Help

How much is shipping? 

Shipping costs are included in the price of the books for all books shipped to the Canadian Provinces. An additional shipping surcharge will be applied to orders destined for far north locations within the Provinces as well as the Canadian Territories including: Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon at the time of order. Please contact us at help@firstbook.org to discuss expedited shipping needs.

If any delivery is unsuccessful due to customer error, a delivery surcharge will be assessed before the Canada Marketplace can ship out the books again. Customer error includes, but is not limited to: providing an incorrect shipping address, providing a Post Office Box as a shipping address or providing shipping address that is not available during normal business hours.

Can books be resold? 

Books purchased through the First Book Canada Marketplace may not be resold, used for fundraising purposes, or given to other organizations.

Why can’t everybody purchase books? 

Books on the First Book Canada Marketplace are not available to the general public because First Book's mission is to provide books to children from low-income families. Publishers sell these books to First Book with the express knowledge that the books will only be provided to children from low-income families.

An organization (non profit, for profit, school, or government entity) is eligible to purchase from the First Book Canada Marketplace if they:

• Serve at least 70% children from low-income families.
• Do not discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin or physical or mental disability.

First Book only serves established programs and schools.  We encourage individuals who are interested in First Book services to bring our information to the attention of eligible programs and schools that your child is attending.

Will my shopping cart be saved? 

If you are logged in to the First Book Canada Marketplace then your shopping cart will be saved by the Marketplace for 30 days and will be available to you the next time you login – even if you login from a different computer. 

Why is the minimum order $100? 

This minimum order amount allows us to leverage economies of scale in order to ensure that we are able to offer our recipient groups the highest quality titles at the lowest possible prices – typically 50-90% off of retail prices.

Can I request a large quantity of a specific title? 

If you are interested in purchasing a large quantity of books (1,000 books or more), please complete this form and we will work to accommodate your request.

What payment methods are accepted? 

• Grants – Many of our partners provide grants to local organizations to purchase books on the First Book Canada Marketplace.  These grants will be listed in your account after you login.
• Credit Card
• Check – Please note your order will not ship until after payment is received.
• Purchase Order – Legally binding purchase orders are accepted. Your order will ship once the purchase order is received and approved.

How do I apply a grant to my order? 

If your program has an available grant to use, then there are two ways in which you may apply the grant to your order. When you are near completion of your order, simply click the “My Dashboard”page (you can find the link to this page at the top of the website). You will then need to click the blue button that says, “Apply to Cart.” At this point, you are ready to proceed to the checkout!

The second way to apply an available grant is to click on “My Shopping Cart” (also located at the top of the website). You will need to scroll to the bottom of this page where your grand total is displayed. Here you will see the word, “Grants.” You will then need to select the appropriate grant that you wish to use from the drop-down box. Next, enter the amount of the grand total in the field that indicates, “Amount” and be sure to then click the blue button that says, “Add Grant.”

When proceeding through the checkout, you will know if your grant has been successfully applied because you will get a payment method option that says, “No Payment Information Required.” Keep proceeding to confirm your order! (Note: You will also receive an option to “Add/Remove” grant but do not click this as you will continually be brought back to the checkout page since your grant has already been applied to your order). Once you have confirmed your order, you will immediately receive a confirmation via email.

What is the return policy? 

In order to offer books at significant discounts exclusively to programs serving children from low-income families, the First Book Canada Marketplace does not accept returns. We encourage customers to research titles before purchasing them, for instance by entering the book information that we provide (title, author, ISBN) into an online search engine for descriptions and reviews. If you have questions about a specific book, please contact the First Book Help Team at help@firstbook.org before you place your order. All sales are final.

Why is there a remainder mark on my book? 

First Book is always looking for ways to add as many great titles as we can at the lowest possible prices. Occasionally, we purchase books with “remainder marks” (usually a single dot or line on the book’s bottom edge) that are otherwise in top condition. If you receive a book with a remainder mark and you feel it inhibits your ability to share the book with the children you serve, please let us know so we can explore a replacement or refund.

Why was I charged sales tax on my order? 

By default, we collect Goods and Services Tax (GST) on orders placed by organizations located in Canada. Shipments going to a residence may be subject to additional Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).

Who to contact for additional help? 

For assistance please contact the First Book Help Team

• Call us at (866) READ-NOW or (866) 732-3669 from Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm Eastern Time (except for major holidays)
• Send an email to help@firstbook.org or use the form below to send your email.