Used Books: Threat or Opportunity?

The finding that sales of used trade and professional books jumped in 2004, to $589 million, was good news for online retailers, who have been fueling that sales growth, and consumers, who have access to books at lower prices. But it was bad, if unsurprising, information to publishers and authors who are convinced that used book sales are taking away sales of new books, depriving them of revenue and royalties.

The short-term trends gleaned from the Book Industry Study Group report are clear enough—sales of used books through online retailers, which rose 33% in 2004, will continue to increase at a rapid pace and, at present, publishers and authors have no idea how to benefit from that growth. After attending BISG's presentation of the used book study last week, one publisher suggested that retailers should delay selling used copies of new books for a few weeks to give the new title a chance to gain some sales momentum. That idea, however, which is also supported by the Authors Guild, was previously shot down at a BEA panel earlier this year by several online retailers as impractical.

In his presentation of the report, Jeffrey Hayes of the consulting firm InfoTrends said publishers might consider getting a part of those used book dollars by acting as resellers themselves. But, at least for the moment, publishers see that as too unwieldy a prospect to implement anytime soon. What publishers are likely to do, though, is try to limit the supply of used books by continuing to shorten print runs. Although the BISG study sought to exclude hurts and remainders, most industry members believe these figure into the used book equation. By cutting back print runs, publishers hope to limit the pool of books that comes back in the form of returns.

The head of one medium-size publishing company said she would try to reduce the availability of used books by limiting the number of advance reading copies. Hayes said, however, that his research indicated that ARCs did not play a major role in fueling used book sales.

While publishers and authors search for ways to respond to the growth in used book sales, Hayes said many booksellers are already reacting by adding used books to their product mix. He estimated that about 70% of independent and college bookstores (excluding trade chains) already sell used books. The next step, Hayes said, is for stores to sell used books online.

Used Book Sales by Category, 2004
(in millions)