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NACS Members Approach With Caution
11/26/04
On the heels of various Internet and e-mail scams this year and the recent controversial Textbook Management System (TMS) buyback service that deactivated its web site soon after NACS made inquiries, NACS members said they have become more cautious. In the last week some members were leery yet again about separate solicitations from a book collection agency that supports literacy charities called Better World Books (BWB) and a new Internet textbook exchange service called Switchtextbooks.com.Some members were suspicious about Better World Books' claim to serve literacy charities after going to its web site and discovering that it also sells used books for a profit. Switchtextbooks came to the attention of college stores through requests from campus and local media to respond to the new service's potential impact on college bookstores.
NACS made inquiries about each service to provide members with enough information to help you draw your own conclusions.
Better World Books located in South Bend, IN, collects old and used books-some of which they sell to generate operating revenue for itself and charities, and some they give directly to literacy charities. Its main benefactor is Books for Africa. Since January 2003, Better World Books has provided Books for Africa with more than $67,000 in cash donations in addition to books, according to Books for Africa's Executive Director Pat Plonski.
"I understand bookstores' caution, but this is a case of a company with a social conscience to give back," Plonski said. Better World Books stepped in to help the St. Paul, MN-based Books for Africa as other funding sources dried up, Plonski added. "If it weren't for them, donors would have to pay the shipping costs to get books to our warehouse."
Xavier Helgesen, chief information officer for Better World Books, calls the operation a "social venture." He said individuals, libraries, and other institutions donate books. Then they are separated by what can be sold for a profit and what can fulfill the needs of Books for Africa and the other literacy charities it supports, such as Prison Books in Cambridge, MA, and Room to Read in San Francisco, CA. Textbooks dealing with science and medicine, math, and English language are the types of books most requested for Books for Africa, he said.
Switchtextbooks.com is scheduled to make its debut in January. Currently its creators are soliciting college students to sign up and pay $19.95 for an annual membership that allows them to trade textbooks as often as they like. The bookseller pays the shipping costs.
"We're putting power back into students' hands and allowing them to trade the books they don't want instead of pay and pay for the books they need," said Patrick Nagle, president/co-founder of the service.
Students who join Switchtextbooks will have to complete an online questionnaire about the books they have and the books they need. The system will match students. The seller then has about a week to ship the book. The student receiving the book is required to complete a satisfaction statement.
Nagle was guarded about discussing the business specifics of the new venture, which is part of Baltimore Solutions Inc., a year-old web-based business solutions company in Towson, MD. He said he and his partner, Will DeSantis, currently are running a media blitz across the country and partnering with companies that serve college students to "build their connections."
For more information:
—Yalinda Moore
Related Link:"Suspect Buyback Service Disappears"
(CM Bulletin, Oct. 29, 2004)
Sound Off!
laura heath (jonheath@swbell.net) 4/11/2009 10:46:19 AM
I have done business (if you can call it that) with BWB. They took my books and never paid me for them. They said they only received 1 of my 4 books, yet they were all in the same package. This company is a fraud!!! Seller beware!!!
Lucy Friedel (lucyfriedel@gmail.com) 7/16/2008 1:30:54 PM
I think the confusion clears up once one realizes BWB is a FOR PROFIT company. They may talk rainbows, but the truth is their executive staff is handsomely paid, and they answer to no one on money, staff diversity, and other matters of true ethics. Plus, they misrepresent the collection process on college campuses; many students think their books actually go the hands of the poor. Instead, BWB makes a handsome profit with however much left over for the charities.
Jack Hanlon (jack@betterworldbooks.com) 5/29/2008 1:43:43 PM
Hey Caspa, can you please guide me to where this NPR report is? I searched for it and couldn't find anything like that.
Best,
Jack
Caspare (caspa@aol.com) 4/28/2008 12:24:03 PM
Better World claims to be a "social venture". NPR reports their executives make 100k. How much do employees make? Helath benefits? They sell one cent books on the net, in Wal-Mart like fashion. Is that part of the "triple bottom line"?
Fritz Gheen (Fritz@Betterworldbooks.com) 12/2/2004 10:56:27 AM
Better World Books is a member of NACS. Better World Books serves as the book collection agent for Books for Africa. These are two separate entities, that work in concert. BFA doesn't directly solict textbook donations from campus bookstores--Better World Books serves this role. Better World Books also serves as collection agent for Room To Read, benefiting literacy program for young women in Cambodia, Viet Nam, Nepal, and India.
Pat Howard (pat.howard@wright.edu) 11/30/2004 4:51:02 PM
I am almost positive that the rep from Books for Africa said they were a member of NACS. It has been several weeks ago, but I believe I tried to find a membership list to verify his claim. I didn't have any luck.
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