If you land on this post, you might be wondering if it’s possible to dropship books.
The answer is yes. There are suppliers out there that cater to this industry. These suppliers offer high-quality books and print-on-demand services with affordable prices and great shipping times.
In this post, we’ve put together a list of the best 11 of them. We also provide you with 5 winning dropshipping products ideas for books.
Are Books A Good Dropshipping Niche?
Books are not a great dropshipping niche for beginners. Although the global books market is expected to grow from $115B in 2016 to $124.2B by 2025, the CAGR rate is at a low of 0.9%. Additionally, it’s highly competitive with the presence of the giant Amazon and other independent brands like BarnesAndNoble, HalfPriceBooks, or Powells.
Another reason to not start dropshipping books as a beginner is that consumers nowadays can read digital versions of them (eBooks) through Kindle or the internet. Although both types of books can still coexist, you will have to work much harder to convince people to purchase physical books.
Finally, there are many cheap online book summary services, which can definitely replace the need for print books.
Despite all of that, if you’re an experienced dropshipper, we recommend trying this niche out. The harder it is, the sweeter the achievement will be.
11 Best Books Dropshipping Suppliers
Below are our top 11 best dropshipping suppliers for books.
1. AmericanBookCo
Established in 1997, ABC offers several book formats including children’s picture flats & board books, hardcover novels, trade paper, mass-market paperback, and coffee table books. This book wholesale dropshipping supplier also has its own children’s educational curriculum line and an adult puzzle book program totaling up to 12,000 titles.
With a large fulfillment area of 900,000 sq. ft equipped with a dynamic ERP system in Jefferson, it can warehouse, pick, pack, and ship orders with accurate turnaround time.
Books Dropshipping Featured
- Up to 80% off retail pricing.
- Offer blind ship, B2B, B2C, and cross-dock services.
- Accept American Express, VISA, MasterCard, and Discover.
Pricing
You can start dropshipping for free from this book supplier.
2. Lulu Express
Lulu provides you with every tool you need to create and design your own journals, textbooks, calendars, magazines, yearbooks, comic books, and eBooks. When done, you can sell them on your favorite eCommerce & dropshipping platforms or right on the Lulu independent bookstore.
The supplier will take care of the rest, from printing, publishing, fulfilling to delivering them to your customers.
Books Dropshipping Features
- Deliver to 150 countries around the world within 3 – 5 business days (production time not included) with Express and Expedited shipping methods.
- Guides and templates to publish a print book or ebook for yourself.
- 3,000 possible format, color, and size combinations.
- Accept PayPal, credit/debit cards, Google Pay, Shopify Pay, and Apple Pay.
- Integrate with Lulu Bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Ingram Network, Apple Books, Google Play, and Shopify.
Pricing
The Lulu platform is completely free to use. You only pay for books printed and shipped to your customers.
3. IngramSpark
Similar to Lulu Express, IngramSpark is one of the top print-on-demand dropshipping suppliers for books. It’s a company under IngramContent – a renowned publishing group that has served hundreds of thousands of independent and large size publishers, owning the industry’s largest active book inventory of 7.5 million titles.
Books Dropshipping Features
- Fast global delivery.
- Free guiding resources.
- A wide variety of formats to fit any book genre.
- Support hardcover, paperback, color printing, and eBooks.
- Accept PayPal, credit/debit cards, and bank accounts.
- Compatible with Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Shopify, and other 40,000 retailers & libraries.
Pricing
It costs anywhere between $25-$49 to upload a book with Instagram. Then, you pay for each book printed and delivered to your customer.
4. Blurb
What makes Blurb stand out is its beginner-friendly and visually stunning design tool to help you quickly create professional book pages in minutes.
The company was founded in 2005 and has now produced more than 2 million book titles, ranging from photography, cookbooks, travel books, children’s books, comic books, to business books.
Books Dropshipping Features
- Fast deliver to 70+ countries and territories.
- Support hardcover, paperback, color printing, and eBooks in a wide variety of formats.
- Accept PayPal and credit cards.
- Compatible with Blurb Bookstore, Amazon, Ingram, Apple iBooks, other 39,000 libraries, and APIs to connect eCommerce platforms.
Pricing
Blurb is free to use. You only have to cover the costs of books distributed to your customer.
Besides the 3 suppliers above, Kindle Direct Publishing and BookBaby are other great print-on-demand providers for books dropshipping.
5. Amber Withers
Amber Withers is an online store named after a young aspiring author of multiple book titles, including Winters Academy, Amulet of the Witch, Bound By Blood, and Bound By Fate.
Books Dropshipping Features
- Worldwide shipping.
- Process orders via Paypal.
Pricing
It’s completely free to start dropshipping books from Amber Withers.
6. HalfMoonBay
Next, we have HalfMoonBay. On here, you will find high-quality gift books and comic books that are hard to find anywhere else on the internet.
Furthermore, HalfMoonBay gives you access to a catalog of goods featuring famous characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, DC Comics, Minions, and more.
Books Dropshipping Features
- £2.95-£3.95 shipping fees.
- Cannot ship to some countries outside the UK due to licensing contracts.
- Payments via Papal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and major credit cards.
Pricing
HalfMoonBay has no subscription fees.
However, it’s important to note that to dropship branded products from HalfMoonBay, you have to message them to ask for permissions and certificates.
7. Ningbo Yingtong Plastic
Ningbo Yingtong Plastic is a reliable books dropshipping supplier on AliExpress, featuring a wide collection of Chinese fiction books and novels.
Books Dropshipping Features
- Worldwide delivery.
- Pay with Paypal, Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, Wire Transfer, AliExpress Pocket, etc.
Pricing
It’s totally free to dropship from Ningbo Yingtong Plastic.
8. Nbyinto Book Store
Nbyinto Book Store is another trustworthy AliExpress books dropshipping supplier but geared towards products with educational purposes, such as children’s books, language learning books, drawing books, and other types of interactive books.
Books Dropshipping Features
- Affordable products.
- Global delivery.
- Pay with Paypal, major credit/debit cards, Wire Transfer, AliExpress Pocket, etc.
Pricing
It’s completely free to dropship from Nbyinto Book Store.
9. PepperAndCute
If you’re interested in dropshipping notebooks and journals, take a look at PepperAndCute. It offers some of the most visually appealing notebook designs that are sure to catch people’s attention.
It also has a nice collection of other beautiful stationery goods like pens, pencil cases, paper clips, and stickers.
Books Dropshipping Features
- Delivery within 2-4 days to the UK.
- Process orders with Paypal and credit cards.
Pricing
PepperAndCute has no subscription fees.
10. AliExpress
AliExpress is the most popular B2C Chinese cross-border website owned by the famous Alibaba Group.
Currently, there’re more than 100 million items in numerous dropshipping niches on the platform. Most are from direct manufacturers to help you eliminate middlemen costs.
Books Dropshipping Features
- Very low-cost books dropshipping products.
- Shipping fees are usually free.
- Delivering to 200+ countries and regions worldwide.
- 20+ payment methods, including Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, Wire Transfer, Paypal, AliExpress Pocket, etc.
- Supported by numerous dropshipping apps, such as Oberlo, CJDropshipping, EPROLO, DSers, etc.
Pricing
AliExpress is totally free to dropship from. You only have to cover the cost of products and shipping fees.
11. Spocket
The final books dropshipping supplier to look into is Spocket. It connects you with reliable US/UK dropshipping sellers and manufacturers, offering products at 30%-40% discount rates.
In addition, Spocket is a technology dropshipping partner of Alibaba, enabling you to start dropshipping from Alibaba without MOQ quickly and easily.
Books Dropshipping Features
- Order product samples in a few clicks.
- Branded invoicing.
- Process orders with credit cards.
- Connect with Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix, WooCommerce, Squarespace, Felex, KMO Shops, and Ecwid.
Pricing
The subscription plan starts from $24/month to import Spocket’s products to your store.
5 Best Books Dropshipping Product Ideas
Here are the 5 most interesting dropshipping product ideas for books.
1. Adult Coloring books
Adult coloring books are a form of adult therapy that has been proven to help reduce anxiety and improve focus similar to meditation by psychologists.
They used to become a huge trend in the early 2010s with the boost of social media and a group of enthusiasts. However, this trend started declining in 2015-2016.
Now, adult coloring books are not as big of a trend as they used to be, but there’s still a steady demand for them among people who love art.
In addition, with the long-lasting impact of the COVID-19, which results in lockdown and unemployment, people would want to find something like adult coloring books to kill the time and relieve stress.
2. Reusable Water Drawing Books
The second winning dropshipping product idea for books is reusable water drawing books. These products come with a pen that when you fill it with water and start painting onto the book surfaces, hidden drawings will appear. After the water evaporates, the drawings will fade away accordingly, which allows for repeatable usage.
Reusable water drawing books are amazing dropshipping products for parents to keep their children occupied. You can also advertise them as a way to help kids develop observation abilities and learning skills.
3. Mini Retro Notebooks
For anyone interested in dropshipping notebooks, you can try promoting these mini retro ones. They’re small, adorable, and attractive. And, according to research, people obsess over cute stuff.
Furthermore, they also help evoke feelings of nostalgia – a human bias that increases human willingness to spend money.
4. Soft Cloth Books
Cloth books are another excellent gift idea for children without parents worrying about they’re destroyed by their kids in a few minutes.
More advanced versions of cloth books will have sound papers, which bring extra fun for children when flipping through each of them.
5. DIY Memory Books
This final books dropshipping product is for people who want to preserve their memorable occasions. It contains hundreds of pages, each with different backgrounds and illustrations. In addition, the old, vintage, and unique design will surely catch people’s attention, which is the first step to anyone’s shopping journey.
Books Dropshipping – Conclusion
Books are a tough dropshipping niche because of the fierce competition from Amazon and well-known independent marketplaces.
Having said that, with creative marketing strategies, we believe experienced dropshippers can still take a piece of the gigantic books market and make decent money out of it.
For more information on starting a successful dropshipping business, consider having a look at our complete dropshipping checklist.
The rightful owner of The Clever Business. I review & curate the leading suppliers so you don't waste time scouring the internet.
