FAQs about the trade-in program: How does it work?

 

DO I HAVE TO BE A MEMBER TO GET CREDIT FOR TRADING IN BOOKS?

Yes. You must be a current member to trade in books for credit.
Donations of books in very good condition will often, but not always, be accepted without trade credit. Sometimes we don't have room, even for donations. It's best to ask before bringing them in. Thanks!

 

HOW MANY BOOKS CAN I BRING IN TO TRADE?

*Members can bring 3-5 books at any time, without an appointment: please help us with this. This means up to five books ONLY. 

*If you drive more than 1 hour to visit Wellsboro, or only come to visit once a year, you may make an appointment. At such an appointment, you may bring in up to 20 books to trade in. Please do not bring in more than 20 books at one time. Please call or email before you come with this trade-in. We need to be fair to all our members, giving everyone the opportunity to bring in books, but also keeping in mind our overall inventory needs and storage capacity. Thank you for understanding.

 

CAN I JUST DROP OFF MY TRADE-IN BOOKS?

When you bring in your trade-in books, you only need to stay long enough for us to look through your books with you. We'll choose books that currently meet our customer demand. We'll take as many of your books as we can. We encourage you to donate any books we can't use at this time.

 

IS MY TRADE-IN CREDIT AVAILABLE RIGHT AWAY?

If you have traded in just one or two books, we can usually figure out your credit right then & there. So, if you don't mind waiting a few minutes, you can use your credit the same day!

With larger trade-in appointments, or on busier store days, it usually takes us 2 or 3 days to figure out how much credit you'll have, but your credit will be available for you the next time you come in.

We usually don't call to let people know what their trade-in credit is each time, but we're happy to tell you if you'd like to call, email, facebook or stop in to ask us.

 

HOW DO YOU FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH CREDIT I'LL GET?

In order to determine how much a book is currently “worth” to us, we look at supply and demand. We consider how well a certain book or author has been selling out of our store over the last year; we research prices online at several of the major online bookselling outlets; we look at how many we have in stock.

In general, our rule of thumb is this:  your trade-in credit will be 40-50% of what we think we can sell a book for.

Since it is very important to us to offer our customers excellent prices on used books, we try to keep our prices low. The market for most mass-produced, “popular” books is pretty competitive, too, so prices on these books will be lower, and therefore, your trade credit on these will be lower, too. More unusual books, books that have gone out of print, new releases and certain “classics” will tend to earn you more credit, especially if they’re in great condition.

We also tend to give you more credit back on books we know you’ve purchased with us. If you are buying a book with us and know you will be trading it back through, please request a special sticker from us to show where you bought it.

 

WHAT KIND OF CONDITION DO MY TRADE-IN BOOKS NEED TO BE IN?

Obviously, the better condition your books are in, the more desirable they are for the next reader, and the more credit you’ll earn. While we can take books with some writing or underlining, some creases to spine or covers, or without dust jackets, the better you care for your books, the happier we’ll all be at trade-in time.

We cannot accept books with the following problems:  cracked or split bindings, pages falling out, mildew, strong smoke or pet odors, lots of dust or pet hair, heavy highlighting. We do not accept magazines, Readers’ Digest condensed, encyclopedias, or textbooks with copyright date over three years old.

 

ARE YOU SELLING MY BOOKS ON CONSIGNMENT?

We don’t sell trade-in books on consignment. When you trade your books in, we assess what we can sell them for at current market value, and we give you a percentage of that as credit to use right up front. You don’t have to wait for the books to sell – once you have traded them in, they are ours to worry about.

 

DOES MY CREDIT EXPIRE?

Your trade-in credit is yours to use at any time  AS LONG AS YOUR MEMBERSHIP IS STILL CURRENT. If you are no longer a member in current, good standing, then you may not use your credit. IF credit still shows on a card for you, but your membership has recently expired, you can use that credit towards renewing your membership. If your membership expired a while ago, the credit you may have had is no longer good. We do not keep records on trade credit going back more than 16-18 months.