GoKawiilBooksellers in the German capital are grappling with mass orders for dusty books ranging from €10,000-€50,000. Photograph: Joachim Schulz/ullstein bild via Getty Images
From Galway to Berlin and beyond, independent booksellers across Europe agree that something very strange is going on.
Last May Tomás Kenny of famous Galway book retailer Kennys received what he describes as a “bananas” online order for 5,000 books. But it was less the scale of the order that caught his eye and more its eclectic selection.
“Some was high-quality non-fiction, like A History of Connemara, and the next thing might be The Eddie Hobbs Guide to your SSIA,” said Kenny.
Large orders are nothing new for the kennys.ie website. It was only the second bookshop in the world to launch a website in 1994 and it is popular with large institutions, such as Asian universities seeking to stock shelves in newly opened English libraries.
But when publicly funded institutions contact him, they usually negotiate a bulk price. May’s online order – with no haggling – sent up a second red flag.
Last May, Tomás Kenny of Kennys Bookshop, received a 'bananas' online order for 5,000 books
Over in Berlin, booksellers in the German capital are grappling with similar-sized mass orders. They arrive in the night via email, are as profitable as they are perplexing, involving dusty books that no one in their right mind would buy. Pass Your Driving Test, 2018 Edition, anyone?
Booksellers say it is not unusual for these orders to range from €10,000-€50,000, welcome income amid an ongoing earthquake in their industry thanks to Amazon and other online booksellers. Yet many fear that, with these bulk orders, they may be signing their own death warrant.
As evidence, they point to a January Washington Post report about a similar mass-order phenomenon among US antiquarian book retailers.
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