Amazing Book Fairs

Central Book Suppliers has been supplying books for primary school book fairs for the last fifteen years. The business has expanded from a few librarians asking us ‘to include some books for the children to buy for themselves’, to a stand alone division of Central Book Suppliers. Today we supply books for over four hundred book fairs every year. We do not advertise. We do not contact librarians looking for book fair business. The business has grown simply through recommendations from one librarian to another.

Our book fairs have been termed ‘The Amazing Book Fair’ in direct response to comments we have received repeatedly about the amazing quality of the books, and the amazingly low prices that we continue to charge for our books. ‘The Amazing Book Fair’ offers books from $1.00 a copy. Most books are priced between $4.50 and $5.00. OUR AIM IS TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR EVERY CHILD TO BE ABLE TO BUY A BOOK AT ONE OF OUR BOOK FAIRS. We limit the number of novelty items on sale, and will only send out activity books or gimmicky items that have some accompanying text.

We send out a varied selection of fiction and non fiction titles suitable for primary school students. CHECK OUR ON LINE SHOP TO SEE MANY OF THE TITLES THAT WILL BE INCLUDED IN YOUR BOOK FAIR SELECTION. The number of books you are sent will depend on the number of students at the school, as well as previous book fair sales figures at your school. We send out twice as many books as we expect you to sell. Ideally you should have a reasonable selection left for the latecomers.

how do we run an amazing book fair?

Book Fairs can be booked by email, by phone or by fax. See HOW TO BOOK AN AMAZING BOOK FAIR. When taking your booking we will need to establish the number of students at the school and what your expected sales figure is. We will also discuss with you what you would like to see in your book fair selection, and we do our best (within the limits of what remainders are available) to meet your needs. An information package is sent to the book fair co-ordinator well in advance of the book fair date. Posters and flyers/wish lists are also provided.

Books are delivered in cartons by one of our representatives, or by the courier service, StarTrack. We do not supply display cabinets. Most schools choose to have the books delivered during the week prior to the week during which the book fair is to be held. Deliveries can be made well in advance if the books are to be used for promotional purposes. If the delivery is made by one of our representatives, the boxes are taken to the library or to wherever the book fair is to be held. If the books are delivered by StarTrack, the boxes are usually delivered to the front office of the school.

Central Book Suppliers is not involved in the actual running of book fairs, other than to answer questions with regards to availability of specific items for orders. See ORDERING EXTRA COPIES.

Paperwork is kept to a minimum. We do not send out lists of books supplied, and do not ask for an account of every book sold. At the end of the book fair, you are asked to add up your takings, and complete a BOOK FAIR SUMMARY SHEET (supplied with your information package). This information gives us your sales figure, and indicates how you have elected to take your commission. See PAYMENT FOR BOOK FAIRS AND GST.

Orders for extra copies are delivered to the school (when possible) by the representative who picks up the unsold books. If the unsold books are being picked up by StarTrack, the orders are posted out as speedily as possible. The date for the pick up of unsold books is usually during the week following the book fair.

BENEFITS TO THE SCHOOL

• Reading is promoted.
• Parents and students are delighted at the quality and affordability of the books.
• The school earns a generous commission for hosting the book fair.

HOW MUCH COMMISION DOES THE SCHOOL GET?

Commission can be taken in three ways, in BOOKS, in CASH, or a combination of BOOKS AND CASH. Speak to us about how to get the best result for your school.

1. BOOKS

• We offer your school a book commission of 30% of book fair sales.
  For example: If your book fair sales total is $1000, your can choose books to the value of $300, and we would send you an invoice for $1000.00
• Commission books can be chosen from the books that are delivered to the school at the time of the book fair, and/or from the wide selection available on our web site.
• Commission books have to be selected during the same year that the book fair is held.
• If your book fair sales total less than $1000, then this is your only commission option.

2. CASH

• We offer a cash commission of 18% of total book fair sales. This option is only offered to schools that have sales of more than $1000.
  For example: If your book fair sales total is $1000, your cash commission would be $180. We would send you an invoice for $820.00.

3. COMBINATION OF BOOKS AND CASH

• We can also offer a combined book/cash commission to schools that sell in excess of $1000.
• You fill out your book fair summary sheet, indicating your sales figure and the value of the books that you have retained as commission.
• We do the necessary calculations and send you an invoice for the amount owing after the cash commission has been deducted.
  For example: If your book fair sales figure is $1000, and you have retained books as commission to the value of $150, then your cash commission would be $90, and we would invoice you for $910.00. You would therefore have received a book commission worth $150, and a cash commission of $90. A commission calculation sheet will be attached to every invoice where the combined option is selected.

ORDERING EXTRA COPIES

• We send out twice as many books as we expect to sell. This quantity is based on previous book fair sales at your school.
• Titles that we expect to sell well are supplied in bigger quantities so that ordering can be kept to a minimum.
• A good range of books will therefore be left towards the end for the late comers.
• We can usually supply orders, but if we have sold out, we are unable to get more stock.
• A quick call or fax to establish availability will help here, and avoid orders having to be cancelled and money refunded.
• We try to have all orders sent out within days, and the book fairs finalised quickly.

PAYMENTS FOR BOOK FAIRS AND GST

• All books are priced to include GST.
• GST cannot be claimed by a school for books that are sold to students or parents.
• GST can only be claimed by a school for books that are for the direct use of the school. A separate invoice is supplied to the school for any books from the book fair that the school purchases for the direct use of the school. This is a separate invoice from the book fair invoice, and the school will not be able to include this figure when calculating book fair sales and book fair commission.

The Australian Tax Office has ruled that commission books are subject to GST

Commission Option - Books
Central Book Suppliers will, on request, supply the school with an invoice for the books that are being supplied as commission books. The school should in return send Central Book Suppliers an invoice for exactly the same amount. This invoice is called a Reciprocal Tax Invoice (RTI). The two invoices in effect cancel each other out.

Commission Option - Cash
The school is required to pay GST on commission received.
Central Book Suppliers will, on request, supply the school with a Recipient Created Tax Invoice (RCTI) (School to CBS) for the commission amount.

At the end of the book fair, the completed BOOK FAIR SUMMARY SHEET is faxed to Central Book Suppliers. The information on the summary sheet is used by Central Book Suppliers to generate an invoice for the amount owing to Central Book Suppliers. It also confirms how the school has elected to take its commission. Payment is expected on receipt of this invoice. Credit card vouchers and personal cheques made out to Central Book Suppliers should be included with the payment by the school.

Further Information
Further queries regarding BOOK FAIRS AND GST can be directed to:-

• School Financial Support Unit ~ Ph: 131 072
• Australian Taxation Office ~ Ph: 132 861

how TO BOOK AN amazing book fair?

Contact Jane Page 1300 552 670 or 02 4321 0311 or email: