Rebuy, the Berlin recommerce company, said in early August 2026 that it had acquired Zeercle, a young French platform that lets bookshops buy back used books from their customers. Rebuy did not disclose the purchase price.
Zeercle's partnerships with retailers move to Rebuy as part of the deal, including the German bookseller Hugendubel, the Italian publishing and retail group Mondadori, the French chain Cultura and the Dutch bookseller Bruna. Rebuy expects the acquisition to add annual revenue in the low double-digit millions of euros, t3n reported.
According to Handelsblatt, as cited by t3n, the deal ends Zeercle's partnership with Momox, a direct competitor of Rebuy.
What Zeercle built
Zeercle provides a white-label buy-back service to booksellers. A customer enters or scans a book's ISBN or barcode on the website and gets a price straight away, then drops the item at a participating shop or sends it by post. In return they usually receive a voucher for that retailer, t3n reported.
Zeercle handles the platform, pricing, logistics and the cost of the vouchers, while the retailer offers the service under its own name. The company accepts books, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, records and games.
Reports differ on the size of the network. Retail-News said Zeercle worked with more than 700 shops in several European countries, while a case study from barcode software provider Strich said it was used in more than 1,200 bookstores across eight retail partners in Europe. Hugendubel has offered the service since 2024 and accepts drop-offs in more than 90 stores, according to t3n. Mondadori launched it in its Italian bookshops in June 2025.
When Mondadori introduced the service in June 2025, Gagnaire said in a statement that Zeercle was already working in Germany, France and Austria. Mondadori customers scan or enter the barcode online, build a basket, take the books to a participating store and receive a gift card after staff check them; school books are excluded.
“Mit Zeercle gewinnen wir ein erprobtes Modell für den stationären Handel und Zugang zu starken Partnern in Europa.”
Why Rebuy is buying
Until now Rebuy has mainly bought its stock directly from consumers online. Zeercle gives it a way to source goods through physical shops for the first time. The integration will start with books, films, music and console games, and could later extend to smartphones and other consumer electronics, according to Logistik Heute.
Rebuy chief executive Philipp Gattner said demand for used products was growing steadily and that Zeercle brought a tested model for physical retail and access to strong partners in Europe. Rebuy named Italy, France and the Netherlands as important growth markets.
Books are a large business for Rebuy. t3n reported that the company sold 9.7 million used books in 2025, generating just over 70 million euros (about $80 million) in book revenue, out of total revenue of 243 million euros (about $280 million), up 9% on the year before.
The founders and the Momox link
Zeercle was founded in November 2023 by Rudy Secundino and Eric Gagnaire, who serves as chief executive and previously worked in second-hand clothing, Livres Hebdo reported. In early 2025 the company had three employees and said it had bought back 800,000 books and handed out 54,000 gift cards since launch.
By that point Zeercle's partners included WHSmith in the United Kingdom, Hugendubel in Germany and Tyrolia and Morawa in Austria. It had also launched a brand called Reelire that offers buy-back to customers of independent French bookshops, and planned to enter the Dutch and Italian markets, according to Livres Hebdo.
In December 2024 Zeercle formed an alliance with Momox, under which Momox sold all the books Zeercle bought, set the prices and processed the items in its warehouses in Leipzig and Szczecin. Momox had hoped to use the partnership to grow in France and the United Kingdom. The Rebuy acquisition ends that arrangement. Zeercle's funding has not been reported.
What changes for bookshops
Rebuy did not say whether the service would change for shoppers at partner stores. The main change is where the books go after they are handed in: to Rebuy rather than to Momox. Logistik Heute reported that Rebuy's logistics centre in Berlin-Rudow could eventually store the second-hand books, and that the company plans further investment in buying channels, technology and robotics.
