How to sell your books to your local used bookstore

And two good reasons why NOT to do it

Have you ever wondered where used bookstores get their books? It seems silly now, but I never really asked myself this question until I started working in one. As a customer, I was always solely focussed on finding books to take home; it never once occurred to me to bring my books in.

But of course, many of our shoppers are also our suppliers. Readers are forever coming in with boxes and bags of books for the store. Most leave with smiles on their faces—but others are sorely disappointed, for a host of mostly-preventable reasons. It’s always unfortunate when this happens, but it doesn’t have to happen to you. Here’s what you need to know, starting with how to offer your preloved books to your local used bookstore.

How to offer your gently used books for resale

1. Take a hard look at the books you want to offer, and make an appraisal of their condition. Most used bookstores will not take books that are water-damaged, have a musty or smoky smell, or are heavily annotated, regardless of how ‘good’ or popular the book is.

2. Check the website, visit in person, or call the store to get a sense of what they are and are not seeking. It may look like your local used store takes in absolutely every book that comes in the door, but the fact is, used bookstore owners know their customers’ preferences as well as their inventory, and are necessarily very picky about what they take. Our store, like most, generally does not accept encyclopedia sets, text books, or reference material (unless it is general interest and very current). Just about everything else is assessed on a book-by-book basis.

3. If it seems like your books are a good fit with the store’s needs, please call ahead or make an appointment to bring them in for an assessment. And be as accurate as you can about what/how much you have. Most used bookstores are small operations, with just one or maybe two staff authorized to buy books. Assessing books for resale takes expertise but also, a certain amount of time and space, because it must be done in person. If you’ve got more than, say, a reusable grocery bag full, we need to know so that we can set aside the staff time and clear some room on the floor.

This photo was taken in a secondhand bookshop in the Czech Republic but it looks almost identical to the cash register in the bookstore where I work, right down to the Post-it note on top and random sticker on the side of the cash drawer. Photo by Radek Homola on Unsplash

Why you should offer your books to a used bookstore

I’m actually going to start with the number one reason why you SHOULD NOT offer up your used books to a used bookstore, and that is—to make some quick cash.

Most used bookstores do not pay cash for books. They offer a store credit, and the credit is not anywhere close to the sticker price you paid, especially if you bought it new. Some folks find this very upsetting or even insulting, and I sympathize. They draw back in horrified bewilderment and say things like“Really? For all these books?”

But the store credit seems terribly low it is because it is related to how much the store expects to resell the book for and how long we expect it to linger on the shelf, not its original sticker price. If your goal is to recoup as much of your original investment in a book as possible, you are better off selling the book yourself, on Facebook Marketplace or even at a yard sale. Truly.

Similarly, if your goal is convenience—that is, you just want to drop off all your unwanted books quickly, and don’t care if you get any form of remuneration—the used bookstore is, again, NOT your best bet. It pains me to say this, but the best option if this is your objective is your local Value Village or thrift store. Why?

Unlike zipping through the drive-thru donation drop-off, bringing your books to your local used bookstore takes some time and forethought. You have to assess what you have, call ahead, haul your books into the building, and then wait at least, say, fifteen minutes, depending on how many you books have and how experienced the buyer is. And you have to accept the risk of rejection (books are rejected for many, many reasons, not just their content or condition.More on this later).

If some of your books are not accepted, they’re going to sit in your trunk until you make a second stop—at the thrift store, or the little free library in your neighbourhood, or wherever.

Really, the most solid reasons for bringing your used books into your local used bookstore have more to do with philosophical satisfaction, as opposed to material gain. As you may have already surmised, used bookstores are not exactly the easiest or most profitable enterprises out there right now. Most, perhaps all, are labours of love and many are just barely keeping the lights on.

Our happiest suppliers are the folks who bring in their books for resale mostly because they want to support the store and its role within the community. Some of these folks generously choose to forego the store credit, and then pay full price for another stack of new-to-them books on the way out. We understand, of course, that this is an option for a privileged few. But I swear, every time it happens, an angel gets its wings.