The Story So Far...
In June 2006, AbeBooks.com will celebrate its 10th birthday and reach
another notable landmark in its quest to help people find
and buy any book from any bookseller anywhere.
See the AbeBooks Timeline
Today, thousands of independent booksellers are listing millions of
books on AbeBooks’ network of sites. AbeBooks has grown into the world’s largest online marketplace for new and used books, and offers the greatest selection of books found anywhere.
AbeBooks remains committed to selling solely books and serving independent
booksellers. Its HQ is located in Victoria, BC, where its founders
created the business in the Web’s early days.
Two couples - Rick and Vivian Pura and Keith and Cathy Waters – wrote
the first AbeBooks chapter. Keith worked in IT for British
Columbia’s
provincial government, while Cathy ran a used bookstore.
Countless customers would walk into Cathy’s shop and request a specific
book, often out-of-print or just plain hard-to-find, that
she did not have in stock. She would place an advertisement
in a trade magazine in order to source the book from another
bookseller in North America – she
thought there had to be a better way to help people buy
books and put the problem to her husband and their friends,
the Puras. The answer was the Internet. Meet
the Founders
Although AbeBooks has succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, the initial
concept has not changed – AbeBooks connects buyers and sellers with
book searches being conducted in seconds. The 80 million books range
across every possible genre and sector in publishing – new, used, rare,
antiquarian, and out-of-print.
The growth has been fuelled by an ever-expanding inventory, increasing
numbers of customers, increasing numbers of booksellers
and by acquisition of other companies. In 2001, a leading
German online marketplace for used books, JustBooks.com,
was acquired, and that led to the development of AbeBooks.de in Germany
and AbeBooks.fr in France. One year later, AbeBooks.co.uk was launched
in the UK. In October 2004, AbeBooks acquired Iberlibro.com – a Spanish
online marketplace for rare and used books. In November, 2005, BookFinder.com
became the latest addition to the AbeBooks family when the leading
California-based price comparison shopping service for books was acquired.
AbeBooks has attracted global media attention. The New York Times described
the firm as “a true Internet success story”. The UN named
AbeBooks one of the top e-business sites at its World Summit
Awards in 2003. Forbes.com listed AbeBooks as a "Forbes
Favorite" in its 2005 Best of the Web section.
The birthday celebrations will be far more than just a company anniversary – they
will be a celebration of books and the people who love them.
See the AbeBooks Timeline
10 Things You Didn't Know About AbeBooks
- Insurance companies use the AbeBooks.com database of 80 million
books to double check the validity of claims on rare or valuable
books that have been damaged or stolen.
- The total value of all the books on the site is $3.4 billion.
- More than 1 million signed books are available on the site.
- Over 3 million searches for books are conducted each day.
- More orders and visitors come from California than any other US
state.
- More orders are received on a Monday than any other day of the
week.
- AbeBooks has sparked a vibrant transatlantic trade in collectible
and rare books – our UK booksellers receive around 17% of their
orders from the US.
- Macleans Magazine named AbeBooks one of Canada’s
top employers in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
- AbeBooks’ employees are drawn from around the globe, including
Canada, Germany, USA, Spain, Brazil, Columbia, China, UK, Italy,
Australia, and France.
- January, February, August and September are peak months for textbook
sales
More Powers of 10 |
