Booktopia is one of the most recognisable online bookstores in Australia. In the last couple of weeks, the business has gone into voluntary administration with a debt of over $60 million. The brand has existed since 2004 and had massive surge during the COVID when everyone was trapped inside and needed something to do.
With Booktopia, likely on the way out of business, we thought we’d go ahead and create a list of online bookstores that could replace it. Many of these are newer businesses, so please be sure to support them in whatever way you can.
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We will be including social media links where we can, so please follow them to increase their visiblity. We’ve included some of these on our list of book apps. Another thing before we start, many of the online sites we list here have fixed pricing for shipping. Please consult the website that you plan on using for their prices.
Online Bookstores That Could Replace Booktopia
Amazon
Let’s get Amazon out of the way first. The link included is the Australia site.
There was a story the other day saying that Booktopia was trying to rival Amazon regarding their books.
Amazon is a longtime competitor to many major brands. The great thing about the business is that you can buy physical books and get a discount depending on how many you buy or if it’s part of a series. If you have a Kindle or the Kindle app, you can sign up for Kindle Unlimited.
Kobo
Another big online bookstore is Kobo, which is owned by the same people who own Booktopia. This is an ebook only service, but we’ve had ours for years and we love it.
There is a desktop app which services as the online store and you have a selection of millions of books. It also has Kobo Plus which is similar to Kindle Unlimited.
Apple Books
Another online bookstore that could replace Booktopia is the Apple Bookstore. Now, this one differs from the others because Apple Books is exclusive to Apple devices only, so you need a Mac, iPhone or iPad for this service.
The link in this post is to the Australian website.
Book Lover’s Lounge
We found Book Lover’s Lounge while we were perusing Instagram one day. They’re a small business in Sydney that sells largely secondhand books. Most of their books are under $10 are in good condition. They also sell accessories like notebooks and bookmarks.
For their Instagram account check out @thebookloverslounge or check out their website.
Book Grocer
A massive online bookstore contender that might be the be replacement Booktopia is Book Grocer. We’d never heard of it until a few weeks ago. It is the reason why we’re writing this post. There’s even a video ad for it on YouTube.
Much like Book Lover’s Lounge, Book Grocer also sells secondhand books. There are physical stories too, but there aren’t that many. There is one in Newscastle, NSW, three in Victoria and one in Canberra. Go here for the Book Grocer website. Or here for the Book Grocer Instagram.
Boomerang Books
After a quick Google search, we found Boomerang Books which is an online independent bookstore which gives us QBD vibes.
QBD Books
One we almost forgot to add is QBD Books, which has physical bookstores across Australia.
Harry Hartog
Harry Hartog has been around for several years and has physical stores and an online store.
Dymocks
After the collapse of Borders just over a decade ago, Dymocks became the ultimate replacement. There are physical stores across Australia.
Honorable Mentions
- The Nile (a big thank you to an article by The Guardian for mentioning this and others in this section)
- Brotherhood Books
Is there any we missed? Comment below.
