Alibris and Shein – An Unusual Combination in Old Book Selling

There recently has been perhaps an odd combination in the used and old book marketplace. It is somewhat like Amazon's taking over AbeBooks, but there are significant differences in how it works. The two partners in this cooperative agreement are Alibis and Shein. They may not be on quite the same level in the book trade as Amazon and Abe, but they are still significant in the used books market, though less so in the rare books and more serious range of book collecting.

AbeBooks, Amazon, and Alibris (originally known as Interloc) all started in the 1990s as book selling websites. Amazon, as we all know, expanded to other categories and became the world's largest online retailer, along with other things, such as a website host. AbeBooks stayed focused on selling used and old books. Alibris also expanded into other areas and is also a diverse and large company today, though nowhere near the size of the market dominating Amazon. In 2008, perhaps in deference to its roots, Amazon purchased AbeBooks. Shein was founded in China a decade after the other three and has become a very large online retailer, though again, not on the level of Amazon. Shein is primarily a fashion online retailer, but they have expanded into other areas too. However, old books are outside of their normal specialty.

Shein has been struggling a bit recently. As a Chinese company selling imported goods in America, tariffs are taking a toll. That's particularly hard for a company whose business is based primarily on low prices. They decided to expand into lifestyle types of goods rather than just commodity type items at low prices. In a survey they conducted, Shein determined that one out of three U.S. adults reads books daily or weekly. Obviously, a significant part of their customer base is book readers, so this must have felt like a logical place to expand. By cooperating with a used book retailer (not owned by their major competitor), they are able to get in the bookselling business with low priced books but without having to build a large inventory. There is a logic for both of these companies, as each needs more sales, but whether this partnership will be able to capture a significant part of the business that now goes to Amazon/Abe remains to be seen. Amazon is a behemoth with a long history in book selling and a history of crushing competition. Whether selling old books is sufficiently meaningful to them today to try to respond to the Alibris/Shein partnership remains to be seen. It may be an irrelevancy now.

One thing we've noticed about the used/old books being sold on Shein is they are keeping to their low price model. There are books for tens of thousands and more being sold on Alibris. These are not being carried by Shein. Shein is showing around 100,000 books from Alibris on their website, but these are mostly low or medium low priced books. Shein is not looking to get into the upper end of book selling. If you are a collector at more than a beginner's level, Shein is not going to be a place to look. Stick with your current sources. But, if you want a book to read, Shein is a reasonable alternative.