Number of Secondhand Booksellers in Britain Rising
thebookguide's interactive map of secondhandbookshops in the UK
Latest figures from the online resource thebookguide which aims to list all the secondhand bookshops in the UK and the Republic of Ireland suggests secondhand bookselling has witnessed an impressive increase over the last 12 months.
According to its latest figures, at the end of 2024 there were 1,616 secondhand booksellers listed, compared to 1,380 in 2023, and 1,317 in 2022.
"This is a significant increase," said Jon Morgan who is one of thebookguide's co-ordinators, "and while it may be argued that some are charity type shops, they still meet the criteria long since laid down by Mike Goodenough who launched the site in 2001 of physical outlets "wholly or mainly" having significant stocks of books. They are all grist to the mill and many of us have found gems in such places.
"The fact that so many shops are unearthed is, once again, down to the reviewers and while some of the additions have yet to be visited and reviewed, their inclusion makes sense precisely so that they can be visited."
Graveyard figures i.e. those bookshops removed due to closure permanent or otherwise, indicate that 98 were removed last year compared to 42 the year before and 64 in 2022. Many of those removed are historic closures and may have been shut, but not recently visited by one of the volunteer reviewers who report on changes to hours, owners, locations.
Morgan commented that there has also been a continued rise in charity shops, perhaps filling the gap that used to be served by shops that have been priced out by rising overheads.
"We have several volunteers who have been responsible for identifying brand new outlets or shops previously uncovered and one in particular, “Booker T", who has worked tirelessly to help us towards the goal of listing all the secondhand bookshops wholly or substantially selling second hand books. Through him we've discovered more charity and other shops, which gives a slightly false picture for 2024.
"Over the last few years, we have had greater, closer and deeper engagement between the Guide and bookshops themselves. It is clear that they value the Guide as potentially and actually increasing footfall as well as raising profiles."
More details and analysis of the openings and closures during 2024 is also available at the Wormwoodiana blog by Mark Valentine who suggests that these figures indicate there are now more secondhand bookshops open in the British Isles than during most of the 20th century.
