The Booksellers Association has called for an end to tax and business-rate concessions for charity bookshops, saying they give an "unjust competitive advantage" over other retailers.
The statement, released this morning, argues that "charity bookshops which operate like professional businesses should not benefit from receiving tax and business-rate concessions" and that charity retailers operating in a professional manner "affect adversely the rateable values of neighbouring properties".
Tim Godfray, chief executive of the Booksellers Association (BA), said: “Trading conditions for high street retail booksellers are extremely tough in the current climate and unfair competition from charity bookshops is something our members do not need.
"If we are serious about protecting retail diversity on the high street, we need to review the strong tax and rate concessions given to charities which run shops. If a charity shop sells new goods, why should it benefit from tax and business-rate concessions?"
Healthy Planet bookstore
BA's comments were prompted by reports from its members that a new shop, opened by ecological charity Healthy Planet in Shepherds Bush, West London, had approached publishers for new stock of bestselling authors' titles.
Having opened with the aim to "rescue books otherwise destined for landfill or pulping" and to distribute for free through the store, Godfray said the charity had "strayed from its stated goal of dealing in genuinely unwanted titles and is now competing with booksellers on the high street".
However, Healthy Planet's spokesman Scott King said that there are no new titles in any Healthy Planet outlets, known as Books for Free stores, which he said are "not retailers as we don't sell any of the items".
He said the charity is "not currently" planning on introducing any new titles and, asked whether the charity would consider taking on new books, he said: "All I can say is that we do not have any new books in any of our sites. We would be happy to talk with Tim about the matter."
Healthy Planet had not been in touch with publishers with regards to buying new stock, he said.
Charity Retail Association response
The Charity Retail Association advises that almost 90 per cent of goods sold in UK charity shops are donated goods, and in relation to BA's call for the end of tax and business-rates relief, a spokewoman for the CRA said that "it is worth noting that charity shops are only able to claim rate relief if they are selling wholly or mainly donated goods".
She added: "Charity shops are not responsible for the challenges faced by independent booksellers.
"The Booksellers Association reports on its website that 31 per cent of books by value are now being sold on the internet, and 10 per cent by supermarkets. Coupled with the economic downturn, these represent much greater challenges to high street booksellers than charity shops.
"We think that independent retailers could be supported in a variety of ways without penalising charity shops, which raise around £200m for a huge range of causes in the UK every year," she said.
