ERRATA: The original post mistakenly referred to Thrift Recycling Management as the parent company for Thrift Books. I have been informed that Thrift Books and Thrift Recycling Management are two separate and distinct companies. My apologies to the folks at Thrift Books for the error. The funding was secured by Thrift Recycling Management and the original story has been amended.
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Thrift Recycling Management has announced that it has secured an $8.5 million investment led by venture capital firm QuestMark Partners. According to the press release “The funds will accelerate growth and help position TRM to be the dominant player in the recycled consumer goods space.”
They currently sell books on Amazon under the names Hippobooks and Owlsbooks and have a retail site called Reader’s Outlet. They are also the proud owners of many of those dubious book donation boxes that have sprouted up in communities across this country.
While much of the banner waving for these companies is done under the “green” umbrella; here used books have become “recycled consumer goods” and we are fed seemingly endless data on how many millions of books are recycled and saved from landfills, and how many books were donated to improve literacy around the world etc, the business reality is much different.
Now I am sure companies like Thrift Recycling do some good in the world but there is not much here on saving the planet, improving literacy and helping our communities. And it is clear that their predatory pricing model has wrecked havoc on traditional booksellers. Many have been forced to close their doors which in turn leaves their communities with one less book destination.
In their last fiscal year Thrift Recycling reported $27 million in revenue. How much of that was from shipping charges? 10%? $25%? 50%? And what is the true energy cost of shipping hundreds of thousands of orders a year? They are not delivered via bicycles.
Previously on Book Patrol:
Better or Not? Better World Books adds Donation Boxes, A Book Drive for Haiti and a Partnership with Powell’s to the Mix
Alibris Jumps in Bed with Better World Books and Takes Their Booksellers With Them
Better World Books : Are They Better for the Book World?
Thanks to TechFlash for the lead