Since December 2024, Zeercle, a French company specializing in the B2B purchase of cultural goods, has offered independent booksellers the opportunity to buy back second-hand books brought back by their customers in exchange for a voucher to spend in the same store. This new service called Reelire is similar to what the Fnac et Culture. It was designed to reconcile the purchase of new and used books and is part of the recently formalized merger of Zeercle with Momox, a platform specializing in the sale of second-hand cultural items between individuals. .
Reelire (for Exclusive Network of Independent Bookstores) allows partner independent bookstores to promote the buyback service to their customers: each member bookstore receives a communication kit and generates vouchers 100% financed by Zeercle.
United Kingdom, Germany and Austria
Zeercle was founded in November 2023 by Rudy Secundino et Eric Gagnaireentrepreneur in the second-hand clothing sector. The company first deployed (through personal affinities) in the United Kingdom, in the bookstore chain WHSmiththen in Germany with 750 Hugendubel bookstores and in Austria (Tyrolia, Morawa, etc.).
Logistics shared with Momox
Growing strongly, Zeercle ended up running out of space in its warehouse and needed partners to continue to grow. The three-person company therefore approached the German company Momox, a specialist in the purchase and resale of cultural objects to individuals. “Their highly efficient logistics benefit from twenty years of expertisepraises Éric Gagnaire. But they missed the shift to selling second-hand books in bookstores. So we bring them this B2B service. »
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In December, the alliance was concluded. Concretely, all volumes of books collected by Zeercle via its partners in Germany, Austria, United Kingdom and France are now processed directly by Momox from its warehouses in Leipzig (Germany) and Szczecin (Poland). Which gives it the means to offer its services on French territory, under the brand Reread.
-Free for the bookseller
Reelire is a new brand, designed to clearly identify this new service, and thus facilitate its communication. “We have seen it in bookstores which already use this service, the key is to communicate around the service in the store”underlines Éric Gagnaire.
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The argument for booksellers: this service is free (and without subscription) and is designed to stimulate the purchase of new books. The customer or bookseller scans the used book on a dedicated site to find out its price, then the bookseller provides a voucher for the same amount, to be used in his store and financed by Zeercle. He then sends the book to Zeercle, who becomes the owner of the used book. Before the agreement with Momox, the start-up sold on platforms such as eBay, where it took its margin. Now the sale takes place on the Momox website.
Zeercle’s next goals are to enter the Dutch and Italian markets by March, and to cover 10% of independent French bookstores by the start of summer. Since its launch in November 2023, Zeercle claims 800,000 books have been redeemed and 54,000 gift cards distributed across Europe.
