There have been numerous advancements in technology that have positively affected the frum community. One of these advancements is the opening of TheChinuchExchange.com. TheChinuchExchange.com is a not-for-profit website that gives educators across the globe the opportunity to easily market their educational materials directly to other educators. “Our goal is to assist educators in publishing and marketing their materials without the hassle and financial outlay that usually go into publishing and marketing,” says R’ Isser Appelbaum, the founder and director of TheChinuchExchange.com. “There is top quality material that has never been published. With the launch of this website we hope people will take advantage of this opportunity to distribute their work. We envision our site being the one-stop shop for all educators and plan to be the ‘Amazon.com’ for Chinuch material.”
How does it work?
Anyone (not only educators) who feels he/she has materials that can be used anywhere in a day care, school, Yeshiva or camp can submit it for review. Here is a quick rundown of what you can sell.
Material that can be used in: classroom, shul, office, lunchroom, resource room, teachers’ room, library, home-economics room, gym, etc.
For what ages? All ages, from early childhood through post high school, to chosson and kallah.
In which languages? Materials in all languages and subjects are accepted, including General Studies and teacher-training material.
Which formats are accepted? All forms of hard copy are accepted (i.e. books, tapes/CDs DVDs, toys, posters, pictures, incentives, etc.). Materials are accepted in the following electronic formats: MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Publisher, MS Excel, Davka, Dagesh, SMARTBoard, PDF, Mp3, WMA, DVD, and FLV.
In addition to selling never-before-published material, TheChinuchExchange.com also sells published and out-of-print material.
How does a seller send and display material on TheChinuchExchange.com?
Material can be e-mailed, mailed or uploaded straight from the upload page on the website. R’ Appelbaum notes, “It is really amazing what a seller is able to do to market his/her product. We offer many different ways to advertise and display the product to potential buyers. In addition to pictures and a description of the product, the seller can include samples, an audio/video clip ad, a PowerPoint, customer reviews, a list of schools that currently use that item, etc.”
Once the material is received by TheChinuchExchange.com it is reviewed for approval. A license agreement outlining the usage rights of the end user (how many classes can use it, for how many years etc.) will be put into place and the item will be listed for sale on the site. When a purchase is made, the credit card or PayPal transaction goes through the site and the money is forwarded to the seller when the funds reach $200 or every three months, whichever comes first. If the item purchased is a downloadable item, the buyer will immediately be able to download and use the file. If the item purchased is a hard copy and requires shipping, the seller will be notified immediately and will be responsible to ship the items promptly. The buyer pays for the shipping costs which are added while checking out. TheChinuchExchange.com doesn’t provide shipping. To help sellers ship out their products, The Chinuch Exchange has teamed up with Fulfillrite Order Fulfillment, located in Lakewood, NJ. Fulfillrite will take care of all your order processing needs including storing, packaging, labeling and shipping your orders to customers and businesses. Fulfillrite also offers all its customers discounted shipping rates & the ability to expand your audience by shipping worldwide. Fulfillrite will make your order fulfillment cost effective & hassle free, and will add a professional look to all your outgoing orders.
There are no listing or membership fees. However, TheChinuchExchange.com charges 10% of the sale price as a fee to keep the site running. This is significantly less than the regular distributor and retail fees one pays when selling material conventionally. Material submissions are not limited to teachers. TheChinuchExchange.com can market material for schools such as recorded in-services, productions etc. They also welcome producers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers to sell items on their site. Items may only be purchased by educators and those in the Chinuch field.
For those who service the Chinuch community, TheChinuchExchange.com offers free advertising through their classified ad program. Vendors are able to place a full-color ad with all the features listed above (including samples, an audio/video clip ad, a PowerPoint, customer reviews, a list of current customers etc.). This is a great opportunity for vendors who service schools to reach their clientele. For example: teacher-training programs, therapists, professional photographers, lice check, copy/fax machine, computers and networking, school security, office supplies, fundraisers, foodservice, paper goods, and much more.
“This project is not limited to a school or community; it is open to schools across the globe. Bezras Hashem, teachers in yeshivahs, Bais Yakovs and Hebrew day schools throughout the world will find this site beneficial,” R’ Appelbaum concludes. “I opened this site to help educators. If I can help you in any way please contact me using the information below.”
For more information or to support this project, contact [email protected] 347-669-4332.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
2 Responses
Chinuch.org has been doing this for years at NO cost to the users and under the auspices of Torah Umesorah. Their site is fully functional and searchable and supervised by gedolei yisroel. Mechanchim have the opportunity to submit their own materials and exchnage ideas with their peers. I’m not sure why people need to pay for this when such a wonderful site already exists.
I believe the concept of this website is for Mechanchim/os who have spent many, many hours perfecting their material and would like to be able to receive some compensation by selling it to others. This is similar to buying a picture or poster, or paying someone to prepare a speech. In theory I agree. After all, someone who put so much time into their work is fully entitled to sell it to others. I have chaveirim who have worked and have produced fantastic materials and have rightfully,published and sold their workbooks. Myself, being a Rebbi, would pay for the right material, which would save me many hours of my own prep time.
On the other hand, I assume this website would be for people who would not upload their material to chinuch.org. Although I do sincerely hope that chinuch.org is not limited due to this.
Personally, I have uploaded over 20 different items to chinuch.org over the past years, which have been downloaded over 15,000 times, worldwide!! (One can see where exactly the materials have been downloaded.) What a gevaldig feeling to know you are helping other people in chinuch. Not only are your talmidim benefitting, but halfway across the globe, you are “teaching” talmidim vicariously. We are all working for the same Boss; the building and city, may be different, but the Boss is still the same.