AbeBooks

In 1995, AbeBooks was founded by Rick and Vivian Pura, and Keith and Cathy Waters. It was incorporated in 1995 and launched its websites in 1996, initially including listings for only four bookstores. The company name "Abebooks" is derived from their original name, "Advanced Book Exchange".Goldstone, Lawrence & Nancy Slightly Chipped* *Footnotes in Booklore (1999) From the late 1990s to 2005, AbeBooks had reseller agreements with eBay, Half.com, Barnes & Noble.com, BibliOZ.com and Amazon.com, allowing AbeBooks to market and sell booksellers' books through those channels; these agreements were dissolved in 2005. AbeBooks currently{{when|date=February 2020}} has a reseller agreement only with Amazon.com.

In 2001, AbeBooks acquired Germany's JustBooks GmbH online book marketplace, which helped the company expand into the German, French and British online bookselling markets. In 2002, the founding partners were bought out by German media company Hubert Burda Media. In 2004, the company expanded its model to include new books, and acquired the Spanish company IberLibro, to better serve Spanish language markets. In 2005, it acquired BookFinder.com, an American book price comparison service.{{cite news

|first=David

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|title=Book Sites Unite

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|date=2005-11-07

|access-date=2007-10-30

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|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807123328/http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3562321

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}} In 2006, the company acquired Fillz, a book-inventory and order-management company,{{cite news

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|title=Abebooks Acquires FillZ Service for Selling Books Online

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|date=2006-03-02

|access-date=2008-03-21

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}} and purchased a 40% stake in LibraryThing in May, a social networking and book cataloging website for bibliophiles.{{cite news

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|last=Steiner

|title=Abebooks.com Buys Social Networking Site LibraryThing.com

|url=http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m05/i17/s02

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|date=2006-05-17

|access-date=2008-03-21

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In June 2008 AbeBooks was awarded the British Columbia Technology Industry Association Impact Award{{Cite web |url=http://www.bctia.org/awards/past_winners/tia-past_winners_08.aspx |title=2008 TIA Award Winners. BCTIA. Retrieved on 07-11-08. |access-date=2008-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209072134/http://www.bctia.org/awards/past_winners/tia-past_winners_08.aspx |archive-date=2008-12-09 |url-status=dead }} for Leadership in Social Responsibility for its charitable activities, literacy initiatives, and commitment to environmental friendliness in its business practices.

In December 2008, the company was sold to Amazon.{{cite web|title=Fact Sheet|url=https://www.abebooks.com/docs/CompanyInformation/factSheet.shtml|website=AbeBooks|access-date=22 August 2017|archive-date=10 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510093556/http://www.abebooks.com/docs/CompanyInformation/factSheet.shtml|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last=Arrington |first=Michael |date=2008-08-01 |title=Amazon To Acquire AbeBooks, And With It A Stake In LibraryThing |url=https://techcrunch.com/2008/08/01/amazon-to-acquire-abebooks/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}

In 2018, the company announced it would no longer fully support sellers from a number of countries, including South Korea, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Several hundred other sellers pulled their inventories from the AbeBooks site in protest.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/04/technology/abebooks-amazon-protest-booksellers.html |title="Booksellers Protest Amazon Site's Move to Drop Stores From Certain Countries", The New York Times, 5 Nov 2018 |website=The New York Times |date=4 November 2018 |access-date=5 November 2018 |archive-date=5 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105214552/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/04/technology/abebooks-amazon-protest-booksellers.html |url-status=live |last1=Streitfeld |first1=David }}

AbeBooks is headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, with its European office in Düsseldorf, Germany. The company manages regional websites for North America, France, Germany, Italy, the UK and Spain. Most of its inventory consists of used books, including rare, signed, first editions or out of print books. It has been named one of British Columbia's Top Employers every year since 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.eluta.ca/top-employer-abebooks|title=Reasons for Selection, 2009 BC's Top Employers competition|access-date=2009-01-18|archive-date=2009-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122205139/http://www.eluta.ca/top-employer-abebooks|url-status=live}}

In February 2015 ABE recorded its most expensive sales up to that time: a rare illustrated ornithology book was sold on behalf of one of its dealers for $191,000. Other highend sales included Areopagitica: A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing To the Parliament of England by John Milton for $65,000 and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, also for $65,000.{{cite web|url=http://www.abebooks.com/rare-books/most-expensive-sales/ever.shtml|title=AbeBooks' Most Expensive Sales of All Time|website=abebooks.com|access-date=12 September 2018|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726113921/https://www.abebooks.com/rare-books/most-expensive-sales/ever.shtml|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|last=Kellogg|first=Carolyn|date=4 February 2015|title=Rare book sells online for a whopping $191,000|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-online-book-sale-191000-dollars-20150204-story.html|access-date=31 January 2021|archive-date=18 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018181304/https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-online-book-sale-191000-dollars-20150204-story.html|url-status=live}} The website periodically reports their recent high value sales.{{cite web|url=http://www.abebooks.com/rare-books/most-expensive-sales/jan-feb-mar-2016.shtml|title=AbeBooks' Most Expensive Sales in January, February & March 2016|website=www.abebooks.com|access-date=12 September 2018|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726115859/https://www.abebooks.com/rare-books/most-expensive-sales/jan-feb-mar-2016.shtml|url-status=dead}}

AbeBooks' users can search across the listings of many independent bookstores, thereby allowing small, independent players to compete with bookselling superstores. Some of the member bookstores offer their books online only, while others also maintain a regular storefront.

Booksellers upload their inventory data to the AbeBooks database, specifying information about each book including condition and price. Prices are fixed (with US$1 being the minimum) and there are no auctions. Items available range from the extremely common, where there might be hundreds of copies listed, to first editions and signed books worth thousands of dollars. In addition to books, the marketplace also offers periodicals and journals, fine art such as prints and posters, vintage photographs, maps, sheet music and paper ephemera such as postcards, letters and other documents.

Sellers pay a monthly subscription to list their books on the site, ranging from $25 to $500, depending on how many books they list. This subscription fee has been in place since at least April 2008. In addition, sellers pay a percentage fee for each book sold via the websites.{{cite web|url=http://help.abebooks.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-sell-on-abebooks/|title=How Much Does it Cost to Sell on AbeBooks and How Does AbeBooks Pay Me?|date=4 March 2013|access-date=12 September 2018|archive-date=3 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903042136/http://help.abebooks.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-sell-on-abebooks/|url-status=live}}

AbeBooks initially offered its services for a flat listings fee, based on the number of titles listed for sale. The model was changed in the early 2000s to include a commission on sales. In April 2006 AbeBooks started mandatory processing of MasterCard and Visa credit card transactions on behalf of its sellers and added a 5.5% charge for the provision of this service: previously this service had been optional. In 2008, AbeBooks started charging a commission of 13.5% on the cost of postage as well as the book price. Currently (2013) the commission charge is set at 8% of postage and book price.

Sellers can, within limits, set their own standard postage rates to various countries or by different carriers. Booksellers can upload their inventory using their own spreadsheet software or via the site's interface. Items that sell are mailed directly from the individual bookseller's location. Some booksellers have new books directly mailed from wholesalers or publishers. Most booksellers who list on AbeBooks also list their books on similar marketplaces such as Amazon.com.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

AbeBooks's localized storefronts, which differ in language and currency, are differentiated by top-level domain and country code:

Similar websites include BookFinder.com and LibraryThing.

• List of online booksellers

{{reflist}}

• {{cite web | title=AbeBooks Fact Sheet | website=AbeBooks.com | url=http://www.abebooks.com/docs/CompanyInformation/factSheet.shtml | access-date=2006-04-03 | archive-date=2006-03-31 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060331183643/http://www.abebooks.com/docs/CompanyInformation/factSheet.shtml | url-status=dead }}
• [https://archive.org/details/LehighCarbonCommunityCollegesReadFirstAskLater Radio interview with Richard Davies of AbeBooks.com on Read First, Ask Later (Ep. 14)]

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Category:Product searching websites

Category:Canadian brands

Category:Amazon (company) acquisitions

Category:Book selling websites

Category:Comparison shopping websites

Category:Online marketplaces of Canada

Category:2008 mergers and acquisitions

Category:Online bookstores

Category:Retail companies established in 1996

Category:Internet properties established in 1996

Category:1996 establishments in British Columbia