Donate or Trade-in Your Books
The bookstore is on a book-buying pause until at least May 5th. Once Paper Portal is accepting books again, the bookstore will only be offering store credit for books (no cash option). Thank you for understanding!
Thanks for considering donating or trading in your books for store credit to Paper Portal. Please keep reading for full details on the process, as well as the types of books I’m looking for at the bookstore.
Process for Donating or Trading Books in to Paper Portal
Email Paper Portal with an initial inquiry + short description of your books and/or photos of the books. This is helpful to have an idea of the books beforehand. Plus, there are sometimes days or weeks when the shop is on a book-buying pause.
Setup a time via email to drop off your books. Generally Thursdays or Fridays will be best.
Drop off your books at the shop. They are not processed immediately - generally I’ll take the next 2-5 business days (Weds - Sun schedule) to look through them thoroughly before following up with a potential offer. Note: if you are simply donating books to Paper Portal, the process essentially wraps up here. While I don’t expect book donations, I definitely appreciate them!
If I decide to make an offer on some or all of the books you brought to the shop, I’ll send an email with a store credit option. Usually the store credit offer will be around 50% of the retail value that I would sell the books for.
If you accept the store credit offer, I’ll make note of that in the shop’s records so you can utilize your store credit on a future visit(s).
Please take a look below for more info on the types of books I’m most interested in for the bookstore, as well as notes on condition.
Condition of Books
One of the most important factors that determines whether or not I accept books is their condition. Used books aren’t expected to be pristine, but it’s unlikely I’ll want them if they have noticeable water damage or other stains, significant wear/damage to the spine or covers, major foxing/discoloration to the pages, or excessive highlighting or writing in the margins. For more rare/scarce books, I am more lenient on their overall condition than for common paperbacks and hardcovers.
Top Priorities for Books Right Now:
Sci-fi/Fantasy: including Afrofuturism, utopias/dystopias, post-apocalyptic, Indigenous Futurisms, vintage and classic books
Speculative Fiction: from magical realism to slipstream novels
Mythical Creatures (Dragons, Trolls, Orcs, Unicorns, Moomins, etc.)
Folktales and Mythology
Art books: including visual art, photography, architecture, sculpture, and dance — and especially in the realms of the fantastical and visionary
There’s sometimes exceptions to this list. Unsure? Just ask!