“Thanks to Bookshop, there is no reason to buy books on Amazon anymore.” — Inside Hook
Bookshop.org works to connect readers with independent booksellers all over the world.
We believe local bookstores are essential community hubs that foster culture, curiosity, and a love of reading, and we're committed to helping them thrive.
Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Our platform gives independent bookstores tools to compete online and financial support to help them maintain their presence in local communities.
Since 2020, we've raised more than $33 million for independent bookstores.
Visit our find a local bookstore page and select the bookstore you'd like to support. If you don't choose a store, you'll contribute to our profit sharing pool that helps all our stores.
Your order will be filled directly by our distributor, and the full profit from your purchase will be sent to bookstore you selected.
You'll receive a confirmation and tracking number when your order is placed, and our in-house customer service team will be standing by if you have issues or returns.
We donate profits directly to bookstores—both the funds from direct purchases and our profit pool that's split between our 2,000+ stores.
“This funding came at the most perfect time when I prayed I would have rent for next month and payroll and purchases. Your team will never, ever, know how much booksellers like me appreciate your business.”
“These funds mean more than money. It means community to me. And for that, I will be forever grateful.”
“Bookshop has absolutely transformed our business, and I am just so continually grateful for your service and, ultimately, support. Thank you so much for your vision and your commitment to us indies.”
Our mission is simple: To help local, independent bookstores thrive in the age of ecommerce.
Certified as a B Corp, Bookshop.org puts this mission and the public good above financial interests, giving over 80% of our profit margin to independent bookstores. In 2022, B-Labs announced we were "best for the world": in the top 5% of all B-Corps.
It is written in our governance documents that we will never sell the company to Amazon or any major U.S. retailer.
As a Climate Neutral company, we are committed to operating sustainably.
B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.
More Information on B CorpsBookshop.org has the highest customer service rating of any online bookstore in the world on Trustpilot.
Bookshop.org began as an idea to help support bookstores and their communities as more and more people are buying their books online. We saw an opportunity to create an alternative to Amazon for socially-conscious online shoppers. Amazon sells over 60% of all books in the US and is growing. That shift threatens the future of bookstores and will hurt readers, authors, and publishers who rely on a diverse, healthy ecosystem for books. We had a better idea — give readers the convenience of online shopping while supporting independent bookstores at the same time.
We launched in January of 2020, with just 88 bookstore partners and a team of four passionate book people.
As the COVID-19 pandemic surged, our growing platform helped our community of independent booksellers survive shutdowns. That spring, traffic to Bookshop.org hit 1 million users in a single day. By the end of 2020 we had grown to over 1,000 bookstores and distributed over ten million dollars in profits. Bookshop.org has since expanded internationally, launching in the UK and Spain.
78% of our customers said they regularly bought books from Amazon before they made the switch.
“The rapid rise of Bookshop.org during the shutdown has been hailed as a boon for independent stores.“
Absolutely. We offer a range of advertising and partnership opportunities.
For partnerships and promotions, contact [email protected].
For website and email advertising, contact [email protected]
Bookshop.org only ships to the US, but we also have Bookshop UK which ships to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We hope to help support bookstores all over the world in the future.
If you have received damaged, defective, or incorrectly shipped merchandise please contact customer service here
You may return an unwanted item within 30 days of the delivery date for a full refund of the cost of the books returned plus any applicable taxes. However, if you've received damaged, defective, or incorrectly shipped merchandise, please contact our customer support as soon as possible here.
To ensure your package is processed correctly, please return the package to the address indicated below and display the order number prominently on the packaging. The cost of shipping will be your responsibility. To expedite the processing of your return, we ask that you relay the tracking number of said return to [email protected] along with your order number. We recommend utilizing USPS Media Mail for all returned orders. If you have any further questions regarding your return please reach out to [email protected].
Mail returns to:
Bookshop.org: [your PO Number]
Ingram Customer Returns Center
7311 Innovation Boulevard
Fort Wayne, IN 46818
We sell audiobooks via an affiliate partnership with Libro.fm. You can see the links on the product page of titles that are carried by them. We are working on an indie-friendly ebook solution.
Bookshop.org supports indies in two ways:
— 10% of direct and affiliate sales on Bookshop.org are added to an earnings pool that is evenly divided and distributed to independent bookstores every six months.
— Stores that are affiliates also can share their Bookshop.org links on social media, email newsletters, or on their websites to earn 30% of the cover price (the full profit margin) on any sales they generate, without having to do the work of keeping inventory, picking, packing, shipping or handling complaints and returns.
All books are sent from our wholesaler Ingram, not the bookstore's actual inventory.
—Every receipt informs customers about the bookstores near them.
—If a Bookshop.org customer opts in, their local bookstore will be given their email address
—Affiliate stores can create recommendation lists (staff picks, etc) on Bookshop.org, boosting their visibility and earning a commission on every sale generated from the list.
Anyone can create an account at https://bookshop.org/affiliates/profile/introduction
Yes. Whenever a link is used on your website that results in a commission, you must disclose this information to site visitors, according to FTC rules. We suggest adding something like: "Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org where your purchases support local bookstores. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase." to your website or post.
Affiliates do not have to handle inventory, fulfillment, shipping, or customer service. All book sales are fulfilled by Ingram. Ingram's extensive inventory and regional warehouse system ensures Bookshop.org that books can reach customers in as soon as 2-3 days.
All affiliates can withdraw their revenue whenever they like via Stripe using an easy web interface, provided they have a balance of $20 or more.Bookstores participating in the revenue share receive payments every six months.
Books shipped by Bookshop.org arrive in simple packaging. We aim to create as little waste as possible, and we are a climate neutral company.
—The publisher is generally paid about 50% of a book's sale price, and the publisher pays the author.
—About 20% goes to our customer discount, payment processing, and fulfillment costs.
—If you're a bookstore customer, the remaining 30% goes to the bookstore you chose.
—If you're an affiliate's customer, 10% goes to the affiliate, 10% goes to the bookstore profit pool, and 10% goes to Bookshop.org.
—If you're a direct customer, 10% goes to the bookstore profit pool, and 20% goes to Bookshop.org.
—In 2021, 81% of our gross profit margin went directly to independent bookstores.
Bookshop.org is not backed by venture capital or corporate money. We have a small group of investors who are passionate about books.
Our owners include:
Andy Hunter (Founder), The American Booksellers Association, Morgan Entrekin, William Hearst, Robert Terry McDonell, Kevin Morris, Michael Zilkha, and Bookshop.org's employees.
Bookshop.org's Board of Directors include Hannah Oliver Depp, Kelly Estep, Morgan Entrekin, Andy Hunter, Mitchell Kaplan, Robert Terry McDonell, and Michael Zilkha.
Bookstores with physical locations who are ABA members (with one of the following ABA memberships: Provisional, Pop-up, Mobile, or Storefront) qualify as a bookseller on our platform and can be added to our bookstore finder map, receive a 30% commission on sales, and receive customer order information. Please email Justin Walls at [email protected] if you qualify.
—Bookshop.org's conversion rate for bookstore shop pages averages 12%. That's twice the industry average, and means that our stores earn more sales and revenue, without any overhead.
—Our stores' curated book lists can go viral; a few have driven six-figure sales for several of our stores. They also can rank high on Google search results.
—Over 1000 customers choose a bookstore to support on our store finder map every day.
—We're always upgrading: since we launched, we've added many improvements for our stores, and we have lots more planned in 2022.
Affiliates can get reporting and see their sales activity at any time on their dashboard on our website, or download the transactions.
We are still experimenting with discounting. If we find discounts are necessary to be a viable alternative for our customers, we may continue to discount books. But to minimize the price difference between in-store purchases and online purchases, we will limit discounts to 10% and under. All discounts come out of Bookshop.org's share of the profits, not the bookstores.
Currently, we are limited to the books in Ingram's catalog. We hope to expand our inventory partnerships in the future; until then, see if you can get the title distributed by Ingram.
For normal affiliates, the answer is no, due to respect for our customer's privacy. For bookstores who use Bookshop.org to sell books, yes, unless the customer opts-out. We consider these customers your customers, and every sale generated through your store's affiliate links is made available to you.
Bookshop.org is designed to generate affiliate revenue. Our network of publishers, authors, bookstagrammers, celebrity book clubs, and other media sites reaches socially-conscious online consumers who are not yet buying their books online through an independent bookstore.Bookshop.org's interface and purchase process is designed to be as convenient, streamlined, and user-friendly as possible, for an alternative that is just as easy as our competitors.78% of our customers previously were Amazon customers, according to our customer survey.
Any bookstore that wants to use Bookshop.org to sell books online can do so free of charge.Bookshop.org allows you to sell books online and earn 30% of the cover price without worrying about inventory, fulfillment, shipping, returns, or customer service. Bookshop.org's pages can feature a short bio, social media links, and a series of book lists curated by your store.If you'd like to have a website that features: event listings and ticketings, signed pre-order campaigns, custom merch, in-store pickup, etc., we recommend setting up a website through the ABA (IndieLite or IndieCommerce).
If you've earned money on Bookshop.org, whenever you want to withdraw funds you can enter your bank details (via Stripe, accessible from your Affiliate Dashboard) and Bookshop.org will allow you to transfer your funds at will. Stores participating in the 10% revenue share pool can receive these funds via check, ACH transfer, or Stripe. Please email Justin Walls ([email protected]) if you'd like to change your payment preference before the next profit-share pool payout.
Any books in Ingram's inventory are automatically listed on Bookshop.org.
Bookshop.org does not allow for in-store pickup yet, but we hope to in the not too distant future.
Ask us a question: [email protected].