2nd & Charles — Local services in Madison

In two words - different and quirky. But in totally good ways. The 2nd & Charles location in Madison, AL has been here going on 2+ years and was a replacement? swap out? for a Books-A-Million store that closed just 1/2 mile away. At first I was very bummed out about my local BAM store closing but I've really warmed up to this 2nd & Charles.

I had several dozen old LP records just gathering dust in the garage, a mashup of several genres from the 60s and 70s, that a coworker had bestowed on me 10+ years ago when he was cleaning out his own garage. :0 I sorted out the 33 LP records I wanted and took the rest to 2nd & Charles. Many dozens I took back. So 2nd & Charles goes through them and accesses them and you have the option to either take a cash payout or store credit. You're probably better off taking store credit in most cases. I've done the same with old books too. Obviously, comic books, DVDs, old games and puzzles that are all complete, in the original box with no missing pieces. 2nd & Charles goes way beyond your small scale comic book store. Be advised that they won't necessarily buy back everything you bring in to them, so you can either take it back or toss it into the freebie bin they have at the entrance, what treasuries will you find in here??? ;-) I once saw George W. Bush's autobiography in the freebie bin from a few years ago. :-p

I've bought some cool Star Wars board games, still NIB (new in box), a 1977 original Star Wars puzzle, and just today snagged a 1st Edition book from their rare book section. This was a really neat surprise today, I wasn't looking for this particular book but I couldn't resist because I'm a military history buff. The book is a 1st Edition - "Reminiscences" by Douglas MacArthur, published originally in 1964. I'm over the moon with this unexpected discovery.

Give this place a whirl, stop in and just take some time to browse around. If you're like me, it's going to grow on you and you'll come to love it. You'll wonder how you managed without one! Just don't expect hardly anything for your books, DVDs, CDs, and the like because you will receive FAR LESS than selling these items yourself like in a garage sell, eBay, or fakebook marketplace.

And the prices you'll pay for their retail items are no...

omgggg. i usually love coming here! it is actually a safe space of mine to go shop! i had my first terribleeeee interaction with an employee today :’) i had walked in with a friend , and it was raining so i had an umbrella, and i had walked up to the desk to ask someone if i could put my umbrella somewhere up near them so i could shop and not hold the wet umbrella ( why would anyone want to hold a wet umbrella while shopping…. ) & i have worked at manyyy retail places / stores and have never had a problem with accommodating a guest / being helpful when it it’s literally just about an UMBRELLA… don’t know her name but she had blue hair. was so so rude and visibly angry that i dared to ask her a question… & i’m so nice too :’) lolol i was smiling and in a friendly tone.. she says with a straight annoyed face “We use this counter.” i still say smiling, “ Oh…! well thats ok, it doesnt have to be like right here, just anywhere up here where i dont have to hold onto it!” as there is sooo much space.. she says “You can put it over there.” and i looked over to where this ledge was right by the door where you come in … i wanted it to be near employees rather than near where anyone could take it, and i let her know, and all she said was “ People don’t usually do that, so…” and she just kept a straight face the whole time and i was just like.. “oh okay then!… “ and i walked away to my friend and we definitelyyy talked about her , how she was a mean girl, and how she should NOT be working in customer service… big yikes! i love this store and the other employee who ended up checking me out was very nice ! i believe once the negative atmosphere is gone, i will be able to shop here once again / show more friends the store! i had already introduced soo many people to this store. really does not seem the best thing to do right now if there is a very hostile and bitter employee! i hope it gets settled and i can return happily shopping! really don’t wanna have to drive super far for...

Visited today for the first time. I had a pleasant experience in the store until it was time to check out. The first register had issues reading my card and I was advised it was "notorious for that" and moved to another terminal with another clerk. She rang up my books and ran my card all smoothly. She then went on to let me know that since I was a "valued customer at 2nd and Charles" they were offering their clients a free 2 month magazine subscription. Sure, sounds fine. I give her my DL for my name and address, and picked out the magazines I was interested in checking out. She made sure to give me c a card and the receipt with a 1800 number to call and make changes to the subscription. I assumed that after 2 months I would receive an offer in the mail to complete the sign up (my billing info) if I wanted to continue. When I pressed her on the, she finally clarified that they (2nd and Charles) send my debit/credit card info that I used for my book purchase transaction to this magazine company for automatic enrollment after 2 months. It was now up to me to call and cancel the subscriptions, but could only do so "after about a week" when they'd recieved my information. I let her know that the whole process was very misleading, that I was not comfortable with them providing my card info to a 3rd party, and was essentially told it is what it is. They'd already closed out the transaction and I needed to wait a few days and call to cancel. I found the whole thing extremely frustration and unnecessary. While I'm sure they benefit in some way from working with the magazine company, Its unfortunate that 2nd and Charles chooses to treat their customers in such a misleading and hassle inducing process. They should let people know up front that the free magazine trial required you to allow them to transmit your billing information, from the very start, allowing customers to make an informed decision. The whole thing ruined the experience for me and I won't be...