Friday, October 7, 2011

Elementary School Books

In the early days of the textbook business I made many costly mistakes. One of those mistakes was when I traveled 125 miles from my home to secure  a load of elementary school books. Though the books were in practically new condition I was only able to sell a few of them. The small amount of the books that I was eventually able to sell went mostly to home-schooled children. In addition, the books which sold went for almost nothing. I lost money on the venture in every way. The only bright side was that I was ultimately able to sell the remaining books to a paper recycling company. This allowed me to recover a tiny fraction of the money I lost in truck rental, fuel and time. Avoid going after elementary school books. They just don’t pay.

Book Adoptions - what they are

In most states a Curriculum Commission is appointed by the Governors office to evaluate and determine which textbook materials best suit the needs of their students for the upcoming school year. Once the Commission reaches an agreement on the needs of their students specific textbooks can be “adopted”.

Upon adoption of materials, contracts are sent to the submitting textbook publishers and are in effect for five years with no escalation of prices. Materials adopted in 2010 will go on contract in 2011 and will be introduced into the schools in the same year.

Each year a state adopts (replaces) a curriculum subject. To explain this simply, one year a state my adopt (replace) all math books. The following year the said state may adopt (replace) science books. The year after that, all new English and literature books. Every year a new book subject is replaced (adopted) throughout the schools of the state.

As you get familiarized with the textbook business you will discover that you will need to know which books are up for adoption in the upcoming year. In the beginning this will not be so important. After you have established a relationship with the book room suppliers of your textbook inventory you will want to make plans to secure the old books that are to be replaced by an upcoming adoption. The books that are to be replaced will be in the greatest demand over the internet following the new adoption. Large corporate companies will be going after these replaced books aggressively in an effort to fulfill their commitments to book rebinding companies.

Book Room Take-alls

Take-all is a commonly used word in the textbook business. It is used by large corporations as well as by mom and pop operations like mine. You should incorporate the word into your vocabulary. You will without  a doubt have to use it or at least know what it means when you hear it. A Take-all is when you go to a school book room and take all of their overstocked and unwanted textbooks away. Take-alls will be the cornerstone of your home based internet textbook business.

Paper Recycling Companies

You will need to locate the paper recycling companies in your area. You will have to find these companies yourself. I cannot help you with this. The white and yellow pages are the first places to search for such businesses.


Paper recycling companies often pay for scrap paper. They usually pay for scrap paper products by the ton.
After you pick up a load of books you will have to separate the books you intend to keep from those that are too damaged, too old, or have no market value. There will be days when three-quarters of the books you pick up will end up with a recycler.


The process of separating books with value from worthless books in your load can be likened to sifting through mud for gold nuggets. In time you will develop an eye for which books you should keep and which books are candidates for paper recycling. Take the books with value home and list them on line. Don’t be afraid to trash the rest.

The money received from paper recyclers for your non-sellable books can significantly offset your overhead for truck rental and/or fuel costs. If you find a paper recycler willing to take the books you have designated for scrap but are unwilling to pay for what the books weigh, go ahead and give them to the recycler for free. Another option is to unload them at your local refuse dump. There will be occasions when it is smarter to unload your non-sellable books with a non- paying paper recycler than to get stuck with them. Or to transport them back to your base of operation for disposal at a later date.