In April 2024, while going to the Paris Book Festival, Emmanuel Macron raised the idea of a new tax on second-hand books. The objective, according to the President of the Republic, was to compensate for the financial loss that authors and publishers would suffer with each resale of their book. It must be said that the financial loss is significant for the new industry: one book in five is sold second-hand in France, with a clear increase in the ratio for thrillers (one book in two) and novels (one book out of four).
The second hand explodes in bookstores
The most pessimistic forecasts fear the generalization of second-hand books, in a market which already has many of them. For publishers and authors alike, the risk is to see their remuneration drop drastically, with a window of profitability lasting only a few weeks in bookstores, before to supply resale platforms like Momox, Vinted, or even Gibert and Leboncoin.
The reason for this craze is mainly economic, with second-hand books often sold at half the price of their new version. But other factors also come into play, starting with environmental and material questions. With the deployment of new tools dedicated to used books, it is becoming easier and easier for customers to sell their books to buy new ones, at the best price, depending on supply and demand.
Copy Netflix and Spotify
As for music and series before it, the second-hand book market could thus be taxed, up to 3% of the resale price (although exempting second-hand dealers, second-hand booksellers or Emmaüs). In any case, this is what the authors’ and publishers’ unions are asking for, who also raise the possibility of a model based on that already applied by music and video streaming platforms. It is therefore with this in mind that the services of the Ministry of Culture intend question Amazon, LeBonCoin and other players of second hand on the ecological footprint of the market. Two amendments have already been tabled.
Still, the proposal makes people cringe. If the government succeeds in introducing a tax on second-hand books, it is the less fortunate readers who will be penalized. Especially since the book market has already been subject to an additional tax, under the cover of compulsory shipping costs which are now applicable to all new works sold in France. Finally, the establishment of a tax on second-hand books could push legislators to question the entire market, by applying the same principle of resale rights (for the moment reserved for the art world) to second-hand clothing, toys or furniture, for example.
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