I admit not knowing much about this company, but what I have heard has been negative. I sell used books via amazon and their forums have a lot to say about this company and their allegedly fraudulent charity and for-profit status. I will find links, but just be aware that BWB takes in book donations under their charity banner then do not say how much of their profits go to said charities etc. On top of that they undercut other booksellers and in the UK have apparently put lots of independent stores and sellers out of business with their practices.
Hard to tell if you are *really* promoting this company since the charity you referenced is invisible children.... but that wording could be taken multiple ways so I am providing what little I know just in case.
on edit:
thread from Amazon forums... old thread with a few posts from this September
http://www.amazonsellercommunity.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=141631&start=0&tstart=0from may this year:
http://www.amazonsellercommunity.com/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=2080655�from a post at amazon forums:
Betterworld Books is a small business... just as most of the sellers on the River, They imply that they are a non-profit organization. They are NOT non-profit BUT a FOR-PROFIT small business partnership. They lead gullible book sources (primarily libraries and civic organizations) into believing they are a non-profit. If they were actually a non-profit organization or a public corporation, they would be required by law to have their tax records available to be reviewed by the public. Being a small partnership business, the only people that see their tax records are their partners, their accountant, and the IRS. Every year they sell hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of books that they have gotten for free.
Over the past few years, BWB and similar copycat sellers have destroyed the prices of books that are sold on the internet and in brick and mortars. They do this by selling the books they get for free... using repricers... and allowing the repricers to go down to pennies. They make most of their profits on shipping. They do give a token contribution to Books for Africa (a registered non-profit), however the donation amount appears to be a very small portion of their estimated net profits. NET profits are what is left over after deducting all expenses like salaries, storage, car leases, travel expenses, executive bonuses. entertainment expenses, shipping... etc,,, (you get the idea). from their GROSS profits.
In the past, there have been many excellent threads on the Forum about BWB... check them out... Also check out their website (and "read between the lines and the fine print"). Also check out prior tax forms of Books for Africa's website (they used to be posted on the net... but Books for Africa may have taken the tax records down...as they suddenly did a few years ago (during a thread discussion)... as they would have been a "red flag" for the IRS.
Take a few minutes and do some research on your own.
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