MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
March 2 – March 9, 2006 Edition
New Study Shows
Used Book Sales
Top $2 Billion
NEW YORK, NY/2/27/2006Just off the press, Used-Book Sales: A Study of the Behavior, Structure, Size and Growth of the U.S. Used-Book Market, estimates that revenues from sales of used books in the United States topped $2.2 billion in 2004, representing more than 111 million copies sold and 8.4% of total consumer spending on books.
Created and published by the Book Industry Study Group, Used-Book Sales is the industrys first comprehensive and in-depth study of the entire used-book market. It includes data provided by Abebooks, Alibris, Amazon, Barnes & Noble.com, Biblio, eBay, and Powells, along with data from more than 500 other booksellers and more than 2000 book buyers. The reports findings are illustrated with 94 graphs and charts.
Through the Consumer Survey Findings section of Used-Book Sales, students indicate that nearly 75 percent of their used-book spending was for books that were available new. Similarly, 60 to 65 percent of non-student book buyers who purchased a used book did so even though a new copy was available.
The rapid growth of the general trade used book market is a direct result of the Internet eliminating much of the friction in the buying and selling process, says Jeff Hayes, Group Director for InfoTrends and principal analyst for the study. Used books are now a factor in the business equation for publishers and booksellers.
Bookstores are likely to focus on the implication that at least three out of every ten used-book purchases are sales that would not have happened if used books had not been available, Hayes notes. In the judgment of roughly two thirds of the booksellers represented in the reports Bookseller Survey Findings section, used copies of a book do not affect sales of new copies.
