A 12-year-old who figured out how to sell anything.
“I didn’t set out to build a book company. I set out to stop throwing things away that were still worth something.”
Karan Lalchandani started selling things online at 12 years old. Shoes, clothing, toys — whatever he could find and flip. By the time he enrolled at Rider University, reselling was second nature. What wasn’t expected was the moment that changed everything: needing to unload his college textbooks after his first semester and realizing, midway through the listings, that he’d stumbled into something real.
Books weren’t just sellable. They were everywhere, undervalued, and most of the time headed straight for a dumpster. That first semester’s worth of textbooks turned into a side hustle to help pay for school — listing and reselling whatever he could get his hands on. Then the side hustle outgrew the school schedule. So he made a call: jump all in.
Nearly ten years later, 2nd Life Books processes over 800,000 lbs of books every month from libraries, schools, thrift stores, religious institutions, and donation organizations across the Tri-State area. Every book is resold through wholesale channels or responsibly recycled. Nothing goes to landfill. That commitment isn’t a marketing line — it’s the reason the business exists.
Based in Burlington, NJ. Serving New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and beyond.
Karan Lalchandani
Founder, 2nd Life Books — Burlington, NJ