In recent times, Amazon has become the place of choice for book lovers. You have at your disposal books of all kinds and in all languages, and in addition they arrive at your home in a few days (or a few hours if you have Amazon Prime).
However, and as in other sectors, this convenience and ease of buying books came at the expense of local libraries and bookstores, which experienced particularly difficult times during the various lockdowns.
But today an alternative to Amazon is opening in Europe which aims to help small businesses dedicated to the sale of books. With Bookshop, shopping has never been so easy online in your neighborhood bookstore.
What is the bookstore?
The Bookstore website is defined as “a platform online the sale of books whose mission is to promote and financially support independent bookstores ”. In fact, they assure that their only goal is to promote this local business.
Be aware that more and more people are deciding to buy their next readings online, wanted to create a simple and safe way to do this while supporting neighborhood bookstores where they stop buying them online.
In fact, es Bookshop.org is considered a charitable society, that is to say a company dedicated to the public good whose objective is to have a positive impact on society, even before profitability.
This is why it is touted as a fairer and more sustainable alternative to Amazon. They see local bookstores as an integral part of our culture and communities, and with the sale online they want to strengthen this ecosystem.
Where is the bookstore available?
For now, Bookshop is only available in three countries: the United States, the United Kingdom and, from April 12, Europe. There are plans to launch the platform in other countries of the European Union, as well as to carry out international shipments.
Although the shipments are made anywhere in the Spanish territory, the truth is that for the moment it is not possible to find bookstores in all the municipalities of the platform. Those who have a physical establishment and are associated with their local union can join.
To find out if your trusted bookstore has already joined the platform and thus buy directly from its page, just use the card on the Bookshop.org site and enter its name in the search engine.
You can also browse the map to see which bookstore already attached to the service is closest to you, or use the option to see the complete alphabetical list of all nearby bookstores.
How does the bookstore work?
Note, however, that it is not necessary to buy directly from the page of a store that has already joined the platform. If you buy your next read (or reads) without selecting one, you will continue to contribute to the cause.
So, you have several ways to shop at Bookshop. When accessing the web, you can enter the title of the book you want into the search engine and add it directly to the cart. You can also browse some of the thematic selections.
The other way is now to do it from the page dedicated to the library of your choice. Click on “Select a Bookstore” to access the aforementioned map and select the button of the same name that you will see in the list of results to access their store.
What are the benefits of Bookshop for local bookstores?
All bookstores with a Bookshop.org account (all listed on the map) receive a 25% commission for each sale they generate. The best way to support them is to buy from their bookstore page.
This same percentage of commission is generated thanks to the links that the bookstores themselves share via their social networks or newsletters. And all without having to worry about inventory, packaging, shipping, and more.
On the other hand, they can also receive an additional 10% commission if they join the affiliate program, which can also include authors who want to earn extra money, influencers literary or any other that shares links to the web.
We said earlier that local bookstores even take advantage of purchases that are not made directly from an establishment’s page. In these cases, the 25% commission is paid into a common fund evenly distributed among all bookstores associated with the program.
What books can be purchased at the bookstore?
In Bookshop, it is easy to find the latest literary publications, but also other titles of contemporary literature. On the web, you will find novels, poetry selections, essays, illustrated books and much more.
There is no way to search for books by genre or other category, so you should come to Bookshop with a title in mind. You can also browse the recommendations or in the pages of bookstores.
On Bookshop.org you will find books in Spanish, Catalan, Galician, English and many other languages. If you prefer, you can also use the Catalan Bookshop version, although the operation is exactly the same.
Since we are, we recommend a book available in bookstores:
For now, Bookshop only sells physical books, but they say they plan to incorporate audiobooks and e-books in the near future.
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