I saw a mention for bookshop.org as an alternative to Amazon, a site for independent booksellers to band together. But reading the about this is a really weird model.

They're not selling books from independent booksellers. They're actually books from Ingram and giving either 10% of cover price to a common pool distributed to independent booksellers, or giving 30% of cover price to one bookseller if the buyer specifies it. In both cases Ingram should be making enough for a small profit (booksellers buy books at 60% of cover price and if Ingram is a distributor then they buy books at 40% of cover price).

Obviously this is a buy new books model and does not support used books. Also I think local booksellers are losing out. They have to maintain a storefront, people, books they're not actually selling. For basically 10% of cover price or 30% if a customer is loyal enough to specify your store. I also think in general if people are in an actual store they'll buy more books.

So I think this model only benefits virtual booksellers who have no stock. Basically they'd be a front end for Ingram. In the end does not seem to be a benefit for the independent bookseller industry.