Orca Books' Used Book Trade-in Policy

Important notes about our buy back program, please read:

Book trade availability changes on a daily basis due to a number of factors. Appointments are not required, but we strongly encourage you to call ahead to confirm availability before making a trip down.

We only offer STORE CREDIT for used books, NOT CASH! Store credit can be used on any used item in our store.

We do NOT accept book donations.

Books we are unable to accept in trade must be picked up within 24 hours of drop off.
Failure to pick up books within 24 hours will result in no credit being applied to your account, and your remaining books may be discarded at our discretion. No exceptions.

For a very brief overview, take a look at this Book Trading 101 video we made.

 

BUYING HOURS

  • We trade books every day from open to 5.
  • Appointment not required; however, buying hours are subject to change.
  • Calling ahead to confirm availability is recommended.
  • We stop trading early if we're having a scheduled event that day.

 

HOW IT WORKS

  • Bring your books in during our buying hours and a buyer will look at them as soon as possible. 
  • Timing of trade-in process varies day to day.
  • A box or bag might take just 10-15 minutes, but it could also take several hours if there are others ahead of you. 
  • If you need to leave the store before your books have been assessed, please tell us what time you will return (same day).
  • Unless we've pre-authorized it, we do not accept books left overnight. Space is very limited in our new store.
  • Unwanted books must be picked up within 24 hours or used credit will not be applied.

 

WHAT WE LOOK FOR 

  • Whether we take a book depends on a number of factors:
    • Condition is the single most important factor. If a book has notes or highlighting; water damage or other stains; foxing or other discoloration; a previous owner's inscriptions, book plates, blind stamps, or other "ex libris" marks; excessive edge wear; or creases along the spine, there's a good chance we will pass on it.
    • Our current stock is also a factor: at any given time, we may be overstocked on a particular title.
    • There is no fixed amount of credit that we offer for a book, however we always give 25% in credit of whatever price we list the book as.
    • The book's age, popularity, scarcity and other factors all play a role.
  • We only buy books and audiobooks. No magazines, DVDs, CDs, games, etc.

 

GETTING STORE CREDIT

  • We'll go through the books and make an offer of store credit.
  • This credit is generally available for you to use straightaway. 
  • Store credit is good for other used items only.
  • You are required to take away rejected books after we are done looking at them.
  • There are a number of places we can refer you to that accept donations.

 

WHAT BOOKS TO BRING IN, AND WHAT NOT TO BRING

  • We are a general interest book store, so we look at books in all subjects.
  • While there are some exceptions, we try to avoid the following:
    • library discards
    • book club editions
    • multi-volume sets (like encyclopedias or Time Life sets)
    • Reader's Digest condensed books
    • hardcover fiction older than five years
    • games or puzzles
    • magazines
    • VHS tapes
  • Please do not bring us moldy books, boxes full of dust/bugs, books with rat feces, etc.! We may choose not to look at an entire box if it contains books that are foul. 

 

LARGE COLLECTIONS

  • At our discretion we deal with large volume collections.
  • Contact us before bringing large volume orders down at co-op@orcabooks.com

 

APPRAISALS

  • We do not give estimates over the phone or through email.
  • We will not do appraisals of items you're not interested in selling.
  • Cash offers will not be made for books.

 

* Moving out of town or just feeling charitable? There are a number of organizations (school libraries, Books to Prisoners, etc) that would love to have credit. If you wish to donate all or part of your credit to one of these organizations, we'd be happy to do that.

*Trade credit expires after three years of account inactivity. It doesn't require you to keep any sort of voucher.  Our system is backed up every three hours and we store a paper copy of each credit slip that's entered into our system, so your credit is always safe with us.  If you don't have an account, a name and phone number are all that's required to create one. 

* Multiple names can also be kept on one account.  We take privacy seriously and will never use your information for any purpose other than to access your account, and we will never sell or lend it to any third party.

Effective January 1, 2019

Store credit may not be used for any new items, this includes:

  • New books in store

  • Special ordered new books

  • Consignment books

  • Gift cards

  • Sidelines (such as reading glasses, bookmarks and pens)

  • Calendars and planners

  • Cards and journals