We buy and trade books every day up until 5 pm at all of our locations. You don't need to call ahead to see if we're buying; if you're in before 5 pm, we'll be happy to look at whatever you've brought. That said, weekends are definitely busier than weekdays at our buying counters (For example, if you come at 3 pm on a Saturday, we will still be happy to see you, but you may find yourself waiting at the end of a long line of vendors).
We pay a percentage of what we will sell your books for, based on how often we see the titles you're offering for sale and how quickly we think the books will sell. In general, we will pay up to 40% of our selling price in cash. We typically don't pay cash for common authors and titles which we are easily able to obtain from other customers on trade. (Airport-bookstore/ Costco bestsellers like John Grisham, Dan Brown, Danielle Steel, Anne Rice & etc. are hardly ever good candidates for cash or trade).
If you are interested in trading for store stock, we offer up to 50% of our retail price in store credit, once again based on our assessment of how quickly we think your books will sell. Store credit doesn't apply to new books, nor to a very few clearly marked collectible and scarce books. (Credit not used on a particular visit is converted to cash and paid out to you at the end of your visit; we do not issue trade slips).
Please note that we need to see your books before we can make an offer of cash or trade credit, which isn't something we can realistically do from a printed or emailed list. Please DO NOT email us lists of books for sale; we are unable to respond to inquiries of this nature.
WHAT KIND OF BOOKS DO YOU BUY?
Books We Never Take
Ex-library books, magazines of any kind, Harlequins, National Geographics, Book Club hardcovers, Time-Life sets, textbooks, damaged or wet books, highlighted or marked books, computer books, encyclopedia sets, kids' series (Goosebumps; Animorphs; Saddle Club), self-published poetry, 99% of all sports and business books, stolen books, books we already have too many of. Very common mass-market paperbacks (Dan Brown; John Grisham; Danielle Steel; Stuart Woods, etc.) are hardly ever good candidates for sale or trade.
Books We're Always Looking For
Contemporary fiction, science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, Beat writing, literary classics (Hesse; Hemingway; Orwell, Vonnegut; Huxley; most Penguin pocket paperbacks) visual art and architecture, classic kids' books (Richard Scarry; Enid Blyton; Roald Dahl), science, travel, cultural studies and philosophy, etc. Our customers are well-read, unconventional, and bright.
DO I HAVE TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO SELL OR TRADE MY BOOKS?
Not unless you're bringing 10,000+ books.
DO YOU HAVE PARKING?
There's metered parking in front of both of the shops, and we can usually help you bring your books in from your car.
WHAT ABOUT THE BOOKS YOU DON'T WANT?
It depends. Other book dealers might be interested in what's left. If we think that value remains in what we didn't take, we'll refer you to other local booksellers. If what remains is very common, or, in our judgment, garage-sale material, we'll refer you to one of several thrift stores in the neighborhood, who are always happy to receive donations. Failing that, space permitting, we also accept donations to the shop's sidewalk bargain table.
