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I'm down to mostly ebooks, and haven't read a real paper book in years. I still have about 200 or so keepers but have been weeding out those I don't really need in paper. And it's been a long process.
I think the internet helped put some of the used bookstores out, but the ones that are open seem to be doing well, as long as they expanded to other items as well. Used games, DVD's, CD's, comics... as well as some new but nostalgic items. (records and record players) They're great places to browse and have enough variety to feel new every visit. Sometimes I come away with stuff I didn't go in to buy.
The other UBS by me only took books, priced them only a couple of dollars under new, and took in some trashed ones they wanted to sell and gave poor store credit. Ah... no. Not when I can get a new copy for a couple dollars more, and in better shape. Why take my old stuff there when the other store gives better credit?
Plus, the other store has more scifi and fantasy. I don't seem to be in a high scifi-fant area, so people don't trade them in. The other store can switch up with their other locations, and spread the wealth, while the single store owner was stuck with whatever genres were local favorites. Sometimes that might work well, other times not.
Then you have the bookstores online selling used, including Amazon, and the online website that used to let you trade used paperbacks for the cost of media mail. (They later changed to a paid membership and I left.) But since 2004 their site lists that they've help people trade over 19,600,000 used books.
Browsing a used bookstore can be fun and frustrating at the same time. When you're looking for a certain author or a certain copy, I found I'd rather browse online. And since I don't by paper much anymore, I don't even go to the UBS I enjoy much anymore.
So, I think it was a lot of things happening at once. Some rolled with it, some got wiped out.
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