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Amazon captures 33% of student textbook sales

27.03.08 Tom Tivnan

Amazon's dominance in the second-hand textbook market has also boosted its new book sales, a survey of undergraduates has found.

The report, "Addressing the Second-Hand Book Market 2007-08", was compiled by educational consultancy Shift Media after interviewing 943 UK students.

It found 42% of respondents bought their last second-hand book from Amazon Marketplace, ­rising from 28% the previous year. Well over half (57.7%) of students said they were buying ­second-hand through online sites, including eBay, Abebooks and ­Studentbooks.com.

The report found that Amazon (18.2%) and Amazon Marketplace (14.8%) now account for 33% of new textbook sales.

Jane Powell, director of Shift Media, said online searching for second-hand titles has pushed new books sales at Amazon. "If students can't find a second-hand copy on Marketplace, then they'll consider buying a new copy since they are already on the site. As demand for second-hand texts continues to increase, we can expect to see ­Amazon becoming an ever more dominant supplier of textbooks in the UK."

The majority of new textbook sales (54.3%) are still going through bricks-and-mortar booksellers, with Blackwell (18.9%) topping the list.

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