Hello everyone, I work for a book sales company in St. Louis, MO. Our company has been selling books to school and public libraries for over 16 years. We have recently opened a website for homeschool books and have about 700 titles in inventory. We are considering expanding our inventory for homeschool materials by offering books from from publishers we have accounts with such as McGraw-Hill, Simon & Schuster, DK, Penguin, etc. at discounted prices. These books will not be in stock and available for immediate shipping. We would have to order them from the publisher, but this will expand what we have to offer tremendously. The delivery on these books will be on average from two to three weeks, with some sooner and a few perhaps later if they are not readily available at the publisher. We would attempt to only offer material from publishers that is readily available, but occasionally an item may be on backorder. We will only do this if we can find a way to charge to a customer's credit card for just what we ship at the time of shipment instead of instant capture at the time of the order. What do you think of this? Would you be willing to wait that long for an order if it meant you had a much bigger choice of material? Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. Sue
Honestly....NOPE. A local homeschool store has a similar deal. Many new items are only available for order. Although I'll go there and buy their used stock or something new they happen to have in stock.... if I have to wait for them to order it, get it in, and then ship it (or go pick it up 30 mins away).....I might as well order it from someone who has it right then and can ship it. Generally speaking, the discounts they offer don't make up for the time spent waiting (IMHO). I guess some would depend on how big the discounts are. If they were significantly discounted to make it LOTS cheaper than using our educator discount card at a local bookstore or getting them from another online source that has them in stock.....maybe. Anyway, welcome! We just returned from St. Louis on vacation. My mom and sister live in Lake St. Louis Rhonda
I like to buy our books at the homeschool convention or local bookstores so I can see what I am buying. I also would not be interested in waiting that long, and we try not to use credit cards.
It would really depend on how big the discounts were. And while I completely understand your reasoning for not charging a card until each book ships, that would be a checkbook balancing nightmare. The customer would have no way of knowing exactly how much was coming out when. And the more books they order, the bigger the headache for them. I think it's really great that you're trying to find a way to expand the options available to the customers. I really do. I just think that, while your intentions are all wonderful, maybe this isn't the way to do it.
Hi Rhonda, Thank you for your honest feedback. We are used to dealing with school and public libraries and they expect to wait for their books while we order them from the publisher. I appreciate opinions from the public. I will take all feedback into advisement before going to the trouble to add thousands of books to the website. I drive by Lake St. Louis occasionally. My nephew lives in St. Charles, which isn't far. Thank you for the welcome. Sue
Hi Amie, Thank you for your opinion. I hadn't thought of how the credit card idea would affect the consumer's tracking their credit card statements. I had planned on shipping the order after receiving all the books, but that is complicated sometimes. There would definitely be alot of bugs to work out to make this work. Sue
I'm an instant gratification person. The quicker the better. I get stuff off Amazon because I pay the $75/year for their prime service and get 2 day shipping no matter what I order from them. I may even pay $1-2 more just for that.
Sounds like a neat idea - I guess I'm wondering if there would be a way to carry things specifically for homeschoolers as well... I find that some of the larger publishers carry things that are writting FOR schools. Homeschooling is so different that often it's hard to use things written for a larger group without having to significantly adapt. At least, I've found that to be true for ME. But...I think it's great when companies start recognizing that Homeschoolers are out there and are a market to be tapped. It can only improve our options to what is available!
Hi Dana, Thank you for your input. It's very helpful to know what the homeschooling public thinks. Take care, Sue
Hi Krista, Actually some of the publishers do have books specifically for homeschooling. Most of the homeschooling books and workbooks we have in stock are from McGraw-Hill. If we ordered from the publishers, we could get the latest editions and a much bigger selection that what we can carry in stock. I would make sure to inform the customer which books are in stock and which ones would need to be ordered. This would be much more complicated than just selling what is in stock, but if enough homeschool teachers would feel it's worth the wait, we would be eager to supply more choices. Sue
For me it would really have to be a huge discount (bigger then I can get other places, or from amazon) for it to be worth it. Could the publisher drop ship the items? I get ansy when it takes longer then 3-4 days for a package to arrive. But I also shop around awhile to find the good deals. I prefer for the charge to be put on my card as soon as I spend the money, so I don't have to worry about when it will come out later.
I just want to say that although many people get jabbed for spamming boards, I think this is a perfect thread to show others on HOW to come and ask questions of a business nature. This was a perfectly legit question and handled very well. I may not be a customer, but I am more interested in your company just by the perfectly graceful way you represent your company by your actions. Very cool.
I'm also one who would probably not go with you. 1) I try to buy as much used as possiblle. 2) Some of the material I buy is written by homeschooling moms. These are women like me, they have been tested in their own homes and the homes of their friends. If I buy directly from their website, they get a larger percent of the sales. It's worth it to me to help support them. 3) I look for books that are not grade-specific, especially when it comes to history and science. 4) Many homeschool companies are, again, run by homeschooling families. By buying from them, I support homeschooling. 5) Many companies guarantee same-day shipping. Homeschoolers buy stuff all year long, not just in the fall. Because of that, we aren't interested in waiting. Have you done any research on how much homeschooling mataerial there is? If not, check out Rainbow Resources. Their catalog has over 1300 pages. (And no, they are NOT one of the companies that promises same-day shipping!) I might buy from you if 1) same day shipping, 2) good prices, and 3) you had what I was looking for. (I usually know exactly what I want, and won't settle for anything else!) Edited to say that I agree with Jen. We often have people come whose entire purpose is to get rich off of us, or to tell us how superior their knowledge is. Usually we put them in their place VERY quickly, and sometimes not very politely, too! Your attitude was not like that, which we really appreciate!
It sounds like you want to sell items that will be dropped shipped by the publishers or a larger distributor. For the most part I detest working with dropshippers. The shipping and handling fees typically make up for any discount they offer. Besides, the way I see it, if you are not willing to invest in the product and keep it in stock, why should I invest in it. dropshippers typically have nothing invested monitarily and in terms of what customer service they can provide after the sale. With the internet I can simple look further down the google results and find someone who had it in stock. However institutional purchasers might love this option as they have purchase orders to work with, and it is always easier for them to add more to an order with a known vendor, and or an established account.
I know that Rainbow Resources has some good deals, but I have NEVER (gasp!) bought from them, because I've heard horror stories of their shipping methods. I HAVE bought a lot from Amazon, new and used! I love that place! I usually get free shipping, the items are sent quickly, and are usually here in a few days, I've had only good experiences with them. I think that if you research RR and Amazon, you would see the kinds of prices and shipping methods that homeschoolers prefer! If you can compete with those two places and get the word out, you'd be able to do well.
GASP!!! TRUE CONFESSIONS!!! I don't do a lot with Rainbow, but I DO keep their catalog right with my computer. Whenever I buy something used, I always check to see how much it runs with Rainbow to determine if it's a good price or not. Rainbow's booth is ALWAYS the first one I visit at the Conference. Anything they don't have with them they ship for free if ordered at the Conference.
Hi Aggie01, I understand the discount would have to be enough to compensate the wait. What we could give in discount would depend on the discount we get from the publisher and may vary from different publishers. We would not be able to beat Amazon prices in some cases I'm sure, but we also do not charge $3.99 per book for shipping like Amazon does so if someone wants multiple books we may end up being cheaper. Some of our publishers might drop ship if we asked them to, but we usually receive the books, inspect, invoice, and ship them ourselves. I understand why you'd want your credit card charged immediately. The only reason we've considered debiting the credit cards at shipping is in case the publisher cannot supply the book, then we wouldn't have to refund the card. This may happen so infrequently it would not be a problem. We're still in the planning stage. I really appreciate your taking the time to give me your thoughts. Sue
Hi Jackie, I can understand the feeling of wanting to support other homeschooling families and our company cannot compete with that. Right now we will ship within 2 business days and all of our items are in stock. I've checked around some and our prices are similar to other homeschool websites. I will check out Rainbow Resources...thanks. I know we have quite a bit of competition for homeschooling supplies and, if we want to be successful, we will have to try to find a niche somehow. It sounds like that may be difficult, not being a member of the homeschool community. My knowledge is superior to nobody concerning homeschooling, which is why I came here seeking information and opinions. I very much appreciate you and all the others taking the time to enlighten me. Sue
