Bookstore Adventures – Books by the Pound

Remember this book stack that was practically free? What book lover can resist the opportunity to find good books at good prices? I’m one of them and since I’ve managed to collect quite a few of these Twentieth-Century Penguin Classics, it’s hard to leave them on the shelf, especially at this bookstore. I thought it would be nice to take you on a brief tour of the store, Books by the Pound, where I enjoy shopping for used books. Afterwards, I’ll tell you how I managed to get 8 books for less than $2.

The store – Books by the Pound

At Books by the Pound books are typically sold by the pound. The prices range from a flat price of $0.99 up to $3.99 a pound. If you find a lot of paperbacks this adds up pretty nicely and even if you don’t, you can find hardcover books for a very good price. Comic books are $0.99 each, small graphic novels $2.99 each. The store sells all kinds of books–nonfiction, coffee table books, children’s books– I mean LOTS of books. They also sell media, but I spend the majority of my time in a few sections. Needless to say, there’s so many books and the store is huge, so you can easily spend several hours browsing the shelves and tables.

The scales are nice because I like to get an idea of how much I might have spent before I get to the register so the scales located in the store are helpful when trying to make final selections.

Book Scale

The sections

Literature Classics – My favorite

Books by the Pound has several sections for your browsing pleasure. I’ve been shopping at this store for about 2 or 3 years and I spend most of my time in this section. Speaking from experience, the progress the store has made in shelving the books has improved tremendously. In the past, there weren’t enough shelves in the store so you would have to take books out of metal cubby holes to see the books stacked behind them. I’m so happy to actually see all the books without playing musical bookshelf. My hope is that one day the books will be organized alphabetically and by genre, although I believe this might be a shopping ploy to keep you browsing the shelves longer you planned. I have been tempted to move classics I find in other parts of the store to the appropriate section but I digress.

Discount Books

I realize I should have probably spent more time at this Discount Books table but I’ll be sure to look there first on my next trip. I always get stuck in the classics section.

Children’s Books

There are so many books in this section! Kids could have a field day in here while aunts like myself, browse the classics section. They have a nice sitting area for the kids to sit and enjoy their books too. The books are by age group so I’m sure that will be good for the next time I take my nieces and nephews to the bookstore! I actually have some who love reading and others I’m trying to encourage to read more instead of playing video games.

Children’s Books

There’s even a popular book section for the teenagers.

Popular Teen Books

Vintage Books

I love seeing the tables and shelves full of beautiful vintage books. There are so many in this section and not far away is a little room with vitntage coffee table books. I wonder if the store owner would be open to suggestions on turning part of this into an in store reading nook. How nice it would be to spend time in the store reading!

Vintage book room

sitting area in the front of the store

rainbow colored vintage children’s books

Nonfiction Books

As I write this I regret not spending some time in this section, especially since there are a few nonfiction books I’d like to add to my own library. Next time!

Nonfiction Books

Trade In/ Loyalty Program

You can trade in books to receive store credit towards the purchase of books in the store, for up to half of your purchase total. They accept books in good condition but published no later than 2006 (or 2009). You can accept their offer or have the books returned to you if the book falls into a category of books they don’t accept. Since I’ve been getting rid of books I don’t love and to make more room on my shelves, this is a win-win situation for me. Bring books in, receive store credit, return soon and buy more books. The cycle continues.

The loyalty program allows you to earn one star for every $10 you spend. After you receive 5 stars, you receive a coupon for $5 off your next purchase. This is of the many reasons I keep coming back to the store.

Last year, there was an end of the year sale and there were tables full of books that were $0.10/each. I walked out with 13 books, 9 of which cost a total of $0.90 plus tax, along with the by the pound price of the other 4. I couldn’t leave behind this Everyman’s Library editon of The Last Chronicle of Barset, a series I’ve managed to collect all but 2, yet haven’t read any although they come highly recommend. (That needs to change this year).

Practically free

So now that I’ve shown you around the store, let me tell you how I managed to get those books at the beginning of the post for $1.51. I received an email coupon from the store, a little nudge to come back (although I think I picked up a few books last month). It was one of those, “We miss you, come back,” type of incentives so although I had recently received and ordered a few books online, it couldn’t hurt to look right? I initially had 4 books but the employee at the register told me I should try to find enough books to spend at least $5 to make it worth it. I spent about 3 hours in the store that day and found these books. I think the visit was definitely worth it, it’s almost like they gave me the books at the price I paid. Who could leave them?