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I’ve been diligent about buying books locally this year, particularly during the pandemic, which has been grueling on brick-and-mortar stores, writes Kara Weisenstein, staff culture writer at Mic.
I’ve been diligent about buying books locally this year, particularly during the pandemic, which has been grueling on brick-and-mortar stores.
Photo: Mic
But it’s a commitment that’s required patience, if I’m being real. When I recently ordered a few books from my local shop that I knew were on their shelves, it took like a week before I could pick them up curbside. I’m not complaining, really; I was happy to wait for my books if it meant supporting a beloved business. But I worried that other people might not be as stoic about the delay and opt to have their next pandemic read on their doorstep in two days, courtesy of Amazon.
That’s where Bookshop fits in. Launched just last January, the online bookstore seeks to be the indie alternative to Amazon, with a chunk of proceeds getting kicked back to small stores. Bookshop’s founder, Andy Hunter, is an indie literature guy himself, as the publisher of Catapult and the website Lit Hub. He figured taking back any market share from Amazon could be a windfall for small bookstores. After all, Jeff Bezos’s behemoth accounts for around 70 percent of online book sales and the pandemic has strengthened its dominance as world’s largest online retailer. Amazon made a whopping $75.5 billion last quarter, up 26 percent from the same time last year.
After nearly a year in business, Bookshop is doing remarkably well...
I called up one of my favorite shops in Brooklyn, Books Are Magic in Cobble Hill, to get their point-of-view. Colleen Callery, the store’s Marketing and Communication Manager, said they’ve made a “nice chunk of change” just from having an account with Bookshop. When shoppers choose to buy through Books Are Magic on the Bookshop platform, the small business gets 30% of the list price — less than they’d make from a direct sale, but without the hassle of fulfillment. Orders are shipped through Ingram, a large book distributor.
Source: Mic
