Paperback Exchange

I love visiting used bookstores (UBS) when I'm in a new place. Before coming to Reno, I printed directions to a UBS called Paperback Exchange. They had a great selection of books but a convoluted trading system. Each book is marked with a number. If a number was marked with a 5, it would be multiplied by .40 for the price, so it was $2.00.

You can save money by bringing books in. If you brought in a book they deemed a 6, you would get half of that for credit. So, if you wanted to buy books that totaled 30, and you brought in books that totaled 10, you would have 5 deducted from 30, for a total of 25. Then that number would be multiplied by 40, for a total of $10.00. It kind of made my head hurt to think about it. Of course, this also means there is a possibility of getting books for free, depending on how many you bring in. That doesn't seem right, either. Perhaps they have something in place to prevent that. I'm not familiar enough to say.

Anyway, even though I had brought 31 books with me (plus 23 for Jill Shalvis, 5 for Suzanne McMinn, and 9 for Jo Leigh) and had bought 39 at the signing, I apparently didn't have enough books, because I left the bookstore with another 10 or so. As I mentioned, the selection was excellent. I found a couple of books I've been trying to find for a while.

The bad thing, though, is that they mark the books with a permanent marker. So, every book I bought has a 5 or a 9 (or whatever) in black permanent marker written on the top of the book. It's not on the spine, but on the pages. I'm sure this is easier than using a sticker or writing in pencil on the inside front cover, but it's frustrating nonetheless. It amazes me that a bookstore would want to permanently mark the books like that. But maybe it's just me.

The used bookstores I frequent are quite a bit different. There are two, but both operate in similar ways. They add up the cover prices of the books you bring in, then give a certain percentage for credit. I think it's 70% at one and 75% at another. For books you buy, the full cover price is deducted from the credit, then you pay a set price for each book. One bookstore offers new and collectible books for 1/2 price; another charges 1/2 price for new books and sets individual prices for collectible books.

How does your used bookstore work?