Buy/Trade Information
We selectively purchase some books. This is usually limited to collectibles and rare editions.
Most of our books are acquired via trade or donation
Condition is everything!
We only take books that are from smoke-free environments
No must, dust, or any other organic material can be present. Books must be clean inside and out.
Spines, covers and pages must be intact.
No ex-library copies please
With only rare exceptions, we do not want books with underlining, highlighting, or margin notes.
For a book collection under 200 books, we ask that you make an appointment to bring them in for trade, donation, or purchase consideration.
For libraries/collections over 200 books and within Bloomington, IN, we’re happy to come to your residence and evaluate the books.
We have a lot of experience with moving whole estates. If you are moving, retiring, or in charge of an estate with thousands of books, we can help you!
Read below for more information about the process.
Books we need
Any book with a copyright from the last 5 years (especially the last 2 years)
Any university press books
African American (subject and authors)
Ancient & Medieval History and Lit
Children & Young Adult (modern)
Classic & Famous authors in any genre and era
Folklore/Mythology
Gender Studies
LGBTQ+
Occult
Philosophy
Science (up to date)
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Women’s Studies
Books we Don’t need
Books in poor condition
Ex-Library (Unless really rare & decommissioned)
From a Smoking Environment
Journals/Magazines
Reader’s Digest Books
Romance Novels
Textbooks - unless they are up to date.
books we’ll purchase
Interesting first editions.
Some signed copies
Collectibles in any genre or era
See the “books we need” section. Sometimes books in those categories will be purchased for about 1/2 of their trade value.
Generally we purchase books for between 5%-50% of our retail value depending on our estimation of public interest.
Trade Policy
Most books in the “Books We Need” category get store credit of $1 for a paperback and $2 for a hardback
If there is a cash offer for the books, the trade offer is generally 2-4 times that amount in store credit.
Most other books have a trade value of 25 cents for a paperback and 50 cents for a hardback
For any book donations to the store, we pass along that store credit to institutions of learning to give students and non-profits free books.