warehouse in Mishawka, Indiana to house more than 2 million books. Every day they bring in about 40,000 new books and they now have projected revenue in 2009 of $31 million.Like Amazon, Better World Books offers great prices on everything ranging from picture books to text books. The cheapest books can be as little as $3.50, to $100 text books. Not only does this company offer books at a cheap price, they also do not charge for shipping, and they donate 5 to 10 percent of their revenue to libraries and literacy programs around the world.Better World Books provides a great alternative for libraries that are forced to weed and get rid of books they no longer have room for. Now, consumers have the opportunity to purchase literature that they otherwise might not have been able to. I have had many textbooks that I wasn’t able to sell back, and I wish I would have had an outlet to donate and make use of my old books. Better World Books also does not charge any shipping fees, no matter how many books are ordered, so I would probably use it over sites like Amazon, especially knowing a portion of my proceeds went to help libraries and literacy programs.
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13 comments:
That is so cool Betsy, that you posted on this - I just came across BWB a couple of days ago when I was looking at the Book Crossing Site and I'm so glad for this 'fair trade' store. I'm not generally a big bandwagon jumper when it comes to buying or selling, anyway, but when I saw the BBW site, I thought "I'm going to buy and sell my books here."
It's so unfortunate about the libraries dumping books down wells -and I have seen this myself - when the Friends of the Library just can't sell the books and people get mad that the books are being dumped, because the books represent some sort of valuable objects, but without a way to get them to their reader, they are unfortunately worthless. When nobody will buy a book for 25 cents, there's not much you can do to save it. That's why this is such a great idea. We have lately been talking about technology as a means to an end and how it can be used in all sorts of negative ways. This is a really good example of a positive way to use the power of the Web - it's a win-win-win for the books, for the users and for the libraries, as Betsy mentioned. And I think it's interesting that again, this phenomenon is obeying Ranganathan's principles (Every book its reader, every reader his/her book). Who knew Ranganathan's principles would be so pervasive?
I once visited a new friend's house and was excited to see some nice coffee table books. I opened them up and said "oh, I just loved this book! Did you?" My friend shamefacedly admitted that she hadn't read the book, she had just bought it as an accessory to her new furniture.
And I have also experienced the "my treasure" concept when people donate, for example, their deceased spouse's books to a theological library and want a practical shrine put up to the donor, and NO books are allowed to be discarded.
Okay, a little off topic, but the point is that we are entering an era, perhaps, where we are so used to unlimited digital space that physical space is used much, much more carefully. Ie., the dumping books into a well. Might be an interesting find for an archaeologist in the future, however!
But, I am really glad to hear about a group like this one that is recycling books. Amazon also sells used copies, and I have noticed big bookstores now do as well. Barnes & Noble has a used book section, imagine that!
I think that quality is going to start overtaking quantity, at least in physical libraries, where the copies are kept on the shelf. I think over and over we have heard in our library reports that space is at a premium. Remember the Prelinger libraries? My thought in reading that was that, what happens when the rent goes up and they can't keep it going anymore? That is why public libraries will never entirely disappear, private ones are too dependent on the lifespan of the person supporting them.
Off topic again, sorry. But I do think that recycling is a phenomenal thing. They build houses out of used tires, maybe the paper books can be recycled into something else? Fuel?
P.S. I just spent $75 on 13 books on BWB. What a bargain!
I first learned about Better World Books when I was at the New Orleans Public Library. Supposedly, a portion of the proceeds at BWB goes to rebuilding the NOPL. Sadly, though, when I went to the website, I couldn't find anything in the information about the NOPL, and thus didn't feel sure that's actually a place where the money is going.
I think Better World Books is a great idea. I, too, could not believe that libraries are actually throwing books down a well after dark, let alone admitting to it! Not only does that go against Ranganathan's Five Laws, it's also just, well, wrong. A well? Couldn't they have at least used a dumpster? But I digress.
The idea of a used book sale is nothing new, but I like that these guys are using the funds to help multiple causes rather than just their own needs. (I'm thinking here of the Right to Life used book sale my church just hosted last week. They generated a ton of income and have an entire warehouse of donated books, but that money goes to a limited cause.) Not only does the money serve various charities, it seems as though one of their goals is to increase literacy--not too many used book sales emphasis literacy enough, in my opinion.
While I think it's a great idea and one that I wish I had thought of myself, the skeptic in me would like to see more detailed information about their charitable giving and such on their web page.
This article crossed my path a couple weeks ago, and I have since sent out the link to family and friends everywhere. It's a fabulous idea; I'm happy that they are indeed supporting literacy and a few other causes. Out of curiousity I checked prices with used books on Amazon and found that some titles were more expensive at BWB. To be honest, however, there is that part of me that hates to pay shipping, and I would rather support BWB than Amazon!
I still have to ask, though- what are they going to do with 500 copies of a textbook for Computer Science 101 from 1998?
I think it’s appropriate that there is mention of half.com in the article because when I just skimmed it the first time, I thought, “This sounds a lot like half.com,” which is a site I used religiously as an undergrad. Upon reading everything more thoroughly, my impression is that BWB sounds almost too good to be true. They offer a service where college students can by discounted textbooks, libraries have a place to send overstock instead of having to destroy books, and, on top of all of that, they donate some of their revenue to libraries and literacy programs. I cannot discredit them for any of that. What I found, though, is that sometimes their “new” textbooks cost more than they would at other places. I checked one of the textbooks required for the 6210 class next semester and it was $4.50 more at BWB than it was at the campus bookstore. That may be a non-issue for the distance students who were going to pay that extra money on shipping anyway, but I think it drives home an important point and that is while BWB offers some great deals, it’s important that people need to be wary so they don’t get sucked into buying something that may cost less somewhere else.
Jen and Beth I think you both bring up a good point about pricing. Although BWB has a good service they it is still a good idea to shop around. Since I am a distance student sometimes the BWB price that is slightly inflated is still cheaper than the lesser price plus shipping so it just depends on your situation.
I found it interesting that BWB ends up recycling what they cannot sell and monitor the practices of the recycling company. Which leads me to be a little skeptical like others. Ever heard the saying if it sounds too good to be true...
Can one company really have so much good in their hearts that all of these good samaritan acts are actually being done? I'm not sure it is possible because I haven't seen too many other companies do much along these lines. However, the optimist in me wants to believe BWB really lives up to their claims and could join other business or have other businesses join them in doing what is right for the community.
I'm with Shannon in that I'll believe these guys started this company out of the goodness of their hearts and they're truly doing what they say they are, i.e. donating that percentage to libraries around the world and making sure their recycler is following ethical standards.
I had never heard of BWB before, but I think it's a fantastic idea. I was just comparing Amazon to the campus B&N and I too was surprised that in some cases, the campus bookstore was slightly cheaper. But of course, that was before I factored in the exorbitant shipping costs B&N on campus charges!
All in all, I say "Yay!" to BWB. I think what they're doing is the right thing to do, especially if they're donating any percentage of profits to worthy libraries.
I had never of BWB either. I think it’s a great idea. While they are not the cheapest source for all books, they make no claims on that. Helegen says the following in the article, "What's cool about us is we post them at about market level, so some of the books will only be about 20 or 30 percent off, so they may still be $80 to $90. Some other ones are 90 percent off, so you may be getting a $100 book for $10, and that happens every day here." It sounds like BWB is like the TJ Max or Marshalls of the book world. You can find some books at some great prices, and other items are still a little more expensive.
Overall, I think it’s great that they can turn these used books into such a profitable business. I hope they are living up to the claims of recycling the unwanted books and donating to different charities.
I echo everyone else I think when I say this sounds like a great service--one I had not heard about before! Although I will also agree with the "it sounds too good to be true" sentiment as well.
I was most curious about their "buy back" policy, which sounds like the reason they started their business in the first place. It looks like you can print a shipping label from the site to send in your books after typing in the ISBN numbers and accepting how much you will be paid for them. I love the idea of printing a shipping label, especially if you're going to donate books that can't be sold else where.
I found a list of the five main places they donate to on the sites FAQ, but there's not much more information than that. It would seem that a site so big would have a hard time flubbing this, but you just never know... hate to be the skeptic, but...
What a great idea. Great but not new. I would like to create a website to sell back my books too! I think that these people are getting away with tons of money that they could donate to better libraries. better libraries=better books for them to sell! Gosh, do libraries really just dump books like that? They don't donate them or anything? How sad. I agree with Jen A. What happens to the extremely old books? I hope recycling!
Better world books is a great idea. I hated it when I couldn't sell back a $200 textbook because the publisher was coming out with a new edition the next year that was completely the same but with a different cover. BWB is one of those ideas that never would have worked without the internet. At the same time it is an 'aha' idea; meaning 'Aha! Why didn't I think of that?'
It's good to see there are people around who know that libraries have to get rid of so many books because people don't buy them. I know BWB is geared more towards universities and the like, but just the notion of BWB can be effective in helping others find an outlet for used library books. Though it would be a struggle to get rid of some of the books libraries carry that are from the '60s and '70s.
One of the organizations BWB supports:
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMission
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