Selling your books here is easy.

Do you have books to sell? Bring them in anytime during regular business hours, Monday through Saturday.

We'll go through the books while you wait, select the ones we'd like to purchase, and make an offer promptly. Please allow ten minutes per box, more for unusual or very old books.

If you are selling a collection or are not able to bring your books in to the shop, you may call and have us visit your library on a Sunday.

We stock a wide variety of books, but we do not purchase:

Thank you for sorting your books in advance.

We offer cash payments or store credit. Prices paid are based on condition, scarcity, and many other factors. If you call or email in advance, we can give you a rough idea of what we would pay for some types, but we do need to see them in person to make a purchase offer.

We are not currently looking at collections outside the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area. We apologize for the inconvenience.

If you are bringing in books for sale or trade, we can offer you store credit as payment. We usually offer more in credit than we would in cash. Credit can be applied toward the purchase of any books in the store, and sales tax does not apply to credit purchases. (Credit can only be applied to book purchases, i.e., not cards, toys, etc., because of tax rules.)

Credit need not be spent immediately, and setting up an account is quick and easy. (We do not share account information with anyone except the account owner(s), so it's also hassle-free.) You can designate other people (partners, family members, friends) to share your account. Credit can also be converted to gift certificates, but cannot be converted to cash.

We are always buying for a great many sections in the store, but sometimes there are particular sections for which we would like to find more titles. Here is the current list of books we're most avidly seeking:

Children's books (fiction and nonfiction, picture books and chapter books), young adult fiction, philosophy, eastern religions (especially Buddhism and Shinto), nature and ecology, Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance history, Gay, Lesbian, Bi and Trans issues, African history, U.S. Civil War and Viet Nam War history, cultural studies, books in Latin, ancient Greek, and Spanish, mythology and folklore, vegetarian and vegan cookbooks.

We are always interested in essays about nature, books on writing, film history and criticism, all sciences, all religions, fine arts, award-winning and classic literature, poetry, and plays, books about Iowa, graphic novels, world history, military history, political science and economics, and paperback mystery, science fiction and fantasy.

We are not buying: hardcover mystery novels, manga series, self help, motivation & inspiration, romance, westerns, the recent and heavily modified "Origin of Species" with the red paperback cover, current events prior to 2010, travel guides, magazines, books published by magazine companies, books on cassette, movies, or encyclopedia sets. (lists updated 15 Aug 2011)