BRING US YOUR BOOKS
Be it your own shelves that are overflowing, or if you’re trying to find new homes for the books someone has left behind, we are here to help. We accept book donations any day we’re open.
We can even provide packing and pick-up of larger collections.
Please, don’t throw those books away! You may not be a reader of Romance, or Sci-Fi, and they may just look like dusty old paperbacks, but many of those books are now out-of-print. Bring them in as a book donation instead and we’ll help keep them out of a landfill.
Store credit
We are particular in the books we add to our shelves.
For titles we’re looking for, we generally give $2-3 (15-20% original price) per book in “like new” condition. Hardcovers that have already come out in paperback (over 1yr old) unless they are a special edition, will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Books without dust jackets will be accepted, but they do not receive any store credit.
Vintage paperbacks will sometimes receive more Store Credit than a newer book, but again, that all depends on the author, title, edition, and if it’s one we’re looking for / don’t already have multiple copies in our inventory.
We are also always happy to have you donate books, and will do our best to find them all new homes.
Store Credit can be used for the purchase of regularly priced Used Books. You can use up to 50% Store Credit for your purchase of Used Books. You can also TRANSFER your Store Credit to other Customers. Store Credit never expires, and we keep track of your balance for you. No fiddly receipts required.
Please CALL AHEAD if you are hoping to donate Encyclopedias, Textbooks, or Magazines. If you aren’t sure if we’ll want what you have, take a few photos and text us!
Books that have languished on our shelves for overlong unsold are traded over to other used bookstores in our network, or donated to one of the many charities we work with.
LARGE COLLECTIONS / CASH PURCHASES
We do offer assessment of larger collections and are happy to come to you to see if your books are ones we would like to purchase. You can also send us photos, preferably while the books are still on the shelf, not once they are in boxes.
If you would prefer to drop off and have more than 50 books you are hoping to bring, please call ahead. We often do not have sufficient space to take in more than one box of books at a time.
Books dropped off at the store will be assessed as we have time, and any offer made is final.
Cash is offered at our discretion. If you are only looking for cash, please let us know in advance as this process is handled differently from Donations or books brought in for Store Credit.
Why all the rules?
The amount of Store Credit or Cash paid for books is based off of how likely we feel they are to sell at our store, and how long it will take for that sale to happen. Books in good condition sell faster than those with cracked spines and ratty pages, and while New Releases do tend to be in higher demand, it’s more about us knowing our customers and what they’re interested in than anything else.
Yes, this may seem esoteric, and it is. While bookselling is not recognized (yet) as a distinct profession, Library Sciences certainly is, and we need just as much knowledge of our Customers as Librarians do their Patrons. We also need to be up to date on trends in Genres, and the newest Title by a popular (or unknown!) Author, as well as have a depth of historical knowledge of tiles, topics, trends, and publishers.
As to how much we can pay for each books, it helps to think of it this way:
Each book takes up a certain number of inches of shelf space. No matter how hard we’ve tried to fold space & time, there are only so many inches of shelf space in our store. So, all those inches together need to earn enough every month for us to cover rent, utilities, payroll, and all the other costs of running a business.
Some books may sell over and over, and have wide appeal, allowing the inches they take up to cover more of those costs than others. It’s still worthwhile for us to have a variety of books, the hard to find ones, ones that are out of print, or that big chains don't carry. It may take longer to sell them, but we have to hope things will balance out. If a book sells in just a few days, hurrah! We can put another book on the shelf. If a book stays on our shelves for weeks, months, or years… well, you get the idea.
The total inches of shelf space in the store must together pay for our rent and operating costs every month. How much we pay for your book is based off that
You can always decide not to sell us your books, we just hope you don’t send them to the dump.
THE FINER POINTS
Please don’t bring us damaged books!
Sadly, water damage doesn’t undo itself, and mold can put the rest of our books at risk.
Books that you have bought from us and read, we’re more than happy to accept back again for Store Credit. However, they need to still be in good readable condition.
Should you wind up getting a book and realize it really isn’t the book for you, come back and let us know! We’ll help you find something else and do a swap for a different book for free.
Life is too short to read a bad book!
Little Free Libraries
Are you the Steward of a Little Free Library?
We are also always happy to fill a box or bag with books for those who run Little Free Libraries. Making books easily accessible to everyone is part of our mission at Wolfe & Kron Books, and LittleFreeLibrary.org is a big part of maintaining a healthy Book Ecology.
Please contact us in advance so we can prepare some donations for you, and have your Little Free Library registration number, plus proof of Stewardship available so that we can create an account for you.
Unfortunately, we cannot let you pull directly from our shelves for free. If there are specific books you’re looking for, you are welcome to purchase them at the our normal price.
If you decide you want to be regularly purchasing books from us to stock your Little Free Library, please ask us about our membership options.