Second-hand bookstores struggle as e-commerce dominates

Arzu Kurum – ISTANBUL

Istanbul’s Sahaflar Bazaar, once a beloved haven for book lovers, now faces a sharp decline as the rise of e-commerce reshapes Türkiye’s book market.

With the industry estimated to be worth 4 billion Turkish Liras ($117,268,000), small bookshops are bearing the brunt of this shift.

In the second-hand book market, sales have plummeted by 80 percent, and shopkeepers are pointing fingers at publishing houses for selling books at discounted rates online.

A visit to Sahaflar in Beyazıt and Akmar Passage in Kadıköy — two of Türkiye’s most iconic second-hand book hubs — paints a dire picture.

Shopkeepers there say sales have dropped dramatically, and many are calling for drastic measures.

“We need to ban online book sales,” one shopkeeper pleaded.

Other echoed demands for municipalities to allocate affordable rental spaces to help small businesses survive.

The downturn is closely tied to the broader economic struggles facing the Turkish book industry.

Research shows that book prices have surged by 60 to 80 percent in 2023 alone.

According to the Turkish Publishers Association (TYB), inflation and rising production costs, particularly in paper, are key contributors to this spike.

The frustration among booksellers is palpable. Many feel crushed by the unfair competition from publishers who sell books online at much lower prices.

“Prices have gone up 400 percent compared to last year,” said one veteran bookseller. “Sales are down 80 percent. We can’t compete.”

Volkan Ağca, owner of Mucize Bookstore, said, “No one wants to lend their books anymore, let alone sell them.”

A Sahaflar vendor remarked that, “The big fish swallowed the small fish.” Another added, “I used to buy 20 copies of a book; now, I can only afford one. That’s how bad sales have gotten.”

Booksellers also feel that their reputation is on the line. “Customers perceive me as a scammer because they find the same book cheaper online,” lamented Hasan Işık, owner of Işık Kitapevi.

The Book Market Report by TYB reveals that online platforms now account for 38.5 percent of book sales, up from 21.7 percent just a few years ago.

The woes of Türkiye’s second-hand book market extend beyond e-commerce. The solution, many shopkeepers say, lies in government intervention.

The closure of domestic paper mills has severely impacted costs. Moreover, Lütfü Seymen, a bookseller in Kadıköy since 1985, noted that paper, once sourced from China, now comes from Russia and Indonesia, further driving up prices.

“Prices will only rise more unless the government opens a paper mill,” Seymen warned.