What is Barnes & Noble Market? (What to know!)
If you’re looking for any book under the sun, Barnes and Noble is usually the place to be.
I noticed something called “Barnes and Noble Market” the other day. I’m very curious, what is that? ! Is it still open? If so, how does it work?
We looked into it and here’s what we found…
What is Barnes & Noble Market?
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American retail chain with more than 600 retail stores in the United States.Besides street shops, they have many more online bookstore, and there used to be an online “trusted seller network” called Barnes & Noble Marketplace. However, this no longer exists.
This article covers Barnes & Noble Marketplace: what it is, how it works, and what’s going on with it.
What is Barnes & Noble Market?
B&N Marketplace is Barnes & Noble’s e-commerce platform. It used to be a lot like Ebay or Amazon: buyers could search and shop, buyers could list and sell. The platform allows buyers to put items into a digital shopping cart, then check out and pay.
Barnes & Noble Marketplace offers millions of new and used items from a network of sellers at discounted prices. B&N provides signature security and assurance across the enterprise, and monetizes the fees charged on sales transactions.
A seller is either a professional supplier with thousands of items, or a person with a few items. Barnes & Noble developed and monitored performance guidelines, but did not take or own the merchandise sold.
Sellers are responsible for packaging and shipping sold items, and are responsible for setting shipping costs. The site includes a secure payment system and a settlement center.
What happened to Barnes & Noble Marketplace?
In 2020, Barnes & Noble announced that it would be shutting down its Marketplace program. This is the program that allows third-party merchants to sell on their e-commerce platform.
The decision came as a shock to sellers, suppliers and buyers who have been using the site. However, industry experts believe that when British bookseller James Daunt takes over as CEO of Barnes & Noble in August 2019, there will be some major changes within the company.
The following statement was sent to participating sellers in 2020:
After reviewing many aspects of our e-commerce business, Barnes & Noble has unfortunately concluded that we will be discontinuing our Marketplace program.
The last day Barnes & Noble Marketplace will be open is Thursday, March 26, 2020.
Sellers are then allowed an additional 30 days to follow up and/or process any customer returns and issues.
Barnes & Noble also assures sellers that We have you in mind if we have any future projects that require market support.
Whether that means Barnes & Noble will open another similar marketplace is unclear.
Is Barnes & Noble Marketplace a good selling platform?
Customer feedback on the closure of B&N Marketplace has been mixed. Many sellers are disappointed and think the site is easy to use and profitable for sellers.
Other sellers felt that the B&N Marketplace site was “behind the times” and needed “serious work on its interface” and “fine-tuning the navigation console”. This particular seller went on to point out that other e-commerce sites, like Ebay and Amazon, are better developed and visited by more people.
Other feedback mentioned AMZ and Alibaba as global sales sites that Barnes & Noble cannot compete with.
Most sellers were unhappy with the brief notice they received about the closure, but some reported that the decision was “expected” anyway.
What other changes have Barnes & Noble made?
When James Daunt made a series of internal changes to the company, he distilled and simplified the company, returning it to its core book selling principles.
For example, in addition to closing Marketplace, it also closed some brick-and-mortar stores and cut jobs in corporate offices.
He also returned store control to individual store managers, saying “each store will be run by people who love and understand books, understand the local market and feel their role is important to the community”.
That means each store can make its own, rather than crowding shelves. In other words, they can engage with the local community, record what local readers like to read, and match them in the store.
Daunt hopes this dynamic and very personal new in-store experience will match Amazon’s “no one” book buying experience and drive more shoppers “to buy the real thing.”
Want to learn more about Barnes and Noble? Check out our related posts:
generalize
Barnes & Noble Marketplace used to be an online marketplace for buyers and sellers to meet, interact, and then complete transactions.
While many of these e-commerce platforms are doing more business than ever during the Covid pandemic, Barnes & Noble has decided to shut down their virtual marketplace.
Instead, they turned to revitalizing their street stores and streamlining their book-selling website. Barnes & Noble hopes that buyers will find either purchase a satisfying and enjoyable experience.
