In light of a recent announcement that a California city is about to open a bookstore staffed and run by Goodwill, I feel some ripples of alarm. I have a personal stake in this, being a booklover, reviewer and occasional seller. I collect books and love them. I wonder if Goodwill workers will be able to understand the historical or other importance of a book, its possible rarity or anything else.
Here are other reasons why I'm ambivalent:
Part of it is undeniably selfish. Until recently, Goodwill and other thrift stores have been an excellent place to find books at rock bottom prices. Sure, you had to sift through the piles of clothing, move beyond the dishes and step over any debris left in the aisles as customers decided what to keep or discard. Even so, some good books could be found.
I also saw plenty of tired mothers and fathers and others in those stores, clearly searching for warm coats, some dishes and...yes....books. Poor or not, people still read. Seeing them find a good book put a smile on my face and I loved hearing young children exclaim over some child's book I had also loved as a child. Now it appears those books will simply vanish, to be whisked off to some separate building. This saddens me.
When I was a full-time bookseller, I frequently visited thrift shops, including Goodwill.. Even with people like me in there,, there were plenty of wonderful books left over for people on limited budgets who wanted to own books and/or couldn't get to a library - or who didn't want to have their names and addresses in the "system".
So I have to wonder if more harm than good wiill be done to a community by a Goodwill who opens a bookstore in a strip mall and takes the books out of their regular store. Who is their target buyer? Will they be competing directly with independent booksellers? Finally, how can an independent sellers possibly compete with a place that gets their books free of charge? I don't see how it is possible but maybe I am missing something. With independent booksellers often hanging on by a thread as the superstores invade their territory more and more, I see this move as just another nail in some sellers' financial coffins.
Having said that, I don't see myself as being in direct competition with Goodwilll. Why? Because I sell primarily higher priced rare books - when I still find time to sell. I review more common or new ones and then pass them on to other book reviewers and then on to homeless shelters and libraries.
But maybe I'm fooling myself and Goodwill also will be tackling the collectables category as well. They'll certainly get their share of traffic with a bookstore that offers volumes averaging between three and eight dollars each and their profit margin seems as though it will be higher, especially if they are run primarily by volunteers (with a few paid managers or others).
How do the rest of you feel about this? If profits from these stores trickle down to the community, help to pay for training problems for unemployed or homeless people, then do you think more good is being done than harm? Or should Goodwill keep books in their regular stores rather than diverting them away from people who may not know where to find them anymore?
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Comments: 59
I think it is a great idea for communities to profit. You'll just have to be the early bird who catches your book (worms)!
Anyways, isn't the purpose of these thrift stores to help people in need in general??? Each thrift store I go to has a cause or charity that they support. In addition to that, they offer a variety of goods to anyone at a low cost making it easy for some people to even get their children's school clothes etc...
I think it is overall a bad idea for thrift stores to start selling targeted goods seperately. The point is that it's a one stop shop free for all waiting for anyone...
As for books specifically, my children buy books like they are candy and then donate them to area schools or other charities. Lots of teachers buy books for their students out of their own pockets at thrift shops... With a higher mark up it will just mean less books going to those who really do need to escape into another world through a good book... That's a shame!!!
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I REALLY do not LIKE goodwill much. The concept of helping folk has just about flown out the window, yet the prices go HIGHER and HIGHEST>>>>but >>>>> I am
in favor of putting books anywhere and everywhere so people will READ!!!!
penni d
I live on a tight budget. If it wasn't for garage sales or thrifts stores, my kids would hardly any books. But since I am an advid reader and so are my kids. They enjoy books and reading. Well, except my 7 yr old daughter. She is just learning to read. But that is another argement in its self.
I do understand your point but if the people who donate to Goodwill prefer that the books get to people on limited incomes (and that includes many booksellers, lol), then how does whisking them away to sell them in independent stores serve that purpose?
If they are being upfront about that, I guess it might not be an issue. But it still could be competition for other used booksellers. When 1/2 Price books came along, plenty of independents bit the dust, some of them catering to specific readers, like bookstore who sold mystery books and had special readings where readers could meet the authors and find out about writing.
If retail bookstores were the only way to obtain books, at a price of $15-$40 per book, I think our entire country would be illiterate in one generation. I know I certainly wouldn't be able to indulge my pleasure in reading or my daughter's, who reads on average, six or seven chapter books a week.
Everyone is after the almighty dollar these days, why should thirft stores be the exception.
Blessings
Okay, here it surfaces again, the cynic and skeptic in me -- wow.
It isn't going to be a success Jane.
Have you visited the public libraries lately where people can borrow books for free?
Or can buy them for .25 or .50?
When we owned a bookstore it was commonplace to either keep an for theft or constantly being asked for discounts on discounted books.
Primarily though, people wanted DVD's or music.
Bottom line today, we are quickly becoming a country where
people don't read.
Schoolteachers?
I can't tell you how many books I ended up selling at cost or for no profit. There are a certain amount of those no matter how well you manage things.
But the children who got free books (and I donated plenty) were so joyful. To own a book of their own was a treat.
One thing I never addressed is the notion of an all-books Goodwill store -- now THAT I'm against, while I'm for books being available cheap in bargain bins at Goodwill or Salvation Army or wherever. I think this won't make it a year if they try it. The bookstore business is, in many ways, more specialized than other kinds of retailers give it credit for.
The thing about women's shelters is that the books do tend to "walk off" with families, not because they are unethical or because they generally steal (okay, call me naive, but this is what I believe) but because people who find a book they like or children who have a book they can revisit again and again are reluctant to part with it. For those of us living in homes filled with books, it may be hard to understand what a treasure a single book can be to a person, how it can be a luxury. But I've seen it time and again and I did want to add that when a child can say "Read me a bedtime story, Mommy" (or Daddy) it is a piece of normalcy, a hint of routine in an otherwise chaotic existence.
My guess? Customers want to walk in a bookstore and not feel that they are in a "Goodwill store". A bookstore in a mall has a whole different feel than a section of a thrift shop. Most used book dealers maintain a certain aura in their stores, even if it one of books stacked from floor to ceiling, spilling off shelves, etc. But they don't generally mix that with old dishes, stuffed animals and things like that.
I have bought dozens of older National Geographic Magazines at a former local thrift store for 20 cents each.
I think we should encourage variety, not discourage variety in markets.
Actually, you can charge $800 or more for a used book, depending on which book it is. :)
I am going to find out more about this. Thanks
We have a neat little used book store in downtown Milford that opened about a year ago and seems to being a decent business. They sell some new stuff as well. The place is more like a library, but the books are for sale. We bought a couple of those local history books authored by long time locals.
I am a tyrant when it comes to taking away television from the kids, so they read and they read a lot these days, which is good.
http://www.goodwill.org/page/guest/about/howweoperate
Tess- This is NOT a bashing of Goodwill but simply wondering whether Goodwill should be setting up separate bookshops. Even though their mission may not be to offer low-priced goods to communities, I have seen many people go in there to find bargains and the books used to be extreme bargains. I don't know if that is still the case. I still think there should be books offered in Goodwills. If they want to open a bookstore, fine, but most good used bookstores have employees and managers who know and love books and can actually make suggestions for people looking for something new to read. Perhaps the employees will be well-trained, perhaps not. I just know that when worked in a bookstore, we got plenty of questions from people wanting book recommendations. That is part of being a bookseller, knowing something about each subject area, etc.
Heather R.
During the holiday season employees do need to be up to speed on what someone who likes a particular topic might also enjoy as that is when we got the most requests from customers for books in areas they might not be familiar with.
I tutor at my local literacy council, and we appreicate and use the dontated books for our classes and individual sessions (one-on-one teaching).
We also sell some of the donated books for very low prices.
This way, we reach our main target audience - motivated readers at different reading levels who generally have limited budgets.
So, our literacy council makes some money, provides reading material to students, and allows those who donate to feel confident that their donations are reaching those who are in need.
It's a win-win situation.
As far as the Goodwill stores go, it doesn't affect me much one way or the other. I, too, don't shop there. They are quite expensive to be called a "thrift shop."
I donate to the Salvation Army - who takes not only household smalls and clothes but furniture, exercise equipment, and small appliances. They aren't picky like Goodwill. Mine never has good books, though. ??
I once operated an antiques mall and had many dealers who shopped at Goodwill and other similar stores - so they could add inexpensive pieces to their stock (end tables, books, etc).
I used to wonder if someone needy would have to go without an end table or books b/c my middle class vendors wanted to "make rent."
Off my soap box here. I agree, though, that if something gets Americans reading, it can't be ALL bad.
I do think they get plenty of books from people who are in a rush and don't have time to sell them elsewhere so they get rid of them at Goodwill. Some shoppers at Goodwill would turn around and sell their finds and Goodwill decided they wanted to do that.
My personal take? It is harder to make a profit from a bookstore that has to pay rent,etc. ....then simply listing books online and doing that. Goodwill does have some online stores, too, so they've already been taking books out of some stores.
If you follow books down the "lets get rid of them" food chain, books start in yard or estate sales and the cream is taken by antique dealers, the next layer are purchased by people who collect authors, and the next layer is purchased by those who want to read them. Not much left over in my opinion.
I would much rather buy from a used book store than a Big Box Store (but I look forward to shopping Borders for Christmas with gift cards) If i saw a Goodwill book store I would check it out but my favorite places are the ones where the owner knows every book and lovingly sells it to you.
Will Goodwill train employees to do the same? The news segment I saw on tv showed a wide variety of hardcovers, though, so they must be coming from somewhere.
I see that on Amazon when you look for a book, that Amazon's listing along with used listings pop up, sometimes used versions are the only option available, if I had a used book store , I'd have my inventory listed on amazon as well.
No rent, no extra employees, just my own sweat labor :0
I can make my own hours and let the books sell as they will.