How You Can Help
Books for Scholarships depends almost entirely on donations of books and other items to be sold on Amazon, eBay, or other venues in order to raise funds for scholarships. No one receives any income or payment for running Books for Scholarships! Contact us at books@booksforscholarships.com.
For items which we sell, the selling price goes to cover the costs of listing and shipping the item with 90% of the remainder going toward the scholarship fund. The remaining 10% is reserved for purchasing office supplies and postage for soliciting new donors. For example, if we sell a $10 book on Amazon, Amazon charges us a $0.99 transaction fee, a $1.35 closing fee, plus 15% of the selling price. We are then credited $3.99 for shipping. If it costs $3.50 to mail the book, we earn about $6.65 for that book and about $6 of that goes into the scholarship fund and the remaining $0.65 buys a few envelopes for the next mailing.
Donation of Books & Media We welcome donation of clean books, CDs, and DVDs that we can resell on Amazon or eBay. If a typical paperback sells, we earn approximately $1 after paying the commission fees to the sales venue. If you have groups of books (e.g. trilogies or larger sets), those are especially welcome as they sell more easily in groups! Once we reach an inventory of over 1000 books we will be able to subscribe to Amazon's Pro-Merchant account, avoiding their extra $0.99 fee per transaction. We can pick up quantities of 10 or more books within Nashua, NH or quantities of 50 or more books within a 20 mile radius. If you happen to have hundreds of books you wish to donate, please contact us, we can probably arrange something. For smaller quantities of books we make rounds around the area throughout the week. For those outside the area, you can send 11+ pounds of books for about $6 via media mail through the USPS.
Donation of Textbooks Textbooks, both college and high school, published within the last two years bring us the greatest proportional income as they are in high demand. We accept both US and International (written in English) versions.
Other small items We don't have a lot of storage space, but items that are likely to sell on eBay and fit within approximately a 18" cube are also welcome. These items could be old but still usable laptops, large assortments of craft items, trading cards, name-brand barely-worn clothing, video games, collectibles, etc.
Cash, of course! If you would like to sponsor a scholarship, either in part or in whole, your cash donation is more than welcome! If you wish, we will publish your name with the scholarship (any amount over $5) or name it after you and award it with your requirements (any amount over $50).
In my wildest dreams... We really need a place to put all this stuff that is convenient for daily shipping--right now it is all stacked in my bedroom and that of my 4 year old. I am hoping to build a 12x20 weathertight shed for it all. Any donations of materials (2x4s, 2x10s, plywood, shingles, flooring, siding, insulation, etc.) or, once we get the materials, experienced labor, would be really appreciated!
Important Note! Books for Scholarships is not an official non-profit organization! We simply cannot afford, at this time, the legal and accounting fees involved in forming a non-profit corporation. So, any items you donate are not tax-deductible... they just provide you with good karma and a warm-fuzzy feeling... and maybe an empty space where all those books you wanted to get rid of once sat. ;)