Waterstone's Launches Online Secondhand Bookstore With Alibris

British bookstore chain Waterstone's has gotten into the secondhand bookstore business. The Bookseller reports that Waterston'es has launched Waterstone's Marketplace, as well as an online DVD store and a ticket store which sells tickets to many events across England.

Waterstone's has launched a standalone Marketplace site in conjunction with Alibris, the giant online bookshop that sells used and rare books via a network of independent bookellers. In addition, individual book searches on the Waterstone's site now show secondhand copies, which are available to buy via a marketplace link.

Waterstone's said the development meant it could offer "access to tens of millions of items stocked by independent sellers from 45 countries around the world". Featured shops on the marketplace site include, Bailey Hill Book Shop, Castle Cary, Somerset; Literary Cat Books and Prints, Wales; Cromer Books; and Spinetinglers, Ballygowan.

Academic bookseller Blackwell signed a similar deal with Alibris in February last year. Borders made the same deal in September thus year. Waterstone's will also be competing with Amazon and Play.com, which both offer secondhand books.

Waterstone's is using the recession to expand its reach in the bookselling world. Alibris has an excellent system set up to sell and purchase second hand books, so the partnership makes sense.