18 Trending Online Book Store Businesses [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: January 18th, 2023

Start An Online Book Store

Bookselling is the commercial trading of out-of-print books or collectibles. If you are an avid reader or just love selling online, opening an online book store in the age of Amazon and massive retail stores can be a rewarding and fun business. You can sell books on sites like eBay, Abebooks and other high-traffic bookstores.

You can write and self-publish your own books, and sell to fans directly, or resell books by different publishers. Alternatively, you can venture into the vintage, rare or out-of-print books.

To start a bookselling business follow these basic steps:

Find a niche and create an inventory
Develop a book brand
Source the books you plan to sell
Launch and market your online store

To compete effectively, differentiate your bookselling brand and be hyper-focused. Focus on delivering a curated experience so you build a community of book lovers.

Looking for some examples of a online book store?

Interested in case studies of a successful online book store? Check out our full list of success stories.

1. Sell Textbooks For Cash

Sell textbooks for easy money. Enter the textbook’s ISBN, click Lookup Books, accept the offer and ship your books for free. Receive fast cash for your college books. Sell your used books using Mybookcart’s textbook buyback service. Get more money than selling back your books to your college bookstore!

2. bookselleracademy

Everything you need to know about selling books on Amazon. This is your free guide.

Learn more about starting an online book store:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start an online book store?
-> Pros and cons of an online book store

Need inspiration?

-> Other online book store success stories

Other resources

4. Zapper

Visit Zapper.co.uk to sell your books, CDs, DVDs and games online. Based in the UK we offer a quick turnaround and free postage.

Website traffic: 90K/month

5. CKY Books – Sell Used Books

Sell Used Books

6. John K. King Used & Rare Books

Welcome to the website of John K. King Used & Rare Books

Where they're located: Detroit, Michigan, United States

7. Donate Your Books

Book Driver offers free book donation pickups in Chicago, Denver, Orlando / Tampa Bay. Our network of libraries and charities want your books! Request today!

Where they're located: Denver, Colorado, United States

8. Sell textbooks online in Canada

9. Sell the Feeling

10. The Book House

the book house home

Where they're located: City of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States

11. Manhattan Rare Book Company

Manhattan Rare Book Company specializes in rare books and first editions in literature, art, history, and science

Where they're located: New York, New York, United States

12. Company Broker

Where they're located: Denver, Colorado, United States

13. NYC Book Publisher

Manhattan Book Group (MBG) is a hybrid book publisher based in Manhattan, New York. MBG provides a mix of self-publishing & traditional book publishing services, with a twist: We GUARANTEE Amazon bestseller status and major media placements through the use of bestseller ad campaigns and advanced book publicity strategies.

Where they're located: New York, New York, United States

14. Mouse Book Club

Literature made fun and bite sized. They go with you anywhere. Become a part of a worldwide community of Mouse Book readers.

How much they make: $120K/year
Where they're located: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Current team size: 0

How We Launched A Book Subscription Service And Sold 40K Books

The Mouse Book Club is a start-up that mails physical, pocket-sized books to help readers disconnect from their digital devices, with over $170k in sales and 40,000 books sent to 60+ countries in the first two years.

About

David started Mouse Book Club almost 7 years ago

Revenue

David grew the business to $10K/month

Read this case study

Read by 8,280 founders

15. Conundrum Publishing

USA Today Bestselling Author of action-adventure thrillers and mysteries, including the Harvey Bennett Thrillers series is Nick Thacker They offer books on different genres like action, adventure, science, conspiracy.

How much they make: $240K/year
Where they're located: Colorado, USA
Current team size: 2

How I Generate $10K/Month As An Indie Writer

This case study follows full-time thriller and action-adventure author Nick Thacker who earns between $10k to $20k per month from writing, predominantly through Amazon Kindle Unlimited sales, and goes in-depth into his self-publishing strategy which maximizes sales and minimizes costs, such as developing a mailing list and utilizing print-on-demand services.

About

Nick started Conundrum Publishing over 7 years ago

Revenue

Nick grew the business to $20K/month

Read this case study

Read by 9,747 founders

16. DragonTree Publishing

How much they make: $2.4K/year
Where they're located: El Paso, Spain
Current team size: 0

How To Write A Travel Guidebook And Sell Thousands Of Copies

Learn how a writer and tour guide turned her niche knowledge of the Spanish island of La Palma into a successful book business, earning ⅓ of her modest income through sales of her self-published guide book to the island's astronomical observatory and other publications, often selling directly to observatory visitors and other outlets, and how the books promote her income-earning work.

About

Sheila started DragonTree Publishing about 12 years ago

Revenue

Sheila grew the business to $200/month

Read this case study

Read by 5,997 founders

17. Finn and Remy, LLC

Early start educational children’s picture book introducing science through storytelling. Join two adventurous hedgehogs in discovering general relativity, the first physics story in the Imagine Science series. For smart kids ages 4-10. The future of STEM is built today.

How much they make: $24K/year
Where they're located: Dallas, Texas, USA
How much did it cost to start: $1.2K
Current team size: 0

Pausing The American Dream To Travel The World Writing Children's Books

This case study follows Jane, an artist and author, who left the American Dream to travel the world while writing and illustrating her books, with her latest book, "Finn + Remy Present: Einstein’s Trampoline," aimed at introducing fundamental concepts of physics to children aged 4-10, available on Amazon for just $4.99.

About

Jane started Finn and Remy, LLC over 6 years ago

Revenue

Jane grew the business to $2K/month

Costs

It cost Jane $1200 to start the business

Read this case study

Read by 6,365 founders