Second-hand book sale or book fair
Collect donated books all year and sell them at a one- to three-day sale.
Typically raises
$3,000
$500–20,000 per eventest.
About $3 per organiser hour
Based on one 1-3 day sale by a smaller group
Is it right for us?
- Money
- $2,000–10,000
- Work
- A team for weeks
- Helpers
- 16–40 people
- Lead time
- 4+ months
- Red tape
- None
Fairly common: book fairs are well-loved but not everywhere
- People
- 10-30 (sorting is the big job)
- Organiser time
- Rototuna Rotary says screening, sorting and pricing takes 'more than 1,000 person/hours' each year
- Lead time
- Months of collection; venue booked 3-6 months ahead (estimate)
- Up-front cost
- $500. Venue hire, storage, tables, advertising (estimate)
- Risk
- Low-medium: venue cost and storage of unsold books.
How it works
The money, as an example sum
Take about $3,500, pay about $500 of costs, and you keep about $3,000 per event: the typical result for one 1-3 day sale by a smaller group.
From the typical figure on this page. Your result will differ.
Where the money figure comes from
High: Rotary Club of Wānaka's three-day sale raised more than $20,000; Rotary Club of Invercargill's sale grossed $19,000 from about 16,000 books. Low and typical for smaller groups are estimates.
Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.
Step by step
- Set up year-round drop-off points.
- Sort by genre; recycle damaged books.
- Book a hall for 2-3 days.
- Price simply ($1-$5) with a final-day fill-a-bag.
- Advertise widely.
- Roster sellers and restockers.
- Arrange recycling or donation of leftovers.
Getting the word out
Even a well-run plan fails if nobody hears about it. There are two asks, and the first one goes out first.
- Ask for help
- Families to give goods to sell, and helpers to sort and price them.
- Ask people to buy
- People to come and buy on the day.
- When to start
- Ask for helpers first, as soon as the date is set. Start the public ask about 6–8 weeks out, and book newsletter and paper notices before that: small newsletters close early.
Where to put it
- School, club and church newslettersYour own newsletter is free and read by the families most likely to say yes. Check when it closes.
- Local Facebook pages and community groupsPost in your town’s community page and local groups (check their rules), and share from your group’s own page.
- Facebook events and what’s-on listingsMake a Facebook event people can say they’re going to, and list it on your council’s or town’s what’s-on page.
- Community newsletters and magazinesResidents’ newsletters, village magazines and other churches’ bulletins often run community notices free. Small ones close early.
- Other groups sharing itAsk the school, kindy, church, sports club or marae down the road to share it in their newsletter or page. Offer to share theirs back.
The full guide to getting the word out: every channel from flyers to the evening news, with lead times and costs.
What you’ll need
- Place
- NeededA hired venue
- Landowner’s permission
- Not needed
- Council permit
- Not needed
- Food rules
- Not neededNo food sold
- Alcohol
- Not neededNo alcohol sold
- Gambling rules
- Not neededNot gambling
- Insurance
- CheckCheck your cover
No special permits. Hire terms for the hall apply, and storage space for donated books is the real constraint.
Make more from it
Cake and coffee stall at the sale
often $200-600 (estimate)
browsers stay for hours
Online auction of rare or valuable books
often $200-1,000 (estimate)
collectors pay more than a sale-table price
Stack it: on its own, about $3,000. With the 2 priced add-ons above, roughly
$4,000est.
What you can get donated
Books from the public; storage space from a business; venue discount.
Tips
- Red Cross runs annual book sales in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North and Timaru; Lions clubs also run them - check you are not clashing locally.
Watch out for
- Underestimating sorting labour and storage.
Second-hand book sale or book fair: checklist
0 of 14 done
Before
On the day
After
No special permits. Hire terms for the hall apply, and storage space for donated books is the real constraint.
* General fundraising information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Money figures are examples and estimates, not promises. Check current official requirements before you commit. About this guide