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Hello, <br>
<br>
Thank you for all of the great responses regarding selling discards on Amazon.
You certainly gave me a lot of good ideas and food for thought. After following these leads, our library is probably not going to go the
Amazon route (due to the time investment required) and will most likely use
Better World Books and Book Prospector. For other libraries interested in reselling discards, I've
summarized the feedback I received, and included the full responses below. Thank you again for all of your wonderful ideas!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style>Regards,</p><p class="MsoNormal" style>
<br></p>Lydia Hunter<br><br>Reference Librarian<br><br>Albany Public Library<br><br>2450 14th Ave. SE<p class="MsoNormal" style>
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Resellers worth checking out: <br>
<br>
1. Better World Books<br>
2. Thrift Books<br>
3. ABE<br>
4. Book Prospector<br>
5. Library Consignment<br>
6. Alibris<br>
<br>
Things to keep in mind with Amazon:</p>
<ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style>Develop criteria for what to
post: (>$15)vs. listing almost everything</li><li class="MsoNormal" style>Volunteer/Friends staffed vs.
staff time</li><li class="MsoNormal" style>Credit card attached</li><li class="MsoNormal" style>storage while waiting for a
sale</li><li class="MsoNormal" style>tracking system</li><li class="MsoNormal" style>Pro subscription after you
reach a dollar amount in sales</li><li class="MsoNormal" style>shipping, weight, promptness</li></ul>
<p>Model programs:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hillsboro Library</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">Full Responses:<br></p><br><br>
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Something to consider is that your library may be governed by a governmental agency that has strict rules about surplus property disposal. If you haven’t already, I would suggest that you refresh
your memory of the specifics of the policy to be sure your venture is in accordance. Anyway, just something to consider, which you probably already have.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify">
<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><br></span></p>
</div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">We send all our discards to Better World Books. BWB supplies boxes and pays for the shipping. We receive a check from them quarterly with a portion of the proceeds from the
sale of our books. A percentage of the proceeds also goes to a charity the library can select from a list of charities provided by BWB. He have been very happy with BWB.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">at my previous library in Vermont, I used Thrift Books to sell discards and used books, and had a great, great experience with them -- they are one
of the largest resellers of used books on Amazon, and basically do everything for you. Let me know if you want more information.</span></p><div class="im">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Friends of Tualatin Library sell through Amazon. They have been doing it for less than a year, and have raised
about $4000. They are picky about what they list; they’ve developed some criteria about whether an item is worth listing.
</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Tualatin got started with advice from Hillsboro Library, which has been very successful. They take a different approach, listing almost all of their donations and withdrawn items. Let me know if
you’d like more information; I can pass your contact information along to the Friends.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><br>
</span></p>
</div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Our friends of the library sell donations that are not used in the library (and discards) on amazon but they pick
and choose. I think they don't sell anything that will go for less than $15? They have made quite a few dollars this way for the friends of the library. We have some pretty savvy sellers! It takes a lot of time and patience since some books will sit there
for quite a while (plus you need to be able to ship books out immediately as needed). I would recommend if you have a volunteer that is willing to handle this, the tricky part is that you need to have a credit card attached to the account typically so needs
to be someone who is trustworthy and willing to use their own card/amazon account. You also need a safe long term storage for these books so they don't get moved while waiting for a sale. I think it is worth it for our friends group - not sure if it would
be worth the time and energy for a paid staff member. You need someone savvy with amazon so they know how to write up a good and accurate description (most of yours would be listed as ex library copy sounds like). You would also probably want a file of all
sold merchandise/listed merchandise so they are held accountable - our friends have sold a couple books for close to or over $100 so you wouldn't want someone to be tempted to just pocket the money...</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><br></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">I imagine you'll get good feedback from Oregon libraries, but if you'd like another perspective, I recommend that you get in touch with the folks at Menlo Park Library in Menlo Park, CA. They have
a really impressive system for selling on Amazon, run by the Friends. (I volunteered with them briefly in 2010 before relocating to Portland.)</span></p><div class="im">
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.menloparklibrary.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">http://www.menloparklibrary.org/</span></a></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.menloparklibrary.org/Friends.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">http://www.menloparklibrary.org/Friends.html</span></a></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.friendsmpl.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">http://www.friendsmpl.org/</span></a></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/storefront/index.html?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sellerID=A9AAVOWRTCU25" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/storefront/index.html?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sellerID=A9AAVOWRTCU25</span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/storefront/index.html?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sellerID=A9AAVOWRTCU25" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext"><br>
</span></a></span></p>
</div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">We use ABE to sell our books. It’s been a really successful relationship. There’s a bit of a learning curve for
the software, and you need to only have people who really know what they’re doing put the books online, but otherwise it’s easy. You don’t have to deal the financial transaction issues unless a customer wants a refund, which rarely happens if the person(s)
entering the books in the system do it right.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><br></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">We use Better World Books. They pay for shipping and we get to designate which non-profit gets part of the proceeds. Their web site is
<a href="http://betterworldbooks.com" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">betterworldbooks.com</span></a> and our rep is Erin Gerber [<a href="mailto:egerber@betterworldbooks.com" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">egerber@betterworldbooks.com</span></a>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">We have been selling on Amazon for a number of years. It is easy to set up and run. We now have around 2,000
books on the site and net about $1,000/month When you reach a certain sales volume, it’s helpful to get a Pro Subscription because some of the fees are waived. Library discards, especially non-fiction can have a surprising amount of value remaining. Books
that may not have appeal in your community can be sought after items in other communities. We use
<a href="http://stamps.com" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">stamps.com</span></a> to generate mailing labels and avoid standing in line at the Post Office. One caution is to be careful about the weight of books you sell. Amazon gives you $3.99
for shipping, but some heavy books or sets cost a lot more to mail. Selling on Amazon requires regular attention. When orders come in you need to ship within 3 days. We have a several volunteers who help and 1 part time staff member who oversees it. We
learned a lot from Hillsboro. Their volunteer Barbara Wright, set up an amazing operation. If you have space to store books and volunteers willing to help, I would recommend selling on Amazon.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">We have been selling our discards and un-needed donations on ABEbooks.com for the past eight or nine years. It is also where we go to replace lost books or find rare out of print books for our
own library. We have listed approximately 20,000 with great success. Check them out.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">We previously sold our more expensive books on Amazon, Alibris, and AbeBooks, and sold the less expensive books in-house.
We discontinued the process due to limited staffing, moving to selling all books in our in-house booksale. We utilized an arrangement with
<a href="http://www.woodysbooks.com/sell/home.php" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">Woody's Books</span></a>; for a percentage of our sales, they provided software, user support, and customer relations. Woody was great; we just decided they internet
sales didn't work for us.</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></p>
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