Free Book Delivery: Is Amazon Breaking the Law?

Amazon has announced the launch of a new option allowing you to have a book delivered free of charge to one of its lockers, as long as the latter is located in a store selling books.

A new battle is opening between Amazon and booksellers. On Tuesday, the e-commerce giant announced the implementation of a new option allowing books to be delivered free of charge to local collection points using its automated lockers.

“This option is available for a selection of collection points located in businesses selling books in particular,” Amazon specifies.

Indeed, since October 2023, platforms must charge at least 3 euros for the delivery of books, for any order less than 35 euros (1 cent above). And if the law of December 30, 2021 on the book economy provides that the delivery of new books “cannot under any circumstances” be free, it grants an exception “if the book is collected from a book retail store “.

Lockers most often located in supermarkets

Therefore, by only offering free delivery to lockers located at collection points selling books, Amazon believes it is complying with the rules. This is why automated lockers eligible for free delivery are most often located in the shopping arcade of supermarkets.

“More than 70% of these collection points are located in rural areas or small towns, such as Mehun-sur-Yèvre (Cher), Le Plessis-Belleville (Oise), Broons (Côtes-d’Armor), Vinon-sur-Verdon (Var) and many other municipalities in France,” assures Amazon.

Anger of the booksellers

The law imposing a minimum charge of 3 euros on the delivery of new books is intended to encourage the French to buy their books in a bookstore or other point of sale. It was contested by Amazon before the administrative courts, which requested the opinion of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

But while waiting for this opinion, Amazon seems to have found the solution with its new offer which, according to it, complies with the texts in force. Which is not really the opinion of the French Bookstore Union (SLF), professional organization of independent booksellers, which says it is skeptical about the legality of this option.

“We can ask ourselves a lot of questions. Is a locker a business? Is it enough to be within the confines of a hypermarket to satisfy the terms of the law?”, affirmed to the AFP the general delegate of the SLF, Guillaume Husson. “Amazon is a lawless actor, who is attacking a text supported by the government and voted unanimously by parliamentarians,” he added.

Questioned in the Senate on this subject, the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, announced that she had contacted the book mediator to resolve the dispute.