From the garage to the warehouse: secondhand book logistics gets organized

€888 million in revenue. That was Xerfi's estimate in 2020 for the secondhand book market, while the new-book market stood at €4.3 billion. Reliable, recent figures remain difficult to find, however, due to the very nature of this sector, but everyone agrees on one point: it is growing rapidly. And the growing number of retailers now offering secondhand books, directly or through marketplaces, proves it. Their current success can be explained in particular by an economic climate that is prompting households to spend less, especially on cultural products, as well as by environmental awareness leading them to embrace the circular economy whenever possible. Sales growth is also driven by increasingly easy access through online platforms rolled out by retailers. But as volumes rise every year, logistics must get organized.

For Gibert Joseph, which began buying and selling secondhand books in 1884, several channels are now available for selling and buying: in stores (there are now 23 outlets throughout France), on the Gibert.com website, and via the Gibert “Je vends” app, available on iOS and Android, readers can give their books a second life. From home, they enter the product's EAN code on the website or scan the barcode with their mobile phone when using the app. A transfer form is issued and must be printed, then placed in the package. A shipping label is also generated for the individual seller to print and affix to the box. The box is then dropped off at a Gibert Joseph store or a post office to be sent to the warehouse in Vitry-sur-Seine, where its condition is checked before it is put on sale, online or in stores.

Other retailers have since come to compete with this long-established secondhand bookseller. Recyclivre was founded in 2008. Initially, its founder, David Lorrain, simply wanted to get rid of the dozens of books cluttering his shelves without throwing them away. Since no organization would make house calls solely for books, he decided to create a book collection and resale company based on three values: environmental, social, and societal. Quite quickly, the number of books became too large to be stored in the founder's basement alone. In 2009, Recyclivre partnered with Log'ins, a logistics provider that is part of the Ares association, a nonprofit group of “stepping-stone” companies and associations whose main purpose is to help people experiencing exclusion return to work. “People with disabilities handle shelving, stocking, packing, and shipping the books,” explains Mathilde Quinzin, communications manager at Recyclivre. “Our logistics operations are located in Villabé, in Essonne, a few miles from Paris, in a 6,000 sq. m warehouse (4,500 on the ground floor and 1,500 on the mezzanine), sometimes shared with other companies.”

Before reaching the warehouse, books sold by individuals have been scanned by the seller to create a sale with a minimum value of €10. The seller prints the shipping label and drops the prepared package at a pickup point for consolidated shipment to Villabé. 1.2 million secondhand books, from sales by individuals as well as donations, are stored there in bulk. “When they arrive at the warehouse, books whose quality has not been checked in one of our workshops that receives donations are inspected and sorted according to their condition,” explains Mathilde Quinzin. “They are then placed on any shelf. Recorded in our in-house ‘Bilberry’ system, along with their code and location, they can then be easily found when ordered.” The books are then stacked in two types of boxes: one for customers who bought only one book, and another for those who selected several. Some 4,000 books are shipped every day. In 2018, the company also announced the opening of a branch in Spain dedicated to the local market.

The latest French entrant, La Bourse aux Livres, entered the secondhand book market in 2019 after observing that 142 million books are destroyed every year even though they could still be read... Created by two IESEG students, the company initially focused on reselling used textbooks solely within Lille's business school. “Given the success of our solution, we approached other schools before expanding to the general public,” says Tom Castano, its co-founder with Dorian Lovera. “At first, we stored the books in an office at the IESEG incubator, where we prepared 50 to 60 packages for shipment each day, which a carrier would collect.” Today, following a €1 million fundraising round in 2021, La Bourse aux Livres' inventory is managed by Dispéo in a warehouse in Beauvais. Sales by individuals work in the same way as at Gibert Joseph or Recyclivre: individual sellers scan their books until they reach a minimum amount, print a shipping form, and drop off their package at a pickup point. “Our logistics partners use the same vehicles for deliveries and collections to avoid running them empty,” says Tom Castano, who says the company has now reached a level of revenue that allows it to dream of international expansion. “Our ambition is to open a consolidated warehouse on every continent where we operate.”

In a high-growth-potential market such as secondhand goods, new players are entering the market. German company momox launched its French website in 2011, after starting in Germany in 2004. Also operating through a website and an app, individual sellers follow the same process as with the other retailers to sell their books. “momox relies on two logistics sites,” explains its CEO, Heiner Kroke. “One is located in Szczecin, Poland. Covering 22,000 sq. m, it is dedicated to quality control and authentication of cultural products and fashion items purchased from individuals. This is where packages sent by sellers via pickup points and La Poste are received. They are then shipped to our second site in Leipzig, Germany.” The latter, covering 100,000 sq. m, holds more than 14 million books and cultural items, as well as fashion items. Some 50,000 items are received there every day while awaiting shipment to their next owners. According to a recent momox study, the company also buys and sells secondhand fashion items: “86% of French people have already bought a secondhand item, while 82% have already sold one. And for 58% of respondents, buying secondhand has become a genuine habit.”