In 2023, ThriftBooks, the world's largest online independent seller of used and new books, launched its new BuyBack program for libraries. While the company offers other profit-sharing programs, PW wanted to get the details on this new program and how it can help libraries generate even more revenue. We spoke with Martin Sandoval, director of supply chain management, and Hugo Munday, director of supply services, to find out.
What prompted the creation of this new program?
Hugo: BuyBack has broad appeal by design. One of the most frequent questions customers ask is: "Can I sell you my books?" In response we created several ways for libraries and their supporters to generate income by doing so.
These programs range from processes where we accept all their books for one price to another program that takes some of their books at a higher value per book. BuyBack has a more focused range of acceptable books, which most libraries will carry. This allows us to offer an even higher price per book. As budgets tighten everywhere, it’s about offering more options for libraries to try and choose from. Additionally, BuyBack is a very easy and convenient self-service model. You can find out the worth of the book, decide if you want to part with it or not, get a free label and get paid in full a day or two after we receive your books. All the library needs is a box to ship them in. Given some libraries don’t have a truck’s worth of books or they work in much smaller batches, a free label and a trip to the post office suits them well.
How many library partners do you work with? Who is the program open to?
Hugo: We work with hundreds of regional branches covering thousands of individual branches. BuyBack is a scalable program. We’ve accepted small shipments of less than a dozen books to shipments of thousands of books. For these large shipments, our process abandons the free shipping label—dropping off 2,000 books at your local post office would be hard—and leverages our trucking relationships with carriers to arrange a pickup. Again, this is at no cost to the customer.
Do you accept any and all books from libraries or must they meet certain conditions?
Hugo: We have programs that do but not BuyBack. This program is more tightly focused to offer a library the best price we can.
Martin: Our system will offer a price for those selected books we want, assuming the condition meets our minimum standard. But to Hugo’s earlier point, there are programs we have that are more forgiving on the mix of books we buy.
Can you explain the difference between your library program and the ThriftBooks BuyBack program?
Martin: Essentially, our library program is about taking your books and giving the library their profits when the book sells. BuyBack is more focused. Both parties know what is being sent and so we can pay you, in full, as soon as the BuyBack is processed.
Is the only requirement for the BuyBack program that the library ship at least $7 worth of books?
Hugo: That $7 hurdle is approximate. It’s the point at which the software will generate a free label for the library depending on where they are in the country. That label will cover any library in the U.S., no matter where you are. Other than that, a library will have to start a free ThriftBooks retail account so that we can store your origin address and information, but that’s about it.
Martin: If we have a demand for the books, we’ll work to find a way to pick those up. Ultimately it all depends on volume and the logistical capabilities of a library—dock, store space, equipment, and so on.
Can you describe your profit-sharing model and how it’s more beneficial to librarians than other reselling sites or brick-and-mortar stores?
Martin: ThriftBooks stands as the world's largest online independent seller of used books, boasting a global customer base exceeding four million people. Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar stores with limited local reach, our expansive platform ensures that library materials gain exposure to a worldwide audience, significantly enhancing the visibility and sale potential of their materials.
We also have cost-effective operations, which allow us to manage logistics, storage, and sales processes, reducing overhead for our partners. And, we offer competitive profit sharing. Some platforms may offer higher percentage splits, but the actual revenue generated can be lower due to limited sales volume. For example, a competitor offers a 50% profit share on $30,000 in sales, yielding $15,000 for the library. ThriftBooks provides a 40% profit share on $70,000 in sales, resulting in $28,000 for the library. This illustrates that a slightly lower percentage of a significantly higher sales volume can lead to greater overall revenue for libraries.
Do you receive feedback from librarians? What have you been hearing about the BuyBack program?
Hugo: Meeting and talking to libraries is really important to ThriftBooks. We’ve had some great feedback from libraries coast to coast, mostly very enthusiastic. Our team meets with them at library conferences, and we’re a benefactor to our local larger library systems, so we see them at functions. Very often we’ll just phone them up and talk to them about how things are going and what they'd like to see. The most industrious partners will participate in BuyBack and Profit Share, and they get the most money while finding another home for the most amount of books.
Martin: It’s key to note that each library system operates differently, so in some cases where staff might be limited but store space is ample, profit share is likely the best path. But in cases where there are more staff and space is limited, BuyBack is perhaps the best option. The good thing is we have multiple ways to help libraries raise funds for their programs. My take is that no book should be thrown away ever unless all options have been exhausted, and we offer quite a few ways to prevent books from being thrown out.
What do you do with the books you don’t or can’t sell?
Hugo: In short, we keep them out of a landfill. Unsold books can go in several directions. We sell them wholesale to other book buyers. We’ve served them up to literacy projects all over the globe, and if we really, really cannot find a home for a book, we’ll make sure it gets to a company that will turn it into recycled material for a variety of purposes.
