World of Books


World of Books is a second-hand book retailer, reported to be the United Kingdom's largest. They buy unsold inventory of used books from UK charity shops, reselling them through their own website and on various online sites such as paytm.

Overview

The company purchases books in bulk, paying by tonnage rather than for individual titles. World of Books also own the 'instant cash for stuff' website Ziffit.com which pays people for their books, DVDs, CDs and games so they can be sold on or recycled. Using custom-designed software, they evaluate each title for saleability and set selling prices accordingly. In 2010 alone, the business recycled 26 million books.
The business was founded in 2000 by Simon Downes, Ben Maxfield and Michael Laundon, who had bought their first books at car boot sales and auctioned them on eBay.
Annualised turnover in 2009 was £5 million, with a projected turnover for that year of £8.5 million. The business was receiving 140 tonnes per week at their depot, purchased from charities at £75 per tonne.
In 2009, World of Books won the Worthing Business Award for New Business of the Year.
In December 2012, World of Books was ranked in 22nd place in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100. In 2018, it was number 197 in the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200.
In November 2016, it was sold to a fund by Bridges Fund Management, which bought a majority stake for £13 million. At the time, the company reported collecting more than 25,000 tonnes of books per year from 3,700 charity shops across the UK, out of an estimated 50,000 total tonnes in the market.