Monday, March 30, 2009

Super Cheap & Plentiful...

Frequently you will hear a Green Apple customer ask, “Why are these children's books so cheap?” This is the beauty of remainders (you know: all those cheap books piled in stacks on tables with the bright green stickers). So if you are interested in '"why these books are so cheap," read on. . . .

A Remainder comes in two forms:

The Remainder, which is mostly publisher's overstock that they want to move quickly. For example, if they still have a lot of hardcovers of the latest Sue Grafton mystery but it's coming out in paperback, they need to make space for the next one. These sales are usually negotiated in bulk to a remainder company who specializes in wholesale books.

The other form is Hurts. Hurts are books that have been returned to the publisher by stores (usually big box retailers) and thrown into to large tubs called skids. These are then sold to a remainder wholesaler who pays by the skid, not knowing exactly what they are getting. They know the publisher, whether they are paperback or not, but that's about it. The remainder company then sorts these skids at their warehouse.

As the remainder buyer, I then go through these warehouses or trade shows or lists online to find the best possible books at the best possible price so that we can pass the savings on to you. . . .

Just in, Children's Remainder Paperbacks for under $4:

Little Polar Bear – $2.49
Mad Libs (Assorted Titles!) – $1.98
The Country Bunny & the Gold Shoes – $1.98
City by the Bay – $3.98
The Cable Car & the Dragon – $3.98
Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble - $2.98

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Actually a skid is a pallet of boxed remainders. A large tub is called a gaylord. Duhh!