To throw old books into the recycling bin?

[Dixie81]

I read a lot. Almost all the books I buy are secondhand and rarely cost more than £3. I try to buy ebooks as much as possible but often the used paperback version is cheaper. I only have a small house so theres a limit to how many books I can keep and I reached that limit long ago.

The problem is trying to get rid of books I no longer want. Charity shops around here won’t take them. I tried a few online buyers but it cost more in postage, packaging and petrol than the books were worth and was far too time-consuming to deal with. They also refused to take a lot of the books and only wanted certain ones. I found one of those ‘little free libraries’ but the lady running it said they were inundated with books and having to dispose of a huge amount themselves. So I decided to put them in the recycling bin since that’s where they’ll end up anyway.

I mentioned this to my partner last night and he said it was a terrible thing to do. He thinks it’s disgraceful to throw any book out and not make the effort to pass it on to someone. I explained that I can’t find anyone who wants them but he seemed to think I should try harder regardless of the time and money it takes. For context, these are mass-produced paperbacks so I don’t see how it matters but I’m curious to hear what others think.

We had this issue last time we moved house, in the end we took them to the recycling centre, it did feel wrong but what else can you do

Charity shops around here won’t take them. I tried a few online buyers but it cost more in postage, packaging and petrol than the books were worth and was far too time-consuming to deal with. They also refused to take a lot of the books and only wanted certain ones. I found one of those ‘little free libraries’ but the lady running it said they were inundated with books and having to dispose of a huge amount themselves.

I love all the comments repeatedly suggesting the OP do all the things she said she had already tried. The charity shops near her just aren’t trying hard enough!

Excellent idea. If he's so keen on making sure they aren't thrown away, maybe he could try donating them himself.

I am surprised that your local charity shops won't take them though, they all do round here.

Go to a bigger shop then, l have volunteered on books at charity shops for years, it's highly unusual for them to refuse- some books do go for recycling sometimes but the majority will get read again and generate revenue for the charity- many books have done this route several times over- l would urge you to make the effort.

I'd actually heard about them last year from a poster on here. I use them all of the time now.
Like you, they have a charity very close to my heart too.

They actually do take them all.
Other doorstep charities also do - icollectclothes is another (they don’t just collect clothes). My friend managed to donate so many useable things this way for very little effort on her part.

@Dixie81 you can just put your postcode into these website to see if they will collect from you.

That isn't the case in my area, charity shops are all selling books in obviously used condition. The Oxfam bookshop is noticeably more expensive than all the others, but their stock is no more pristine.

We take paperbacks to a Salvation Army collection point with shop attached. They sell all books for 5 for £1, regardless of condition and audience. I've had some amazing bargains, and it's an absolute goldmine for parents with young children!

Google if there are any community book boxes - I’d make a special trip to take them there or spread them around several postcodes

look for places like Barter books - they’ll buy everything/anything 😁

or local hospitals to see if they have a mini library on site that needs donations

there are always places they can be donated to other than charity shops

Or if you have lots of books set your own up

https://littlefreelibrary.org/start/

We have a shelf in work where people can leave and pick up books. Could you start one of those?

Feel free to find another person who wants to read it then and loop the OP in.

Why are people telling the OP what they do when she's already said she's tried it or can't do that specific thing?

I take mine to the local public library. Some go on their shelves to be borrowed some go on a table where people just help themselves.

The main one near me, which does turn over the greatest amount of books by far, does refuse them - not outright but by limiting what and how much you can donate.

Another charity shop near me doesn't sell books at all, only mostly M&S clothes. Another takes children's books only. There's a BHF fairly near me which can be awkward with taking donations in but is still the best option if you drive - but they don't collect unless you're also household items. It's really often just not as simple as take all your books to a charity shop.

Ex librarian. Yes it’s fine to throw (ed, keyboard did grow? Like stones!) some books eventually especially cheap paperbacks, that’s what they were invented for. None of us have magic walls.

I used to do information and collections have to be curated, selected, updated… and thinned. Imagine keeping everything anyone ever wrote ever. We’d drown in paper.

There are plenty of companies that do this. They collect boxes of books and sell them. They have been named many times in this thread.
Or eBay or vinted finds these people for you, you just lost them. Single books can go in a postbox or royal mail can collect parcels.

But sure, if op wants to give a list of the books and their condition I'm sure people can make low friction suggestions of ways to dispose of them that aren't ripping the covers off them and binning them. Assuming she didn't damage them since she bought them, presumably from a large online used book site, I would wildly assume they are books they resellers like wob would want.

Update..got a cancellation notice this morning cos apparently they dont operate in my area.Why not say that on the website!!!

None of the charity shops in my town sell books cheap.
Why would I want to go to Oxfam and pay nearly £4 for a used book when Teaco sell brand new ones at 2 for £7?

Luckily our Tesco has a charity book shelf that I can leave books on.

YANBU OP, just recycle them.
The world is swimming in second hand books!

@RightOnTheEdge , the books in charity shops are not the ones in Tesco.
Tesco sells current bestsellers. My local charity shops has all sorts of books - classics, children's books, niche ones, out of print ones.

@RightOnTheEdge

I volunteer for an Oxfam bookshop and I do think that prices are bit too high to an extent. The reason behind it, however, is the rules/guidance from above, rather than internal choices from the actual staff in the shops.

For example, in my shop (which is in a city considered well-to-do) the instructions are that books which are very new - (i.e. published within the last year) - and in very good condition - should be priced at 45-50% of the original price on the book. If they are older, then it should be 1/3 of the original price.

Price instructions may vary in Oxfam shops in other locations, but that's the standard for the shop in which I volunteer. I do think that's a bit too high myself, and personally think it should be 40% of the original price for recent publications and 25% for older ones. But that's how it is and the staff are expected to adhere to instructions.

Oxfam shop managers are under a lot of pressure to meet targets and would get into trouble if they allowed their stock to consistently be priced under the standard given for their shop. The manager of my own shop is under a lot of pressure (too much, really) and you can tell at times that it really affects her.

This is a continuing issue with second hand items of all types now, I find. I looked at the link posted above for second hand books, they want "as new condition" only. That's not really second hand then, is it?
Why do charities all want new stuff now? I have had to take two bed frames to the tip as I couldn't give them away, one a metal high sleeper that had never been used but not one shop would take it. I even tried a women's refuge charity - they only wanted new ones. Who is buying a brand new bed then giving it away?
I don't understand. We have a huge problem with disposable culture but no one wants anything that isn't new...

it's supply and demand. Too much used stuff with very little demand for it.

This plus, at least where I am, companies are donating what hasn't sold to non profits and thrifts and they get a tax write-off. So people can source new and like new items at the thrifts. The thrift gets more money for that one new or like new item and it takes up less storage space.

Older paperbacks take up a lot of space, they're heavy in bulk, they're likely to be in mid to poor condition of they're old and sat around the storage area for a while, and they don't sell well and that's besides the bug issue.

There is also the waste issue and cost if they are discarding lots of books and their waste hauler charges by weight.

Have you not tried to sell through world of books. They collect for you for free. It’s so easy. You just scan them.

OP's books were bought second hand and are cheap popular paperbacks, and she lives rurally.

It might be worth a try, but I doubt thar WoB would want them.