As someone who is a passionate believer in physical books from bricks-and-mortar bookstores, the question of whether to go online has always been an elephant-in-the-bookshop.
Not only is there a huge amount of work involved when digitising a bookstore, but as a second-hand bookstore, we have to appraise each individual item that passes over our desk before it reaches your door.
As we all know the past 18 months have been a journey, a trial and at times a revelation as obstacles bring about new ideas.
When I first considered creating a new online bookstore I couldn’t help but think:
“Why in the world would anyone want to take on Amazon and start an online bookstore?”
Well why not?
The things people love about physical books, and specifically about second hand books, are the way they speak to the soul, the way each page holds the thoughts, feelings and ideas of the author but also every reader.
Second hand books are becoming harder to find because they aren’t profitable to mega corporations like Bezos’ but I think that makes the pursuit of this venture more worthwhile.
Second-hand online bookstores support small businesses, which contribute to regional communities and provide their readers with sustainable options for their reading that don’t contribute to giant offshore corporations.
We won’t be closing our physical shop front anytime soon, and we still want to see you once we’re free to travel around again, but we are excited to begin our new online bookstore to start sharing our passion for second hand books to people all over Australia and even further afield.
It won’t be a small job but we are ready to take the plunge.
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