Book Trade Hours:
CLOSED
This page is the best place for updates on the reopening date of the Book Trade Counter.
Thank you for your support and interest in our Book Trade Counter. We are taking every precaution to keep our community safe and as a result our Counter will remain closed until further notice. Books piling up at home? Read about our Books For Schools Donation Program below.
Books for Schools Donation Program
Our Books For Schools Donation Program is always open and helping to provide much needed funds to our local schools.
How it works:
- You bring in your good quality, gently read books.
- We store them for a few days
- We appraise their value and distribute that among our partner schools for them to purchase books for their classrooms and libraries.
Parking
Metered parking is available on Fort Street. There is also a city parkade one block away on View Street (parking for the first hour is free).
Books We Are Interested In
Here at Russell Books we assess books of all kinds with condition being our primary concern. Creasing, highlighting, and underlining are not deal breakers, but they will affect the amount we can offer you.
We are interested in antiquarian rarities to current bestsellers and everything in between. We will look at any quantity of books you may be interested in trading, from a single title you have just finished reading to whole libraries and collections.
What We Will Not Accept
We will not take books in bad condition. This includes loose pages, cracked spines, funky odors, excessive marking, and rips and tears. See below for a list of other books we will not accept:
- Readers Digest condensed books
- Outdated textbooks and computer manuals
- Encyclopedia sets
- Ex-library books
- Harlequin romance novels
- Most magazines
The Process
STEP 1: Bring in your gently used books in bags or boxes and proceed to our book trade counter on the main street-level floor and check in with an appraiser. Although our employees are not permitted to leave the store to assist you (for liability reasons), you are welcome to borrow our dolly to bring in large amounts from your vehicle. The appraisers will take your information.
STEP 2: The book appraisal process takes approximately from 10-25 minutes. Feel free to take a quick browse in our store or pop out for a brief coffee while we do the assessment of your books. We do ask that you stay in the store or close by while we go through your books–appraisals are a quick process and holding space is limited.
STEP 3: After browsing, return to the book trade counter where you can settle up with an appraiser. They will give you back any titles we cannot use (if there are any) to donate at a place of your choice.
What You Get For Your Books
We generally deal in store credit, which you can use to purchase anything we sell in store. The credit never expires and works on 100% of in-store purchases.
We sometimes offer cash for large amounts of desirable books or extremely valuable books. Any cash offers made are at the discretion of the book buyer. Any offers we make (cash or credit) will fluctuate based on the desirability and quality of books, their condition, and our own inventory levels.
Please always feel free to ask an appraiser if you have any questions in regards to your books.
House Calls
If you have more than 1000 books, you may be eligible for a house call. To arrange a house call please call the store (250) 361-4447 and leave a detailed message for the book appraisers.
