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Recycling Used Books

An online second-hand book trading platform revives used books on shelves.

By Laurissa Liu in Tianjin

mended by editors and users.
“We want to be recognized for of-
fering service that features conveni-
ence, quality and humanity, not just
low pricing,” Li says. The store has an
The seaf
ooking
ood prices ha
e to sharp
mped du
ve ju
wei, a stall o
ang Shu
Y
ood market, is l
Yang Shuwei, a stall owner in a seafood market, is looking The seafood prices have jumped due to sharp algorithm model that keeps records
wner in a seaf
after her business.
decline in harvest.
after her bu siness. decline in harvest. of books being accepted and rejected.
“ “As our database grows bigger, the
data will be more accurate informing
food after the pandemic jumps, but Catching octopus used to mean bad luck. us readers’ preference,” Wei says.
the supply can never catch up with it.” “I want to build a business model
“Catching octopus used to mean But now fishermen want anything that can stand against the test of time,”
bad luck. But now fishermen want Wei adds.
anything that can be sold for money,” that can be sold for money. A 73-year-old anonymous seller,
Han adds. who lives in Beijing, has been selling
” Refurbished sec o nd -hand books are categorized and placed o n the shelf f or readers. used books on the platform for two
Refurbished second-hand books are categorized and placed on the shelf for readers.
(Photo courtesy of Urbanmatters)
( Photo c ou rtesy o f Urbanmatters ) years. “I’m not good at using the in-
ternet but the store has helped me to
olding the belief of “Good Wei had the idea of starting up a sell my books,” he says in a letter to the
books are worth reading business back in 2015. She was in- bookstore.
Htwice”, Wei Ying founded a spired by BOOKOFF, the biggest sec- “I began to lose my eyesight, but
second-hand book store as an applet ond-hand bookstore in Japan. my children have no interest in read-
in WeChat in May 2017. “The value Book owners who want to sell ing. So, I need a channel to sell my
of books is generated by reading and their books can scan ISBN code on books to those who love them,” he
sharing,” Wei says. book covers through the applet so that says. “Consumers always want to pos-
The name of the book store, Du- they can find out the estimated price sess books, so they keep buying, but
ozhuayu, comes from a French word, of their books in the second-hand only knowledge and memories can
Déjà vu, meaning the memory and market, which is about 20 to 30 per last,” he adds.
feeling of familiarity. “Second-hand cent of the market price. Courier then Looking for a second-hand book
items often carry memories of owners collects these books after an online online store which can help you pass
that can be shared with our custom- appointment is made. on your used books? Search Duozhu-
ers,” Wei says. Collected books are then gathered ayu in WeChat applet, download the
The store adopts algorithm models at factories in Tianjin and Qingdao app of the same name on your phone,
to operate their business. The num- for checks and sterilization. All books or visit their stores in Beijing and
ber of users reached over 2 million will be wrapped in plastic before they Shanghai.
in early 2019, and continues to grow are put on sale.
at a rate of 2,000 to 3,000 a day. Over “The style of a bookstore is not de-
11 million books were scanned on the termined by what it sells but what it
platform. The store has also released does not sell,” says Li Chan, Operation
an application for mobile phones and Manager of the book store. The ap-
opened two physical stores in Bei- plet front page mostly features books
jing in October 2019, and recently in about literature, history, philosophy
Seafood lovers have finished shopping and an old fisherman starts to tidy up his stall.
Seaf ood l o vers ha ve finished shopping and an o ld fisherman starts to tid y u p his stall.
(Graphic courtesy of Duozhuayu)
Shanghai in October 2020. and social science that are recom- ( G raphic c ourtesy o f Du ozhu a yu)