We are talking this week to Elisabeth Sanson, co-founder of the book marketplace Ourlit. Together with Will Smith, Elisabeth sought to help Australian readers find and purchase books that are hard to find locally without the burden of the shipping costs usually charged by giant book retailers and the considerable carbon footprint being emitted by shipping activities. Ourlit aims to build a large selection of preloved books that Aussies can avail themselves of easily.
ISB: What is the inspiration behind Ourlit?
ES: After moving to Sydney for an environmental research fellowship one of my first stops was my local library. The book I wanted wasn’t available. I ruffled through Op shops and a few used bookshops in Newtown to no avail. I caved in and bought from Amazon. The cost shocked me. But more than that, it shipped from the US which resulted in unnecessary emissions. The cycle continued and soon I had dozens of new books on my nightstand I wanted to pass along with no easy way to sell them. I wanted a way to easily sell my books and sustainably buy preloved books. Similarly, my co-founder and CTO, Will Smith, was frustrated by the high cost of new books and wanted a way to access affordable preloved books. Faced with the same frustrations, we teamed up to work towards a solution.
ISB: Can you share what was the most challenging aspect of launching a business like this and how you overcame it?
ES: We provide integrated payments to make it easy to get earnings from your book sales. Integrating payments into our marketplace was a technical challenge we addressed by partnering with the world-class payment provider Stripe.
ISB: How important is sustainability as a core philosophy for your business?
ES: Sustainability is at the heart of Ourlit. An average book has a carbon footprint of ~3kg CO2 plus any overseas shipping. By buying and selling secondhand books locally with Ourlit, you help reduce waste. We are encouraging our community to buy and sell with local pick up to save shipping emissions by making it easy to find an awesome book near you.
ISB: How do you ensure the variety of titles available in your bookstore?
ES: We are excited to announce we will be launching our mobile site in the coming months and spreading the word! We are engaging with readers of various backgrounds and interests to provide an easy way to sell their books.
What is your vision for Ourlit in the next couple of years?
ES: : We hope to foster a community of booklovers that help each other save money, time, and the environment.
ISB: What is the most important insight you’ve gained in this business journey that a would-be entrepreneur should keep in mind?
ES: I was feeling really frustrated with how long it was taking to integrate payments into our first version. My mom shared a Desmond Tutu quote that really stuck with me, “There is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.” It reminds me to just keep going even on the days that obstacles and challenges seem impossible to overcome.
