When most people think of Thriftbooks, they think of Amazon. In 2003, when Thiftworks first started selling books, they were exclusively available on Amazon.com. But now, you can buy Thriftbooks from Thiftbooks.com, as well as Amazon, eBay, and other e-commerce sites.
So you are probably wondering: Does Amazon own Thriftbooks?
Is Thriftbooks Owned by Amazon?
Thriftbooks is not owned by Amazon. As the world’s largest independent bookstore, technically, Thriftbooks is owned by Mike Ward under an LLC called MMF Capital Management. Thriftbooks sells its used and new books on Amazon as a third-party seller as well as its own website and other e-commerce sites.
If you want to learn everything there is to know about who owns Thriftbooks, how the company and Amazon are related, where Thriftbooks come from, and so much more, keep reading! This article has it all!
Who Owns Thriftbooks?
Thriftbooks had humble beginnings in 2003 in Washington state by co-founders Daryl Butcher and Jason Meyer as a new and used book sale company. They initially sold their books on Amazon as third-party sellers.
Over the years, Thriftbooks has grown substantially over the past twenty years, and currently, the company is owned by Mike Ward under the LLC MMF Capital Management. This LLC invests in several other companies around the country, but Thriftbooks is certainly one of their most prominent.
Thriftbooks still claims itself as an independently owned company, even though technically, they are owned by MMF Capital Management.
Are Amazon and Thriftbooks Related?
Now that you know that Amazon does not own Thriftbooks, you are probably wondering: Are Amazon and Thriftbooks related?
Amazon and Thriftbooks are certainly related. In fact, their relationship is quite interesting because the two companies work together and are in direct competition.
Thriftbooks sells its products, new and used books, on Amazon as a widely successful third-party seller. However, Amazon also sells thousands of other books from their fulfillment sellers as well as hundreds of other third-party sellers.
In addition to selling on Amazon, Thriftbooks sells the majority of its books on its own site Thriftbooks.com, and on eBay, Abe, and a variety of other e-commerce sites.
It should be clear how Thriftbooks and Amazon are both working together and directly competing, but it’s also important to understand how Thriftbooks differs from Amazon.
Are Amazon and Thriftbooks Competitors?
Thriftbooks, as a company, couldn’t be more different from Amazon; however, they are direct competitors because both are online marketplaces that sell books.
Amazon, as you probably know, is the world’s largest e-commerce site and online service provider. Along with over 12 million products, Amazon offers memberships, video and music streaming, private label electronics and home accessories, and so much more!
On the other hand, Thriftbooks sells used books, DVDs, CDs, VHS tapes, video games, and audio cassettes; however, the majority of its sales come from used and new books.
Although they are so different on paper, because Amazon and Thriftbooks both sell books online, they are technically direct competitors.
Thriftbooks have been widely successful over the past twenty years, and one of the reasons why is that even though they compete with Amazon, they also use the conglomerate to sell their product to their millions of customers.
Where Do the Books From Thriftbooks Come From?
Another way in which Thriftbooks differs from Amazon is in where they get their products.
Thriftbooks buys their books in bulk from thrift stores such as Goodwill and Salvation Army, among others, by the pound so as to save money and keep their profit margins high.
But you don’t have to worry about the books being of poor quality; the company prides itself on checking every single book and hand-grades it. They use algorithms as well as humans to ensure the books sold are categorized and priced appropriately for their quality.
Thriftbooks has eight fulfillment centers around the country which store hundreds of tons of books categorized by quality, type, author, and a variety of other organizational tactics.
Why Is Thriftbooks So Successful?
When it comes to buying books online, you really couldn’t do better than Thriftbooks.
As a company, Thriftbooks is really thriving; they have made a consistent increase in their profits each year since 2003 when they opened. In fact, Thriftbooks now sells over 25 million books every year!
More importantly for many of us, the consumers, Thriftbooks is a fantastic option to purchase your next book for several reasons:
- The prices are unbeatable. Whether you purchase Thriftbooks from Amazon, eBay, Abe, or Thriftbooks.com, you can often find incredible titles for a penny! And most of the options are available for $5 or less.
- There are more options than imaginable. Classics, bestsellers, historical fiction, poetry, and every other category under the sun can be found at Thriftbooks. No matter which book you are looking for, you can find it from Thriftbooks.
- The website is extremely user-friendly. Of course, you can find many of Thriftbooks’ options on Amazon and eBay, but the company sells more than 50% of its inventory on Thriftbooks.com. The reason why it’s become such a popular site is that it’s so easy to use! You can search for a specific title, browse interesting categories, create a wishlist, and choose the quality of the book you want to purchase based on your budget and preferences.
Understanding why Thriftbooks is so successful financially and with its customers, you might be thinking: Should Amazon buy Thriftbooks?
Should Amazon Buy Thriftbooks?
Amazon is known for making smart purchases of smaller companies which it can use to grow its incredible conglomerate.
Over the past twenty years, Amazon has accumulated over 40 subsidiaries, but they never purchased Thriftbooks. Although there is no exact answer as to why Amazon didn’t buy Thriftbooks when they first started making it big, now, the company may simply be too big to be worth it for Amazon to purchase.
Whether or not Amazon should buy Thriftbooks is challenging to answer, but at this point, it is highly unlikely that Amazon will shell out hundreds of millions of dollars to buy the used and new book sales company.
Conclusion
Thriftbooks is not owned by Amazon. The company, the largest independently owned book company in the world, is owned by Mike Ward and MMF Capital Management LLC. Thriftbooks sells its products on Amazon as a third-party seller, but they do not have a relationship.