Bookshop.org, the online book marketplace that financially supports local, independent bookshops, has launched ‘Bookloop by Bookshop.org’, a scheme that allows customers to exchange their pre-owned books for store credit which can be used on the platform.

Customers can scan their books, be offered a price and arrange collection or delivery of the books on the Bookloop website. They will then receive store credit to use on new books within a few days.

Bookloop is powered by book buy-back service provider Zeercle, who also operate partnerships in France and Germany, as well as with UK high street retailer WHSmith.

Through this new partnership, Bookshop.org will not be selling used titles on its platform. Instead, Zeercle will sell on any traded titles through online marketplaces that explicitly exclude Amazon-owned and operated websites.

A percentage of royalties from second-hand book sales will make its way to authors, through an arrangement with the Society of Authors (SoA) and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) called ‘Bookloop by Bookshop.org for Authors’. The plan is for accumulated royalties to be distributed initially through a shared author fund, to be reviewed from March of 2025.

Anna Ganley, Chief Executive of the SoA, said:

We’re thrilled to support the launch of Bookloop by Bookshop.org in the UK, and it’s great to see the thoughtful way Zeercle and Bookshop.org have brought their win-win approach to the second-hand book market. At a time when authors, like independent bookshops, are under so much pressure through technology and changes in the way books are bought and sold, we’re excited to see how authors will benefit, and hope it will strengthen the connection between authors and bookshops.

To find out more, please visit the dedicated Bookloop by Bookshop.org page here.