Revenue and profit margins

released yet, is not just frustrating, but does affect the way I order and return books.”

“Perhaps offering specials with extra discounts on non-returnable terms [or] a partial crediting system on returnable stock. It could be similar to a split discount on a co-op promotion but would be applied to aging stock. Bookstores would have a window to apply (say on stock that is 10 to 12 months old) and would have either maximums or minimums to restrict applying (e.g., you can't apply on quantities under or over a certain amount, depending on which was was deemed to be more likely to cost the publisher more money). You would apply with your claim and your account could be credited a percentage of the cost, which would allow you to offer a deeper discount on the titles rather than shipping them back and having them enter the remainder system and get discounted that way.”

“Supplier shipping times are horrible... I realize that it takes about a week to get things here from the eastern US/Canada, but a lot of times it can take a week or more for them to even pick our order for shipping. It's painful when a customer comes in to order a book and I have to say "2-3 weeks" because of how slow these publishers are at shipping.”

Revenue and profit margins The 2020 Canadian gross revenue of slightly less than half of bookstores was $900,000 or more (45%). For 27% of respondents, their 2020 revenue was between $150,000 and $449,999.

2020 revenue

n=33

The average gross profit margin was 41%. When booksellers were asked about their challenges, a key theme was about increasing profit margins by:

● reducing the cost of shipping, ● handling inventory, ● having rent assistance/support, and ● getting wage subsidies for new staff.

“[A bookstore’s biggest challenge is that] we need to make better margins on books. We make them on everything else we sell.”