Book resale became a significant part of France’s printed-book market by 2022. Used books represented 20% of printed-book units bought and 8% of printed-book spending that year. The figures below come from the Ministère de la Culture / SOFIA study covering 2014–2022, published on 10 April 2024.
Table of contents
- Market size and definition
- How buyers and marketplaces changed
- Literature and novels
- Youth books and comics
- Science, practical, and reference books
- What the price and spending figures show
Market size and definition
The Ministère de la Culture / SOFIA study defines a used book as one already bought or received for personal use and then resold, either directly or indirectly. That definition covers person-to-person resale as well as sales involving professional intermediaries. Used books were subject to a 5.5% VAT rate in France.
By 2022, used books accounted for 20% of printed-book units bought in France—one in every five printed books. Their share of printed-book spending was 8%, while their share of the French printed-book market by value was reported as 10%. The unit share increased from 16% in 2018 to 20% in 2022.
These measures describe different aspects of the same market. The unit figure tracks how many printed books were bought used. The spending figure tracks the share of consumer expenditure. The value-market figure measures used books within the printed-book market by value. Because used books generally have lower prices than new books, their unit share was higher than their spending share.
The study says used-book purchases shifted from being driven mainly by opportunity to being more premeditated. That change points to resale becoming a more deliberate part of book buying rather than only an occasional discovery.
How buyers and marketplaces changed
The study’s market panel contained 17 named sites: 11 marketplaces and 6 specialist book sites. Four of the marketplace sites sold used books alongside other cultural goods rather than selling books alone. Seven specialist sites sold only books. The panel therefore included both broad marketplaces and more focused book-resale businesses.
Consumer-to-consumer, or CtoC, selling was available on 7 of the 11 marketplaces—more than half of the marketplace panel. Two marketplaces were exclusively CtoC. They were also the newest and smallest structures in the panel. Every other marketplace player included professional sellers.
Label Emmaüs was the only marketplace in the panel whose access was limited to firms meeting ethics-committee criteria. This makes the panel useful for understanding the variety of resale models, although the site count itself is not a measure of total market share.
The following summary keeps the study’s 2022 market measures together:
| Measure | 2022 result |
|---|---|
| Used share of printed-book units bought in France | 20% |
| Used share of printed-book spending | 8% |
| Used share of the printed-book market by value | 10% |
| Marketplaces allowing CtoC sales | 7 of 11 |
| Named sites in the study panel | 17 |
Literature and novels
General literature showed a strong increase in used-book activity from 2018 to 2022. The number of buyers rose from 5.3 million to 5.8 million, an increase of 9%. Used volumes rose from 32.4 million copies to 42.5 million, up 31%. In comparison, new general-literature buyers fell from 15.6 million to 13.2 million, down 15%, while new volumes increased from 86.5 million to 88.1 million, up 2%.
In 2022, used general-literature purchases included 14.9 million contemporary novels, 14.3 million detective novels, 2.6 million science-fiction and fantasy books, and 1.2 million sentimental novels. The study reported that one out of every three general-literature novels was bought used. The used share was one in four for contemporary novels, one in two for detective novels, one in three for science-fiction and fantasy novels, and one in three for sentimental novels.
Spending on used general literature increased from €183 million in 2018 to €286 million in 2022, up 56%. New-book spending rose from €817 million to €1.0 billion, up 25%. The average used purchase price increased from €5.7 to €6.7, an 18% rise. The average new purchase price also rose 18%, from €9.5 to €11.2.
| General literature measure | 2018 | 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Used buyers | 5.3 million | 5.8 million | +9% |
| Used copies | 32.4 million | 42.5 million | +31% |
| Used spending | €183 million | €286 million | +56% |
| Average used price | €5.7 | €6.7 | +18% |
Youth books and comics
Youth books also recorded substantial growth in resale. Used-book buyers increased from 2.4 million in 2018 to 2.9 million in 2022, up 21%. Used volume rose from 7.5 million to 11.6 million copies, up 56%. New-book volume was nearly stable, moving from 74.2 million to 75.0 million copies, up 1%.
The 2022 used youth-book total included 1.8 million adolescent novels, 4.7 million children’s reading books, and 4.9 million illustrated children’s albums. One out of every six youth books was bought used. Within children’s literature, one out of every eight illustrated albums was bought used.
Used youth-book spending grew from €49 million in 2018 to €69 million in 2022, up 41%. New-book spending rose from €423 million to €493 million, up 17%. The figures show resale growth alongside a much larger new-book market in this category.
Comics and BD had a different scale and growth pattern. Used BD/comics buyers rose from 1.1 million to 1.6 million between 2018 and 2022, up 45%. Used volume increased from 4.1 million to 7.4 million copies, up 80%. New volume rose from 39.2 million to 75.5 million copies, up 92%.
Used BD/comics spending rose from €26 million to €43.3 million, up 69%, while new spending increased from €443 million to €793 million, up 79%. Used books represented 13% of BD/comics units bought in 2022, compared with 9% in 2018. Their value share increased from 4% to 6%.
Within BD franco-belge and comics, used buyers rose 41% over five years while new-book buyers rose 7%. Used exemplars increased 80%, compared with 31% for new exemplars. Used spending rose 101%, while new spending rose 38%.
Science, practical, and reference books
The science, humanities, technology, and religion segment was comparatively stable to declining in volume. Used volume was 2.5 million copies in 2022, down 3% from 2.6 million in 2018. New volume also fell 3%, from 18.3 million to 17.7 million copies. The 2022 used total included 1.4 million science, humanities, and technology titles and 1.1 million religion and esotericism titles. The used value share for science, humanities, technology, and religion fell from 7% to 6% over the period.
Religion and esotericism was more resilient on the buyer measure: used-book buyers increased 7% over five years, while new-book buyers were flat to slightly down. Used-book prices in that category fell 19%, while new-book prices rose 8%.
Leisure and life-practical books moved more strongly toward resale. Used buyers rose from 1.5 million in 2018 to 1.7 million in 2022, up 15%. Used volume nearly doubled, from 3.1 million to 6.1 million copies, up 96%. New volume fell from 10.4 million to 8.5 million copies, down 18%.
The 2022 used total included 2.4 million health and family titles and 3.0 million practical titles. One out of every six books in the segment was bought used. For health and family titles, the used share was one in five.
Reference and fine-arts categories also gained used volume. In dictionaries, encyclopedias, language methods, and fine arts, used volume rose from 1.1 million to 2.0 million copies, up 77%. New volume fell from 8.9 million to 8.6 million, down 4%. Of the 2022 used total, 1.5 million copies were fine-arts books and 0.5 million were dictionaries, encyclopedias, or language-method books.
One out of every five books in this combined segment was bought used in 2022. The same one-in-five ratio applied to fine-arts books, while dictionaries, encyclopedias, and language-method books recorded one used purchase for every six books.
What the price and spending figures show
The strongest spending growth in the supplied category figures occurred in the reference and fine-arts segment. Used spending rose from €7 million in 2018 to €16.9 million in 2022, up 155%. New spending increased from €135 million to €170 million, up 26%. Of the 2022 used spending, €14.6 million went to fine-arts books and €2.3 million went to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and language methods.
Fine arts also had a pronounced difference between used and new activity. Used buyers rose 72% over five years, while new buyers rose 9%. Used volume increased 156%, compared with 22% for new volume.
Across the categories measured by the Ministère de la Culture / SOFIA study, the pattern is not uniform. Literature-general used volume rose 31%, youth used volume rose 56%, BD/comics used volume rose 80%, leisure and life-practical used volume rose 96%, and reference and fine-arts used volume rose 77%. By contrast, used volume in science, humanities, technology, and religion declined 3%.
The study’s 2018–2022 comparisons therefore show resale gaining ground in several book types, especially where buyers can circulate novels, children’s books, comics, practical titles, and art books. The figures are measurements for France and the stated study period; they should not be read as a forecast for later years or as independently verified legacy data.