I also collect inappropriate book gifts. They can be sent second-hand in Prague by taxi
People can cash in on a sorted library or unwanted book gifts after Christmas. For the second time, the so-called Knihotaxi, operated by the second-hand book store Knihobot, has taken to the streets of Prague and collects sorted books.
People can order it even between Christmas holidays. The company will put their books on sale. When they are sold, the original owners will accept the money.
In addition to cleaning the library, extra income can also be a motivation to send books. For sold publications, Knihobot pays 60 percent of the selling price of the book minus 29 crowns. The biggest sellers make a profit on titles that are no longer available anywhere, so their value increases. Professional publications or first editions are requested.
“Before Christmas, our books don’t warm up for a long time and people are willing to spend more for a book. If you send a library meter to Knihobot, you can get 4,000 crowns for it. Of course, it always depends on the current demand and the book market,” says company founder Dominik Gazdoš. Readers will also have the opportunity to order books during the Christmas break. Using Knihotaxi, you can send, for example, inappropriate book gifts.
According to Knihobot, most people need a specific impulse to take over the books they no longer want and send them on. “As part of our customer surveys, readers repeatedly mention that a specific date is a great motivation for them. That is why we regularly launch Knihotaxi, although it is possible to order a courier with us regularly throughout the year,” adds Tereza Kohutová, Knihobot’s marketing director.
It is possible to order a book taxi within Prague for a specific time from December 12 until the Epiphany, which falls on January 6. There is no need to package the books, just hand them over to the courier. But you have to take a picture of them beforehand and send the picture to Knihobot via the web form. His staff inform interested parties whether they will take the books for sale.
The online antiquarian Knihobot.cz was founded in 2019. Its goal is to change the functioning of the book market and teach the Czechs how to return books to circulation. It operates throughout the Czech Republic and Slovakia, last year it distributed 450,000 books and its turnover grew by 315 percent to 76 million crowns.
An annual turnover of 50 million for second-hand books is not a utopia, we are already further, we are still in profit. If young people don’t know what to do, let them start an antiquarian bookshop. | Video: DVTV, Emma Smetana