Annual Salary
£14,000 to £30,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Customer services or Online & distribution or go back to all job sectors
Swap to Customer services or Online & distribution or go back to all job sectors
Booksellers buy books from publishers or wholesalers and sell them on to customers.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays;
There will be
1.5% fewer Bookseller jobs in 2027.
You might:
You could work at a store.
You can get into this job through:
You may have an advantage when looking for work if you've completed a qualification at university, like a higher national diploma or a degree. Employers will accept any subject, although some may prefer English, humanities or the arts.
You'll usually need:
You can learn some of the skills you need for this job by doing a:
You'll usually need:
You can get into this job through a retailer intermediate apprenticeship or a retail team leader advanced apprenticeship.
You'll usually need:
You can apply directly for jobs. You'll usually need 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including English and maths. You'll have an advantage if you have previous experience of:
You'll need a broad range of reading interests and an enthusiasm for books.
You may need specialist knowledge for some bookshops. For example:
You'll need sound business skills and a good grasp of the publishing and bookselling industry, if you want to go on to open your own bookshop. This includes some understanding of online promotion and sales methods or e-commerce.
You can find more advice about bookselling and setting up your own business through the Booksellers Association.
With financial backing and a lot of experience, you could open your own bookshop.
You could work for a publishing house and sell books to retailers.
You could also work from home as a book dealer, or set up an online bookshop.
You'll need: