Most readers who care about independent bookstores picture the same thing: a cozy shop on a side street, a staff-picks shelf, maybe a cat sleeping by the register. And if you live near one, great — go spend money there. But a huge portion of book lovers don't have that option, or they've moved, or their nearest indie closed during a rough stretch. So the question becomes: what does supporting independent bookselling actually look like when your shopping is entirely online?

It's a more interesting question than it sounds, because "buy indie" online isn't as simple as clicking a different button. Here's how to think about it clearly.

What You're Actually Supporting When You Buy from an Indie

When you buy from a marketplace giant, the transaction is efficient — but almost all the value flows upward to the platform. The seller, if they're a small operation, takes a cut after fees, shipping costs, and whatever advertising they paid to even appear in your search results. The platform wins whether or not the seller does.

When you buy directly from a smaller, independent online bookstore, more of what you spend stays with the people running it. That means they can keep their catalog going, keep shipping reliably, and keep offering the kind of selection that doesn't just mirror the bestseller list. It also means you're dealing with a business that made deliberate choices about what to stock — not an algorithm deciding what's worth showing you.

That's the core of it. It's less about sentiment and more about where money actually goes.

What to Look for in an Independent Online Bookstore

Not every small online bookstore is worth your trust. Here are the things that actually matter when you're evaluating one:

• They ship directly. Some smaller storefronts are just reseller fronts that route your order through a larger warehouse anyway. A genuine independent operation ships from its own location — which also means they're accountable for what you receive.
• They offer both new and used. A store that carries gently used books alongside new ones is doing something a marketplace can't easily replicate with curation — they're making books accessible at more price points, which is its own kind of mission.
• Their catalog has range. If the selection is only whatever's trending this month, that's a curated storefront, not a bookstore. Look for depth across genres: fiction, non-fiction, kids' books, textbooks, graphic novels, niche categories.
• They're transparent about who they are. An independent store should be able to tell you where they're based, how they ship, and what their return policy looks like. Vagueness on any of these is a yellow flag.

The Bookshop.org Question

Bookshop.org is the most well-known answer to "how do I support indie bookstores online?" — and it's a legitimate one. The model routes a portion of each sale to independent bookshops, either one you choose or a pool split among many. If you have a specific local store you want to support, it's a direct way to do that even if you can't walk in.

But it's worth knowing what Bookshop.org is and isn't. It's a platform — a well-intentioned one — not an independent bookstore itself. You're not buying from a small operation; you're buying through an intermediary that redistributes some revenue. That's valuable, but it's different from buying directly from an independent store, where your whole transaction supports that one business.

Neither approach is wrong. They just do different things.

Used Books Are Part of This Too

There's sometimes a worry that buying used books doesn't support authors. That's a fair point for new releases — if a book just came out and you want the author to keep writing, buying new makes a difference. But for backlist titles, classics, textbooks, or anything where the original print run is long done, a used copy from an independent store is still a purchase that keeps that store running and keeps books in circulation rather than landfill.

Buying used is also one of the more honest forms of sustainability in reading. A book that gets read again is a book that didn't need to be printed again.

Small Habits That Add Up

You don't have to make every book purchase a political statement. But a few small shifts in habit make a real difference over time:

1. Start your search somewhere other than the marketplace default. Before you go to the obvious place, check whether an independent store carries what you're looking for. Often they do.
2. Buy gifts from indie stores. Gift purchases are a natural moment to be intentional — and a smaller store often has more interesting picks anyway. (If you're stuck on what to get someone, this guide on buying books as gifts is worth a read.)
3. Don't only buy when there's a sale. Discounts are fine, but an indie store that's constantly discounting to compete with a giant is eating its own margin. Buying at a fair price occasionally matters.
4. Leave a review. Not for the algorithm — for the store. A genuine review on a smaller store's site or Google listing does more for them than it does for a platform with millions of listings.

One More Thing Worth Saying

Supporting independent bookselling online doesn't require sacrifice. The books are the same books. The reading experience is identical. What changes is where your money goes and who it helps keep going. That's a pretty low-cost swap for something you were going to buy anyway.

ErgodeBooks is an independent online bookstore shipping from the USA, with a catalog that spans fiction, non-fiction, textbooks, children's books, graphic novels, and more — new and gently used. If you've been meaning to shift more of your book buying toward independent stores, it's a straightforward place to start. Use code WELCOME5 for 5% off your first order at ErgodeBooks.