Guidance on starting a small business: huge profits in the used book market are hard to come by again

As the saying goes: Clothes are not as good as new, and books are not as good as old. I once read an article about a Japanese second-hand bookstore called BOOK OFF that shook up the Japanese book industry and expanded into a chain giant in ten years. In fact, there are countless second-hand bookstores in Beijing. So can the current second-hand book market still maintain huge profits? The reporter recently visited a used bookstore called Taoshu Commune to find out.

Wealth Creation Cases

First Impression

The reporter recently discovered a store called "Taoshu Commune" on the basement floor of Haohai Building in Haidian Book City. Used bookstore. At the corner of the stairs entering the bookstore, you will find a very interesting piece of advice from the bookstore to "members": "Most of the inventory here is tattered, and finding treasures is purely accidental; if you find good goods, please don't publicize it to avoid others being jealous; Books are addictive and extremely difficult to quit. It is recommended to only visit them once a week; although they are cheap, consumption needs to be controlled. "These humane tips left a deep impression on the reporter.

Mr. Xu, the bookstore manager, said that the bookstore opened in June XX. The store is very large, about 1,300 square meters, and the rent is not very expensive, 2-3 yuan/day/square meter.

Entrepreneurial motivation

Mr. Wang, another manager of the bookstore, told reporters that he had worked in the library for many years and started selling books in 1995. He has been in this industry for more than ten years. Over the past year, Manager Wang himself likes to buy books and has this hobby. Secondly, based on his many years of experience, he feels that my country’s book publishing industry is a monopoly industry. Every year, due to improper book sales or blocked channels, a large number of books will be backlogged. The inventory is huge. Because there are problems within the industry itself, business opportunities arise when seeking to solve these problems. For the above reasons, he came up with the idea of ??opening a used bookstore.

Sales status

When you walk into Taoshu Commune, you can clearly see three book sales areas. The first is the special price area, with eye-catching target prices of one yuan, three yuan, five yuan, and ten yuan. The signboards will attract customers to this area, where they can buy children's books, art albums, life health and other categories.

There are five levels of discounts from 10% to 50% off. Books in this area are mainly divided into architectural design, medicine, humanities and social sciences.

The biggest feature of their bookstore is that you can make reservations by the pound in the bookstore, which aroused great interest among readers. There is a plaque at the entrance that reads "8 yuan/jin (full 7 yuan/catty for 5 catties, 6 yuan/catty for 10 catties)” slogan. The reporter saw at the scene that day that there were electronic scales and bamboo baskets at the entrance of the 8 yuan/jin area. Customers could pick out the books they need in the bookstore with the bamboo baskets just like shopping in a supermarket. Salesperson Xiao Zhang reminded customers in this area to pay attention to choosing books with less density and weight, which can save some money.

Among the current consumer groups, the main customer flow is middle-aged and elderly people, and young people around 20 years old and college students are also a group that cannot be ignored; at the same time, the used book business also has low and peak seasons, Manager Xu He told reporters: "After the opening, the sales in July, August and September were very good. In recent months, it has not been so good. The customer flow is the largest on Saturdays and Sundays." Talking about the current income of the store, Manager Wang said that they The store has not been open for a long time, and there is no obvious profit. Due to the unstable supply of goods, the monthly turnover is uneven. Although the income can completely cover the cost of investment, it is already difficult to make huge profits.

Used book recycling procedures

What is the used book recycling procedure? Manager Wang introduced to reporters: "Old books are divided into three categories: one is the backlog of books in the publishing house; the second category is second-hand books; and the third is old books. For example, the books in our store mainly come from the backlog of books in the publishing house. , accounting for about 80%; followed by second-hand books, accounting for about 20%. There are also some books purchased from other bookstores, schools and other scientific research institutions in society. Overall, there are actually two books from beginning to end. In the shopping process, we come to shop for the first time, and after the shopping returns to our store, the readers come to shop for the second time.

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■Investment summary

Book selection: According to Manager Wang, to do the used book business, you must first understand the market conditions of this industry, understand all aspects of used book circulation, be sharp and sharp, and pay attention to extensive collection. clues; secondly, both store owners and customers should benefit. First of all, customers should benefit, not only to make customers feel that the price of books is cheap, but more importantly, to allow customers to find the books they need; thirdly, it is necessary to cultivate a loyal customer base and expand Supply, enrich the types of books. In addition, you need to be able to endure hardship, because running a used book business is a laborious job, and you need to run around looking for supplies every day.

Fund preparation: between 60,000 and 100,000 yuan< /p>

Suitable for investors: people who have a special hobby and affection for books; those who have experience working in the book and publishing industry.