A bookstore in Paris on October 30, 2020. -

ISA HARSIN / SIPA

The government announced Thursday that it would cover the cost of sending books ordered from independent bookstores during the lockdown, in order to help them continue their activity through online sales.

"This device will allow booksellers to charge their customers only for shipping costs at the minimum legal rate, or 0.01 euros", specify the Ministers of Economy Bruno Le Maire and Culture Roselyne Bachelot years in a joint press release.

The bookstores concerned, "meeting the VSE and SME size criteria and for which the sale of new books is the main activity", will thus have to file reimbursement requests.

"Do not buy on Amazon"

Roselyne Bachelot announced Monday on LCI that these postal rates would be "considerably reduced", without specifying the figures.

The bookstore and publishing industry had advocated for the measure to be implemented as quickly as possible, faced with competition from online platforms offering extremely low shipping rates, mainly Amazon.

The physical outlets for books, all closed because they are considered “non-essential” businesses, normally provide 70% of the activity, according to an estimate from the association for the defense of writers, Société des gens de lettres.

France has since 1981 a law, quite original in the world, imposing on all sellers a "single book price", which aims to preserve a network of small bookstores.

Shipping rates are therefore the only way to differentiate prices.

The National Publishing Union, the organization of the sector, urged the government on Thursday to work "now with representatives of all players in the book industry, under the conditions of reopening, from November 13, bookshops and major brands distributing cultural products ”.

Politicians, including Ms. Bachelot, have also called on the French not to buy books on Amazon.

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