Why do charity shops seem to have so few books?

PlutoinCapricorn

This company is not in it for the profit. They have a shop on eBay:

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asajj

It depends where you are. Some charity shops receive really good donations some don't.
They also have limited space for storage so they cannot hold 5000 books at the back of the shop. Therefore they pick and choose what to sell and what to recycle. Same goes for clothes.
That's why "sorting" is a big part of work in the shop.

missbiggles1

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

This company is not in it for the profit. They have a shop on eBay:

Welcome to World of Books, the home of used books online. World of Books recycles books on behalf of charity. If you aren't convinced about buying used books from us, check out the top five reasons below!

1. We recycle books on behalf of charities in the UK.

2. We recycle books! Over 2.3 million books saved from landfill sites every month.

3. Great quality used books for you at reasonable prices.

4. Free delivery anywhere in the UK.

5. A great selection of over 250,000 books available.

http://www.worldofbooks.com/used-books

We used to wonder why Awesome books had charity shop stickers on them - this thread explains it.

http://www.awesomebooks.com/

lincroft1710

Where I live we have an Oxfam bookshop and the Salvation Army charity shop has a large room dedicated to books - plenty of SF although there are sometimes as many as 5 copies of one title. If you want a Haynes Manual for a car last made over 20 years ago, try the SA, 3 copies of the Vauxhall Nova manual.

Other charity shops in town each have several shelves of books, the Red Cross shop has a small room 75% full of books.

Mr_Singleton

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

One eBay seller buys unsold books from charities and sells them online for reasonable prices.

You can't ever accuse charity shops of selling books at REASONABLE prices coz they don't.

Its a strange business model. As more and more people use Kindle's etc and eBay the charities response has been to increase prices to compensate thus forcing more people away.

Go Figure

vivatifosi

I work in a public library. Libraries often sell off books second hand at a reasonable price. You can also try https://www.betterworldbooks.co.uk, which sells off second hand library books and text books.

Ironically popular best sellers are worth v little (as a rule - and you don't have a first ed Harry Potter), things like text books and business books as well as certain non-fiction sell for more second hand. Abe Books online is another good place to go look. Agree also with suggestion re Oxfam bookshops.

Tigsteroonie

The two charity shops we frequent (both Help the Aged) have a large number of books. I am a regular purchaser & donor.

wattc

I bought four books from a charity shop the other day, during their "buy one get the cheaper one free" deal.

Two of the books were 50p, two were £1.

The lady asked for £2 and I said it was £1.50. She told me the first £1 book plus 50p book made £1 and the second £1 and 50p one made £2 in total.

Was I going to argue about 50p in a shop for charity? I gave her the £2.

Pennywise

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

You can't ever accuse charity shops of selling books at REASONABLE prices coz they don't.

Its a strange business model. As more and more people use Kindle's etc and eBay the charities response has been to increase prices to compensate thus forcing more people away.

Go Figure

Indeed, just the same as local councils who increase parking charges when income falls from a previous increase! Thats why these numpties are in safe PS jobs rather than the business world.

prowla

Yes, Oxfam have dedicated bookshops and music shops.
It does mean that the items in their general shops are likely to be the leftovers.