An environmentally friendly way to clean out the cupboards! (greenmetropolis.com)

Member Name: cstag

Product:	greenmetropolis.com
Date:	26/05/09 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Recycle books amongst fellow friendly book worms!

Disadvantages: This isn't going to make you rich quick!

I am a total book worm and as such have books cluttering up the place till I can't stand it anymore! I use to take unwanted books to our local charity shop (until that shut down!), then a friend told me about Green Metropolis and I decided to give it a go!


What's it all about?

Green Metropolis is basically an online second hand book shop. This website offers people the opportunity to buy and sell books whilst knowing that you are doing your little bit for the environment. The website has a very simple pricing structure whereby each buyer will pay £3.75 for a book and each seller will receive £3.00 for each book sold. Also for every book sold Green Metropolis will do its little bit for the trees by donating 5p to the Woodland Trust!


Sellers

To become a book seller you first have to register as a member of the website which is very simple to do, and after that you can start listing your unwanted books for sale. This is also a very easy process as you simply type in the ISBN on the back of the book. By entering the ISBN, the details of the books are retrieved from the Green Metropolis database along with a product description and image.

Next the seller has to rate the book - of which there are 4 categories to choose from ranging from 'As New - good for a Gift' to 'Acceptable - minimum damage, creasing, well-read book' There is also a section to add any further information regarding its condition - for example a lot of my books where used by myself as part of my university course so there are annotations and underlining on certain pages - which I mentioned in the comments box. Listing books is free and the seller doesn't have to pay a bean to do this!

Once an order has been placed for your book you receive an email from Green Metropolis telling you which book has been sold and where to post it to. As the seller pays for postage, if you are not careful of the methods used - the cost of postage can take quite a chunk from your £3 seller's fee. Green Metropolis recommends using Manila type envelopes sealed with tape for a regular sized book as this can be posted as a 'large letter' and not a packet and is therefore cheaper to send.

The cost of postage does depends on the weight and thickness of the book, however if it is a larger book or a hard backed book you do have the opportunity to add a postage cost as you list your book for sale. Also on the Green Metropolis website there is a section which includes a chart explaining the different postage costs - this is very useful and is worth referring to as you list your books for sale. Taking into account postage costs you can hope to make approx £1.50-2.00 per book depending on its size and weight.

Green Metropolis recommends that sellers send the books using standard Royal Mail 2nd Class Post - which normally allowed between 7-10 days delivery. I am fortunate to have a post office round the corner from work so can normally send books off the next day. When you have posted the book - you confirm that it has been sent on the website, and once received the buyer does the same.

The buyer can then rate the seller's speed of delivery and whether the book arrived in the condition as expected. As with eBay - positive ratings will make you more appealing as a seller.

The seller then receives the payment for the book into their Green Metropolis account and you can either transfer the money to your own bank or use to purchase books for yourself from the site.


Buyers

I have also used the site to purchase a book and again the design and easy to navigate website makes this very simple!

As a buyer you can expect to find new releases and older classics as well as children's books and audio books. Books are categorized by genre so they are very easy to find. I had no problem with my order - it arrived in the condition expected within 5 days of placing the order and it was very easy to transfer money from my bank account into my Green Metropolis account. I only paid £3.75 for a recently released book and had free delivery. There is also the opportunity for buyers to return books if it arrives in condition that differs to the one expected - thankfully I didn't have to do this!

Also if a buyer doesn't find the title they want - they can add it to a wish list. Then when the book is added to stock, you receive an email notification to let you know that someone has added it for sale - which is very useful and saves you spending each day searching the site.


Is it Worth It?

I think so YES! I don't think I would use this site to buy books as presents for people as I would be more concerned about quality if it was for a gift. However if you are after a quick and easy purchase for yourself or if your wanted something for the beach this summer and you don't mind it getting all covered in sand then its great!.

I also think this would be a particularly useful site for students who have to buy a lot of books and don't mind if they are second hand and have a few annotations in them.

There is also a nice community feeling to the website - there is a friendly forum for people to discuss books and authors, as well as features such as 'Meet the Author' and 'Book of the day'

The site can be a bit slow in selling your books - this is mainly as the books are included on the site in the order in which they were listed for sale. Therefore, if you add a very popular book of which there are already many available - these will be displayed and sold first.

I have been a member of Green Metropolis for about 2 months now and have sold 5 books - admittedly this isn't a lot of cash made for myself but it does enable you to recycle your books for minimum fuss. Also through the recycling of books and 5p donation to the Woodland Trust - you are doing your little bit for the environment (not to mention freeing up space in the house!)

Summary: Be Green and earn a few Pennies!