If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. Bookshop.org revolutionized the online book market by connecting customers to brick-and-mortar bookshops who may not have the budget for a sleek e-commerce operation, and now they’ve set their sights on ebooks.
The new platform, launched today, lets users buy ebooks directly from Bookshop, with every purchase supporting local bookstores. “You should be able to buy an ebook from your local bookstore. It’s insane that you can’t!,” explains Andy Hunter, Bookshop’s CEO and founder.
Ebooks are available on iPhone or Android through Bookshop’s app, or book lovers can buy titles directly from the website. When sellers designate a bookshop they want to support, all of the proceeds from that sale go to that shop. Otherwise, Bookshop.
org pools proceeds to be split between different sellers and to fund its operations. Bookshop.org launched in early 2020, and the timing was a lifeline for struggling small businesses affected by the pandemic.
“More new bookstores have opened since 2020 than any other time in the past fifteen years. We’ve generated over $35 million in profits for local bookstores. Indie bookstores’ online sales overall are about 600% higher than in 2019, and Bookshop.
org is a big piece of that,” explains Hunter. The website launched with a team of only five people at a particularly dramatic time, and launching .
