Crazy Bookstore
This is from my Facebook page so it's written
pretty Facebookishly (If that is a word)
Can you believe this? I visited a new bookstore in Eureka, Hometown Books, or something similar to that. It's a used bookstore so I asked what their policy was on used book trade/buying. They only give cash for 4 different type of books (nonfiction). So I asked what do they offer in trade? He said (AND GET THIS) they don't give any credit, you DONATE your books to them! This is a For Profit business.
I told the owner that if I am donating my books to anyone, it won't be a for profit business. As in the past, I donate them to The Agape House which sells them and helps the poor. Maybe helps pay their heating bill, maybe gives them food for their children.
He looked surprised.
Maybe I'm not missing something but I can't recall donating my chicken eggs to Denny's so they can sell omelettes. Maybe some nice lumber company will donate wood so my husband can build and sell a house. Wow, what a savings for us! I can't wait to see how long they stay in business.
Oh, and you buy their books by the pound. He had to adjust his original price because none of the hardbacks or heavy cookbooks were selling! Craziness.
I will add that we spoke at length on how other local used bookstores manage this.
They will give you a portion of the cover price to use against books in their store.
If they sold the book they may mark out the UPC so the book shop will know
that it was not purchased at full price.
Some of them give punch cards that you fill up and turn in for books, if you
lose your card, you are out of luck.There are several variations.
I had some FB comments indicating some retailers to take donations but
sell the books with proceeds going to a charity. That makes sense to me.
I just thought it odd that a business would think I wanted to
donate the products they intend to sell for a profit.
Especially if I then had to pay for books I might purchase from his shop.
He is thinking about his options.
11 comments:
I wonder how many people have asked where the money from their 'donations' go? So funny! Wonder how long they have been in business?
We had a couple dealers stop by our yard sale get really upset when I refused their disgusting lowball offer for everything we had by telling them that anything we couldn't get a reasonable price for would go to the Salvation Army. Some people are clueless.
I agree with you. I would not donate to a for profit business, unless it was something like Habitat for Humanity.
Have a great week!
"Interesting" way to make a living. But I guess as long as he's upfront about his policies, then go for it. But I would personally "go for it" someplace else where the profits could be used for some sort of charity.
If you can find a place that "donates" fencing and t-posts, let me know, we sure could use some! ;)
When I was moving I had a lot of books that just didn't make sense to move. I had two sets of encyclopedias. One was from the late 1800s and the other from the early 1900s. Both had very interesting bindings and the entries were interesting to read from a historical perspective. I donated them to the Goodwill and cringed as I saw them all thrown into a recycle paper bin to get sold as scrap. I would have much rather donated them to anyone who would offer them to someone else who loves books, for profit or not. - Margy
Margy- your sets were different, being older. I don't typically give to Goodwill although I purchase there. Around here they have a shelf or maybe 2 for books. Surprisingly enough we try to purchase reference books that are old, where nobody has "changed" history or omitted references so early 1900s would have been perfect. I hope you can find a place that caters to older books if you have the opportunity again.
Carolyn, my husband will fight you for them but maybe, if we find that fairy fencepost godmother, we could split them.
I have donated to Goodwill in the past, but they are turning their prices into very high prices lately, and more like a "chain" store, keeping all their prices the same. They also stopped doing the half-price sticker days. I try to donate to the charity stores, that are not part of any "chain" and their profits benefit a specific charity. Or I barter with farmgirls. The recycling center here will also take books that can't find homes and can be recycle, but I hate to see a book "die" if you know what I mean.
Our library has a book sale every year, and folks donate books to sell. The proceeds help fund our local library - which is fine with me. Also, just an FYI, Goodwill: 0% of your dollar goes towards charity - it's really a for profit business not that unlike your new bookstore. Salvation Army or St. Vincent's has a good percentage of each dollar going towards charity, so we try to donate to one of those two.
Smiles.
That really IS crazy!!
I love the library sales! Many of my books come from there but I didn't realize until this year that some of the books are donated. A good cause too!
I do like St Vincent DePaul. They have a big book section, I may drop by there and drop mine off.
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