What are the markers of identifying a bibliophile? They are very easy to spot. They meander from one bookshelf to another, only to pick up almost every volume they have their eyes on despite having no time to read it. In addition, bibliophiles can be noticed at libraries, mostly spending their time smelling the musky redolence of old, dusty pages.
Unfortunately, for many avid readers of the country, buying books on a budget has become a serious problem. Being a bookworm herself, 26-year-old Riticka Srivastav decided to take things into her own hands. On realising the dearth of successful stores that sell books at nominal prices, this Gurugram-based entrepreneur founded BookThela in 2017.
From vision to reality
Riticka's passion for entrepreneurship deepened during her college days, when she sold packaged food products to hostel students. However, it was her father, historical fiction writer Niraj Srivastava, who gave her the idea of selling second-hand books online.
With personal favourites including The Far Pavilion by MM Kaye and Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, her venture unites cash-strapped bibliophiles, like herself, with their preferred reads, from the security of their homes.
"As a college student with a limited budget, I had to travel to many different places to buy cheap, second-hand books. The second-hand book market is not organised at all. I realised that I could mould my business idea around this problem, and provide a solution to it," says Riticka.
Most of BookThela’s books are pre-loved pages. There is, however, a small collection of new books on her website. Along with receiving book donations from a few generous people, the BookThela library - it hosts literature from various genres as well as a few hidden gems - is refreshed with reads sourced from a number of second-hand book vendors across the country.
With prices as low as Rs 69 and going up to Rs 399, their books are delivered in perfect condition thanks to partnerships with various courier services. BookThela also has a ‘Request a Book’ section on its website, where customers can enter details of reads so they’re notified when available.
Making a distinct difference
As a start-up venture that is different from other conventional e-commerce sites, BookThela also includes personalised handwritten notes with their orders. Khyati Gautam from Bhopal, who purchased books from this website, says that she was amazed by the quality of the books she received.
"The response from our readers has been overwhelming. Because of all the appreciation we received from our customers, we were able to build this venture into a recognised brand in a short period of time," concludes Riticka.