A Reader asks "Where do I find bulk books in the UK"?

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Hi

I would first like to say thank you for an interesting and informative
site, with a good dash of humour. It’s one of the more interesting websites
I’ve found!

I’m interested in starting up my own second hand bookshop, preferably
selling sci-fi & fantasy (& all the surrounding genres). I have all kinds of
ideas and plans as to how to make it successful, as I think there is a
definate market for more secondhand sci-fi shops especially as (well over in
the UK anyway) the ‘geek’ concept is becoming more acceptible especially
with the popularity of Harry Potter and more recently the Twilight series.
My problem is that I have no idea on where to begin to get the books to
start with. I want to start by just selling books online & expand from
there, but I’m back to where to get the books. I’ve got information on what
my shop should look like, but haven’t found much on bulk buying or
wholesaling – especially not for second hand books. I have no experience in
running a business and no bookshops (selling new or second hand books)
seeing too willing to take me to let me learn, I think because I now have 2
university degrees and I probably seem over qualified to them, despite that
this is what I’d really like to do.

I would really appreciate any advice and suggestions you could give me
about the things that no-one seems to mention about establishing a
bookshop.

Many thanks,
Rachel Bickley

10 thoughts on “A Reader asks "Where do I find bulk books in the UK"?”

  1. Hi Rachel – Welcome and thanks for the question. I sell online and do not have a brick and mortar (B&M) store. I’m not planning on getting one. I’d suggest you start out small and be VERY selective so you are not overwhelmed and can establish a good system of acquiring books, listing/selling, storing, and shipping. This site has suggestions on all of those subjects and more.

    The tag cloud to the right has some words that can lead you to the right articles such as – – and – –

    I’d suggest you start with boot/yard sales, charity/thrift shops, library sales, estate sales and friends can be a source too. At the shops ask if they ever have ‘bag sales’ and when the next one is. One thing I’ve found is SF and Fantasy books are often sometimes hard to come by at thrift shops. They sell quickly when they are placed on their shelves.

    Also in my experience if you tell the people at the shops you plan on reselling the books they are less likely to give you a discount at the register.

    List the books as soon as you can after acquiring them otherwise you will end up with piles/stacks and boxes of books taking up space and looking more and more like a monstrous task as time passes. (Note to self – list more books) Finding a system of storage and retrieval is very important too. The last thing you want to do is to sell a book and then not be able to find it because it was placed in the wrong location.

    Good luck to you! – Paul –

  2. I have a friend on that side of the pond who tells me tales of car boot sales that have my tongue hanging out. She buys books as well as collectibles this way. Is it an option for you? It takes an investment in time, of course. Myself, having more time than money, it sounds like a good thing.

    I don’t know if it would help, but our local junior college remodeled their library and sold the books at a country style auction. We ended up with an entire flatbed full of books which will be the core of our bookstore stock when we open it. Not one SF book or Fantasy novel in the lot, tho. It must be harder when you seek specific types of books.

    Anyway, I, too, would be interested in seeing what others answer to the last question you have about the unexpected things one must learn when starting a bookshop. For example, we wonder at what temperature to keep the shop. We want to save energy but don’t want to drive the customers away, either. Is that the sort of thing you want to know, too?

    Caro

  3. Hi, I am also finding it difficult to find bulk books in the UK! I live in Pembrokeshire, and the nearest town is 20 mins away and they only have 3 shops that actually sell books!
    I found just by browsing about town that you can easily pick up bargains like Paul said, at car boot sales, library sales, charity shops. I also find if you go to other second hand shops they often are completely overstocked with books (they have 40 of the same title or something crazy like that!) and will be glad to let you take them off their hands for a small fee, again try not to give away that your going to resell them, they might get a bit ratty.

    Also, I’m trying out a new method called ‘Book Amnesty’ where you leaflet your local area, stating you’re recycling books and will be more than happy to take them off their hands, this would work best if you had a market stall in your local village hall (they have them on saturday mornings here) so it’s easy for them to get to you, without you having to spends too much on petrol running around after them. Also, it’s something I believe in greatly because I hate to see any book to get thrown away. You should stress the fact that they should be in acceptable condition, and if there are some truly sad looking ones there, you can take them to a book recycling scheme which is probably at a Tesco’s or at a recycling center near you. I think they wedge them between the bottle banks XD

    Anyhoo, I hope I’ve been some help!

    By the way @bookshopblog, ace website! It’s nice to see people are as interested in books as I am, and still maintain their humour!

    Emily, Pembrokeshire, Wales

  4. Hi,

    Thanks for all your suggestions & to Bruce Hollingdrake for posting my question. There seems to be loads to learn, so I’m grateful for all of the advice.

    Caro, I can’t give exact temperatures, but I do know that when I walk into a shop I don’t like it to be too warm. I like to be able to unzip my jacket, but places where I want to remove it always gets on my nerves (something else to carry).

    Thanks again,
    Rachel

    • I’ve found it quite handy to have a jacket while out and about. Once at a swap meet I took mine off, zipped it up and filled it with books. Put a big one to cover the neck hole then piled more in on top of it.

      Then the sleeves tied together and made a makeshift backpack. Fortunately the jacket I had on had a tie string on the bottom edge so I pulled it tight and closed off that opening too.

  5. Anyway, I, too, would be interested in seeing what others answer to the last question you have about the unexpected things one must learn when starting a bookshop. For example, we wonder at what temperature to keep the shop. We want to save energy but don’t want to drive the customers away, either. Is that the sort of thing you want to know, too?

    • I live above my shop in Melbourne Australia (AllSorts, Northcote Vic.) – and (although it is installed) I use neither the heating nor the air conditioning. So far as I know, nobody has ever died of exposure or heatstroke in this town, so I figure that if a person can walk comfortably in the street, they can just as well walk in my shop.
      Plus, my power bill is high enough already.

  6. Hi,

    Thanks for all your suggestions & to Bruce Hollingdrake for posting my question. There seems to be loads to learn, so I’m grateful for all of the advice.

    Caro, I can’t give exact temperatures, but I do know that when I walk into a shop I don’t like it to be too warm. I like to be able to unzip my jacket, but places where I want to remove it always gets on my nerves (something else to carry).

    Thanks again,

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