Secondhand booksellers in the UK and Ireland have begun receiving a surge of unusual bulk orders from unidentified purchasers, sparking widespread speculation within the industry about the true purpose behind the acquisitions.
The orders, which began appearing several months ago, differ markedly from typical patterns in the secondhand book trade. Rather than focusing on particular themes or genres, the purchases span diverse and seemingly random selections, ranging from specialized technical volumes to obscure regional publications and foreign-language editions. Business owners including those operating shops in England and Ireland reported receiving hundreds of book requests from buyers located across North America, continental Europe, and the UK. The purchases have often been substantial, with some dealers moving thousands of titles to the same customers over recent months.
A notable aspect of these transactions is that the mystery buyers consistently offer premium pricing without negotiating discounts, despite the large quantities involved. Investigation revealed that multiple different buyer identities sometimes route shipments to identical addresses, and delivery locations have included warehouse facilities near major transport hubs. One established book recycling company based in Canada has been cited across multiple accounts from independent sellers reporting similar purchasing patterns.
Within the bookselling community, theories have emerged suggesting that artificial intelligence companies may be acquiring these secondhand volumes for the purpose of extracting textual content to train large language models. This theory gained credibility following earlier reporting that a major AI developer had spent substantial sums purchasing books, removing their spines, and scanning their contents before sending the physical volumes for recycling. Industry observers have noted that pre-2022 publications hold particular value for such purposes, as their content predates the emergence of AI-generated text that might contaminate training datasets.
Public online forums dedicated to booksellers have featured discussions questioning the acquisition strategy, with some participants noting the seeming inefficiency of purchasing books available free in the public domain. Both major online marketplaces facilitating these transactions and the companies involved have been approached for clarification regarding the unusual ordering patterns and their underlying commercial purpose.
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