Abebooks Inc. is once again making a small acquisition to help grow its online retail base in the used, rare and out-of-print book market.
This time, Abebooks, No. 58 in the Internet Retailer Top 400 Guide to Retail Web Sites, is acquiring FillZ, a U.S. book inventory and order management company that assists booksellers with selling their books on various third-party books sites and online marketplaces. FillZ has links to multiple book sites, such as Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, eBay Stores, Abebooks.com, Alibris.com and Half.com.
The company’s web-based technology enables sellers to upload their book inventory and manage updates once rather than having to replicate the actions for each individual book site or marketplace. “Sites such as Amazon, eBay and Abebooks have different requirements for sellers,” says Abebooks CEO Hannes Blum. “FillZ makes it extremely simple for booksellers to overcome the fragmented nature of the market. We’re aware of their international potential and what they can offer to booksellers around the world.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. FillZ will operate as an independent business unit of Abebooks. “FillZ has been successful because we simplify the complexities of book selling through a number of online marketplaces,” says FillZ founder Miron Cuperman. Since it was founded in 2004, FillZ says it has facilitated more than $20 million in orders for its customer base.
The acquisition of FillZ is the second in about six months for Abebooks. In November, Abebooks acquired BookFinder.com, an online comparison service of rare, used and out-of-print books.
Abebooks COO Boris Wertz is speaking at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition June 5-7 in Chicago in a session entitled Affiliate Marketing: The Unsung Hero of Online Marketing.
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