Used bookstores who give store credit?

[gingicat]

I want to trade in my used books for someone else's used books, basically. :) IIRC, Pandemonium no longer does, and I'd also like to look at other genres as well as SF & fantasy. Suggestions?

Thanks!

Comments

[gandalfgreyhame.livejournal.com]

Try Rodney's, right around the corner from Pandemonium.

[gingicat]

Thanks!

[bettyw.livejournal.com]

I thought Rodney's was closing/had closed - they were having selloff sale last time I looked a couple months ago - ??

[ron_newman]

At some point they decided not to close, according to something I read (maybe at the Cambridge Chronicle?)

[misterthorn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they definitely did a 180. I saw all the "we're closing signs", but now those are gone, and I was just in there a couple weeks ago; they seemed to be doing business as usual.

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

That is really good news!

[cos]

Rodney's announced in December that their sale had succeeded and they didn't need to close.

[frotz.livejournal.com]

It's a bit of a haul, but Webhead (www.webheadenterprises.com) in Wakefield is (or at least was) really generous with the trade-in credit. They've got some of the same genre limitations as Pandemonium, but are pretty wide-ranging for that.

[shava23.livejournal.com]

Harvard Book Store has a great selection of non-fiction to use your credit on, both used and new

i second the harvard book store

[808.livejournal.com]

They also do fiction, but have generally weak genre sections. Their strength is in their remainder collection - which is brand new and often cheaper than the used stuff.

[yendi]

If you're willing to go beyond local, another option is paperbackswap.com, which allows you to get a book for each one you send out (which does cost media mail postage for each one you send, but is otherwise free).

[gruene.livejournal.com]

I know someone who wrote a computer script to milk those sort of swapping websites for anything of value, while dumping things that retail for a penny on them.

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

That's not quite as efficient as it sounds, as the "dumping" step does involve paying a couple bucks in postage to send the book away. And it only works if there's someone out there who *wants* the book that costs a penny, in which case, that person gets to be happy to get a book, so it doesn't really seem like such a bad trade.

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

The Book Rack in Arlington.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Maybe the bookstore in Arlington Center would meet your needs?

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

perhaps i should host a book swap! i've got a bunch of stuff i'm not going to read again too....

[ron_newman]

Yes, please do it! (and announce it here on DSLJ)

[zdenka]

Seconded!

[gingicat]

That would be nifty!

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

there is also swaptree.com, which has worked well for me in the past.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

According to my husband, who owns Pandemonium, they are still taking used books under the conditions: must be the right genre of the store, only paperbacks, if they have "too many" of a book they won't take it, and they're not taking "large" collections. Call the store to see if your collection is too "large". ("5 boxes" is too much, for example). They also only take books for store credit.

There are times that the store is totally overcrowded with used books, and then they sometimes temporarilly stop taking in books. That's not the case right now.

[captainsquiggly.livejournal.com]

Lorem Ipsum (Inman square, cambridge)

[totient]

Seconded. They don't take everything, and they only pay in store credit, but of all the used bookstores in the area they're my favorite, and the one that I think is most likely to place my used books in good homes.

[gingicat]

Certainly the most likely to have really interesting erotica displayed beautifully. I found them to be a little pricey, though.

[tober.livejournal.com]

Further afield but still metro-Boston, Brookline Booksmith will take used books for either cash or store credit, as usual with some conditions:
http://brooklinebooksmith-shop.com/ubc

[cos]

I use BookMooch.com for this, but it does involve sending books in the mail, which is annoying :)
On the other hand, you can put in for the books you most want, and get a notification whenever anyone makes one of those books available for you to mooch.