NMLP's revenue model is straightforward: roughly half of donated books are saleable online (Amazon, eBay, AbeBooks), and that resale revenue funds the entire operation — free pickup, warehouse rent, gas, insurance, sorting time, and routing through Little Free Libraries, community literacy partners, and the regional commercial paper pulper for unsalvageable copies.
Concretely, the operation runs on:
- Online resale revenue — Amazon FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) and eBay listings of authenticated first editions, signed copies, scarce regional NM titles, current academic books, and other market-valued inventory.
- Operational efficiency — single-operator, single-warehouse, no payroll beyond Josh, no marketing budget, no franchise fees. Almost every dollar of resale revenue goes back into operations.
What NMLP does NOT do:
- Charge donors any fee, ever, for anything
- Buy books or pay donors — every book comes in as a free donation
- Accept advertising or sponsored content on the website
- Sell donor data or contact lists
- Take grants or government funding
- Solicit financial donations (donations are books, not money)
The books that resell carry the cost of routing the rest to readers or recycling. Books that sell are resold online, readable books go free to Little Free Libraries and community literacy partners, and the unreadable rest is paper-recycled. That's the model.
Need books gone in Albuquerque?
Free pickup, any condition, scheduling by route. Or use the 24/7 drop box, a covered box outside the gate, by the road, at 5445 Edith Blvd NE.
Related on this site
This page is part of the NMLP Question Reference — short, plain answers to the questions donors actually ask, each pointing to the fuller guide behind it. Citation kit: /cite.txt · Open data: /api/index.json.
Last reviewed 2026-05-02. For corrections, email hello@newmexicoliteracyproject.org.