We sometimes buy secondhand books and offer cash or exchange/credit. A book exchange credit is usually equivalent to double the cash offer. Credits can only be used to buy books at Timaru Booksellers and The Twizel Bookshop.  They can be used immediately or credited to an account for future use. The credits can be used on new and secondhand books. We also accept donated books, or if you'd prefer, you can donate your credit to a local school or library. 

 

For guidance on book value, here is an example: A secondhand trade paperback size Lee Child novel in good condition has a cash value of $3 and a book exchange value of $6. We’ll then sell that Lee Child for about $12. This mark up in price covers our costs including GST, merchant fees, rent, labour, storage, cleaning, power and the myriad other costs a small book buying business has. We share this information because we want to manage your expectations when you come to sell your books. You do have a choice where you sell or donate your books and if you want more value for your book / books, your best opportunity is selling them individually on Trade Me. Sentimental value does not always translate into monetary value, so while a well loved book may seem valuable - in real commercial terms, it may not be. 

 

Every book is assessed on its own merits. These include popularity, condition, edition and rarity, whether it's out of print, out of date, out of fashion, and how many copies we already have. We need to see a book in real time before we will make an offer and no phone or email quote will be binding. As we have limited space and as our inventory is curated, we do not buy everything that is offered to us. We are not interested in: 

We require full name, address, phone number and photo ID when you sell books to us.

 

You are welcome to bring your books to us whenever we are open however it is unlikely that we will be able to assess your books immediately. Please do not drop books off in containers that you require returned. Once we have assessed your books, we will contact you and make you an offer on those we are interested in.

Our space and storage is extremely limited so if you plan to visit with more than 1 box of books, please call before coming in.

 

If your books have been in storage or are otherwise dirty or dusty it is a good idea to give them a quick clean before bringing them to us. Not only will we appreciate it, but the books may fetch a higher price. Similarly, boxes in storage tend to be full of spiders, forgotten photos and other detritus; clearing this out first is in everyone’s best interests.

If you have written your name in a book and want to remove it before selling to us, please do not rip out the page. Certain pages can be a major part of the structural integrity of a book, and tearing them out can cause a book to fall apart. We can remove any personal details for you without causing damage.

Finally if you have removed dust jackets, you should attempt to find and replace them before you bring the books to us. The lack of a dust jacket can halve the book's value, or mean that we are not interested in it at all.