Yes24 Followed by Kyobo Bookstore and Aladin Raising Shipping Fees
Free Shipping Threshold Increased by 15,000 Won
[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] The era of free shipping even when buying just one book is coming to an end.
On the 14th, Yes24, the largest online bookstore in Korea, raised the free shipping threshold from 10,000 won to 15,000 won. Following this, all three major online bookstores in Korea will raise their free shipping thresholds to 15,000 won in February. Shipping fees have also increased from 2,000 won to 2,500 won.
Bookstores say the increase in shipping fees is inevitable. Yes24, which was the first to raise shipping fees, explained, "This is the first time we have increased shipping fees," adding, "We had been enduring the continuous rise in logistics and labor costs, but we could no longer maintain it and ultimately had to raise the fees."
A large bookstore in Seoul. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Photo by Kim Hyun-min, Asia Economy kimhyun81@
Aladin will raise the free shipping threshold to 15,000 won starting from the 16th, and Kyobo Bookstore will do the same from the 20th. All three companies will also increase shipping fees from 2,000 won to 2,500 won. Kyobo Bookstore stated, "The increase in shipping fees has been an internal discussion since last year. The delayed increase is finally being implemented now."
As of 2021, the average price of books in Korea was 17,116 won, which is higher than 15,000 won. However, many literary books such as poetry collections, which have an average price of 12,000 won, and novels were often priced below 15,000 won.
Therefore, based on a 10% discount price at online bookstores, free shipping is now only available when purchasing a single book priced at 16,700 won or higher.
Considering that the three major online bookstores occupy about half of the domestic book market, the single-book free shipping policy can be seen as effectively coming to an end.
An official from a major bookstore explained the reason for the increase: "The bookstore's low operating profit margin has largely been caused by the cutthroat competition of free shipping. Moreover, with recent increases in courier costs, the profit margin reduction due to shipping has become severe. Raising the free shipping threshold to 15,000 won is likely to encourage customers who buy one book to purchase two or more, which will greatly help secure bookstore profitability."
Considering a supply rate of around 65% (the price ratio at which publishers supply books to bookstores), the bookstore’s margin on a 10,000 won book is only about 2,500 won. If free shipping is applied, the margin becomes zero, but the increase in shipping fees somewhat alleviates this issue.
However, the change in free shipping policy is causing deep concerns among publishers. Books priced below 16,700 won will incur additional shipping fees, reducing their price competitiveness. Therefore, books priced between 13,000 and 15,000 won are likely to be uniformly raised to around 17,000 won.
Meanwhile, domestic paper manufacturers such as Hansol Paper and Moorim Paper raised the price of paper used for book publishing three times last year (7% in January, 15% in May, and 7% in September). Due to global inflation, printing costs have increased, and book prices have been gradually rising recently.
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