From crust to caviar: bookstores saw prices rise and sales fall

In 2025, bookstore products rose in price by about 10%, and the number of purchases decreased, analysts say. Over the past two years, printing prices have increased by up to 30%, which significantly affected the cost of production, both last year and in the new year. The market is preparing for a new price increase — publishers and bookstores warn that the pressure on the industry is increasing on several fronts at once — from tax changes to logistics and competition with marketplaces. Izvestia was looking into what awaits the book market in the new year.

Between price and value

According to statistics from the Chek Index analytical center of the OFD Platform, in January — November 2025, books and bookstore products rose in price by an average of 9%, the number of purchases decreased by 4%, and the average consumer basket receipt amounted to 837 rubles. Experts note the transition of consumer demand from offline stores to the Internet.

Changes in tax legislation, rising prices for printing, rent, logistics, advertising, and a range of related services are reflected in the price of a book — first on the publishing side, and then on the retail side, which the buyer sees on the shelf. According to Boris Kuznetsov, director of the ROSMAN publishing house and a member of the board of the Russian Book Union, in 2024, printing for the book industry increased in price by 25-30%. And in 2025, it grew by only 10-12%. But it was the rise in price in 2024 that led to the current price increase.

— Logistics and distribution — they have become the main drivers of cost growth in the book market. The biggest surge occurred in the fourth quarter. Distribution costs have increased dramatically, especially on marketplaces, by a leap of 15-18%," Kuznetsov commented to Izvestia.

Oleg Morozov, Chairman of the RCC Committee on Children's Literature and director of the Mangata publishing house, claims that the cost of paper has increased by an average of 12% year-on-year, and the overall growth of printing services is estimated at 15-17%.

Evgeny Solovyov, editor-in-chief of Eksmo and Inspiria publishers, predicts that in 2026 retail prices for books will increase by 12-15%, depending on the publication category.

The Biblio-Globus bookstore claims that even before the VAT change, the cost of supplies from publishers increased by 10-25%, depending on the supplier.

— The process of revaluation occurs almost constantly and eventually affects the price of books on our shelves. The VAT change will certainly further boost the growth in the cost of book products, which may leave the book trade beyond profitability," the Biblio—Globus media center told Izvestia.

According to the company, now a significant part of the shelves are occupied by books from last year's shipments, so an avalanche of price increases in January can be avoided. However, in the near future, the store expects an inevitable rise in price due to the arrival of new shipments.

Mikhail Ivanov, co-owner of the Subscription Editions bookstore in St. Petersburg, suggested that price increases in wholesale and retail channels will continue.

— He slowed down a bit last year. Publishers tried to restrain the price increase in order to match purchasing power, realizing that prices were approaching critical levels: books have doubled in price over the past six years, says Ivanov.

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Marketplaces versus Bookstores

At the same time, publishers and bookstores are fixing another problem — dumping on marketplaces. Non-market price cuts, in fact, undermine the profitability of the traditional book trade and put it on the brink of survival. In conditions when books are not essential goods, the reader easily postpones the purchase.

For example, Eduard Verkin's novel "The Magpie on the Gallows," which won the Big Book Literary Award, costs 999 rubles on the official website of Chitai Goroda and Eksmo, while it can be found on marketplaces for 770. And Guzel Yahina's latest work, "Eisen," sells online for about 630 rubles, while in bookstores the price reaches 1,099 rubles.

The conflict is most acutely formulated by representatives of independent retail. Mikhail Ivanov calls the situation unfair in terms of the tax burden.

— The fact that taxes have increased for small publishers and stores is, of course, terrible, but the fact that marketplaces pay three times less taxes than traditional book retail is a real blow to the market, fair competition and common sense. With taxes unpaid to the country's budget, marketplaces are wiping out bookstores that have been building infrastructure and preserving the book context in society for decades. Now marketplaces simply sell books at two, and sometimes three times cheaper than retail, because they have the opportunity to monopolize book sales in Russia due to benefits and preferences," he says.

Tatiana Gorskaya, General Director of the AST-Abc publishing house, also notes the growing role of marketplaces in the distribution of books in recent years. According to her, the main reason lies in changing consumer habits. At the same time, the importance of bookstores in shaping the cultural environment remains fundamental: it is here that the reader can get acquainted with a wide range, meet with authors, attend literary events, and parents can choose books with their children.

What will happen to the demand and assortment

Despite the price increase, publishers are not expecting a collapse in demand. Eksmo predicts only a slight decrease in average print runs per publication, which can be offset by an increase in sales of sought-after books. According to Solovyov, the higher the quality of the publication's execution, both in terms of literary content and design, the less the price elasticity of demand affects the buyer's decision.

— If a reader receives a work that he really wants to read in a beautiful, high-quality design, the price barrier is perceived by him as a fair investment in cultural experience, and not as an obstacle to purchase, — says Solovyov.

The market enters 2026 in a state of fragile equilibrium. On the one hand, there is an objective increase in costs and the pressure of tax and logistical factors. On the other hand, the buyer is increasingly choosing online and is price—sensitive. The publishers' response is to focus on quality. The only question is how many such investments the reader is willing to afford in an environment where literally everything is becoming more expensive.