Sell books online
Start, run, and grow your book business
Get the training, tools, and support you need to build the book business you’ve always wanted.
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How to sell books in just 5 steps
Everything you need to sell books
Free resources
Learn at your own pace with on-demand courses from Shopify Academy, and with other business owners on the Shopify Community forums. Find answers to your questions on the Shopify blog, or in our comprehensive guides.
Professional tools
Create an online book store that reflects your unique brand with over 70 customizable and responsive themes. Efficiently manage your inventory and process customer orders all from one unified dashboard.
Smart marketing
Grab your customers’ attention with targeted marketing campaigns on social media and Google. Make sure customers can find your book store by using Shopify’s built-in SEO tools and integrated blogging.
Award-winning support
Shopify support is available 24/7, no matter which plan you're on. You'll also have access to help docs, webinars, blog posts, and online courses to guide you along the way for your book business encounters.
Explore your options
Apps that help you sell books
Some popular apps other merchants use
Learn more about selling books
To sell books online, begin by identifying the types of books you want to sell. Your store could sell a variety of books, or you could sell books centred around a specific topic like used books, textbooks, and even antique books. You can then use a Shopify theme to easily start a store and upload pictures and descriptions of your books in minutes.
Your books deserve a wide audience. Launching an online store with Shopify gives your brand a home and customers a welcoming shopping destination. Connect your store to social media platforms and marketplaces to reach shoppers globally. Consider selling your books to local retail stores—building relationships with other sellers can unlock new sales opportunities.
Yes, many book store owners trust Shopify to power their online stores. With Shopify, merchants can benefit from over 6,000 Shopify apps to help modernize book shopping experiences. That includes offering your customers personalized book recommendations, running a store-linked email newsletter, and more.
The best way to price your books is to look at what your competition is charging for the same books or similar books. You can then decide on whether your pricing strategy will seek to undercut your competition, or sell at a higher price. You’ll also need to factor in shipping costs, particularly when dealing with heavier books.
Launched in 2013, The Lifted Brow is an example of a Shopify-powered company selling its own magazines. They use cart abandonment apps from the Shopify app store to increase sales and have even used the Shopify POS app to sell magazine issues at in-person events.
Launching a book business is affordable. Shopify makes it easy to start an online store and provides the tools you need to succeed. If you choose to invest in book production or manage fulfillment, startup costs may be higher. Either way, you decide the scale and budget of your book business.
Book businesses can be profitable, and an ecommerce platform can help increase your revenue. Ecommerce platforms offer sales and marketing tools that make it easier to reach a wide audience. Targeted digital marketing strategies like SEO and social media advertising can also enhance your online visibility, leading to more store traffic and increased sales opportunities. With the right products and sales tools, it’s possible to turn a book business into a substantial income source.
Powerful apps
Showcase your books with professionally edited photos or build customer loyalty with rewards programs. With over 6000 options in the Shopify App Store, you can customize your store experience and test for success.
Sell everywhere
Sell your books online, in-person, and wherever your customers are. Quickly accept payments, view sales, fulfill orders, and track inventory with the Shopify POS app—no matter where you sell.
Scalable pricing plans
For book businesses at every stage and size
Show Plan Prices as Pay yearly (save 25%)* Subscription Rate
Basic
For solo entrepreneurs
Card rates starting at
- 2% + 25p GBP online
- 1.7% + 0p GBP in person
- 2% 3rd-party payment providers
Shopify
For small teams
Card rates starting at
- 1.7% + 25p GBP online
- 1.6% + 0p GBP in person
- 1% 3rd-party payment providers
Advanced
As your business scales
Card rates starting at
- 1.5% + 25p GBP online
- 1.5% + 0p GBP in person
- 0.6% 3rd-party payment providers
Start your book business with Shopify today
Try Shopify free for 3 days, and explore all the tools and services you need to start, run, and grow your business.
Try Shopify free for 3 days, no credit card required. By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from Shopify.