Employees of Recyclivre, a company specializing in second-hand books, work in the company’s warehouse in Villabé, south of Paris, on March 29, 2023 (AFP/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
Paperback novels, mangas, cookbooks, university textbooks, Pléiade volumes… All kinds of second-hand books pass through the warehouse in the Paris suburbs of Recyclivre, a giant in the sector.
Reselling unwanted books used to be a traditional activity. It has become industrialized with Recyclivre, a company with which publishers must deal.
Its founder David Lorrain started very modestly in 2008, in the cellar of his apartment in Paris, much like Jeff Bezos had founded Amazon in 1994 in the garage of his house in Seattle (United States).
His conviction today: “Any book sells, as long as the price is right. I remember that, when I started, I had an anthology of the nanars of French cinema and I thought it would not sell. never. But yes, I found a buyer”.
Recyclivre founder David Lorrain in his company’s warehouse in Villabé, south of Paris, on March 29, 2023 (AFP/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
It was on Amazon.fr, with which Recyclivre has an ambiguous relationship. He needs it, because he still sells a lot through this platform, but he is a competitor to it, because he tries to attract customers to his own website. This provides 30% of its sales today, compared to only 10% in 2019.
– Long shelves –
Knowing that Amazon takes a 20% commission, “it’s better when the buyer supports a French company with a social vocation”, underlines David Lorrain, while showing his warehouse in Villabé, 20 km south of the capital.
Hundreds of thousands of volumes pass through here, placed haphazardly on long shelves. No special classification: where it was deposited, the computer knows that it is, and sends the storekeeper to the right place.
Aisles, crates and parcels of second-hand books in the Recyclivre warehouse in Villabé, south of Paris, on March 29, 2023 (AFP/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
That day at the end of March, some 4,000 books ordered had to be found. They are stacked in two types of boxes: those for customers who have ordered a single book, and those for those who have ordered several.
Other employees will put them in envelopes or parcels, ready to be sent.
At the other end of the warehouse, another sorting takes place, that of boxes of books sent by vendors. Their condition must be carefully checked: “like new”, “very good”, “good”, “average”, unsaleable. Defects are photographed, in anticipation of disputes.
Recyclivre reached 10 million euros in turnover in 2022 and plans to climb to 11.5 or 12 million euros this year. “Our volumes are increasing, but it is also growth driven by an inflationary trend”, specifies the founder.
– Competitor to publishers –
“We have been profitable since year 2, in 2010. It allowed us to set up a profit-sharing scheme, calculated not according to salary, but according to time in the company”, he also underlines.
An employee of Recyclivre, a giant in the second-hand book sector, stores books in the company’s warehouse in Villabé, south of Paris, on March 29, 2023 (AFP/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
The second-hand book is a competitor to the publishing houses, which see recent titles arriving at reduced prices. Example: the latest Virginie Despentes, “Cher connard”, released in August, is worth 22 euros new, and 20.30 euros used on Recyclivre. It is even cheaper with some competitors such as the German Momox or La Bourse aux livres.
The Xerfi firm estimated in 2020 this second-hand market at 888 million euros. That of new was 4.3 billion euros, according to the firm GfK.
Publishers prefer that we talk about the phenomenon as little as possible. Their professional organization, the SNE, fought so that Internet users know as clearly as possible whether they are buying new or used, in the name of the law on the single price of the book. Objective achieved in the law on the book economy of December 30, 2021.
They also wanted public libraries not to be able to resell books they no longer want. Finally, they can, provided that it is to a company of a solidarity nature. Recyclivre, which recruits via integration structures, is one of them.
© 2023 AFP
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