10-Sec
WBD has developed a solicitation system to access the billions of dollars of new and used books before they are wasted in landfills or reach the open market. WBD efficiently resells, recycles, or redistributes the books for optimal economic and social benefit.
3-Min
Unused books destroy the environment and are a failed opportunity to promote literacy. In addition, the used book industry is a multi-billion dollar industry in the US alone. Domestic and global literacy programs provide hundreds of millions of dollars of tax benefits and subsidies for the purchase and distribution of new and used books annually. Every year, expensive costs of processing and distribution drives millions of pounds of used books to landfills, or corrosive storage units, where they are a detriment to the environment and moreover, do not help promote literacy.
There are billions of dollars of eligible books for resell and redistribution, which remain currently inaccessible or untapped in the homes and buildings of private citizens and organizations. The potential values of these books would be realized through online sales, store sales and social-donations. By efficiently streamlining the process of collection, sorting, storing and distribution of these books, WBD has developed a sustainable and profitable system for acquisition, reselling and donation of needed books to qualified organizations. WBD has the infrastructure and model to support the largest database and resource of free books—in the world.
Our market efficiencies are made possible through the Worldwide Book Drive Pod™ model. Each Pod includes a direct soliciting program, a brick and mortar store front and sales and donation internet venue. Each Pod location is networked through a single database system.
After the model is proven, initial research indicates the US market will be able to sustain the penetration of 500 – 600 Pod locations. These pods are projected to recycle approximately 100 million pounds of books annually. 15-20 million books will be made available for donation to qualified entities for potential tax benefits of $9 – 10 million dollars. Projected sales of 10-12 million books are expected to generate a gross income of $90 – 110 million/yr, with a pre-tax margin of 25%. Additional social, political and promotional benefits are promising but unquantifiable.
Worldwide Book Drive is looking for $150k dollars of additional funding to prove the model’s scalability and further develop the web and database systems.