The Book Trader — Local services in Philadelphia

People, you do NOT need to pay full price for used books! They expect you to pay full price for used books and people are willing to lmaoo they fail to understand that covid affected everyone, not just businesses. They’re not even willing to negotiate the price down. Remember, these classic stories are now public domain so they’re only selling you the used book’s pages, ink and binding; they should sell that at a FAIR price. Also, after you buy their used books at full price, they then buy them back at a lower price and keep your money as store credit! Sounds like a twisted Ponzi scheme all for a book that multiple people have handled before you. You should want to save your local business, but your local business should want to practice FAIR pricing with you. This place is not fair and they’re not worth the hassle.

Edit: Of course the shop is going to use classless ad hominem arguments against me because they simply can’t justify charging full price for a used copy of a $8.95 book printed in 2003. And do you not know what a Karen is? Lol there’s a difference between a Kaen and a discerning consumer. You wouldn’t know the difference tho. Also, you’re a USED bookstore, why are you citing prices from B&N? Do you think your used books are worth a new book price? You can virtue signal all you want, it’s a competitive market even for used books and I found the same book for $2.95 at another used bookstore in south philly today. You’re not selling me the words of these authors, you’re selling me the used pages, ink and binding of the books that were published in 2003 because these are now public domain. You should do that at a FAIR price. Face the music: you can’t compete in your own market, you can’t compete with Amazon and you can’t even negotiate a sale. Congratulations, you just...

I love old book shops like this and came all the way from another state to visit this Gem, it reminded me of a book shop with hidden treasures that you had to earn to find by digging. One thing that through me off though was the books all over the floors in piles. Ok managable. But it that plus that fact the bookselves are only 70 % organized & very cluttered made me feel overwhelmed. Then i opened some books and realized most were priced at 8+ ! ... Huh? Thats alot for a used book store and i believe this general price comes from laziness. Some were only worth 1, 3 at most but 8 was a price marked in most reg books bc the shop keepers are overwhelmed so thats a price they throw on any old book. Advice to owners, take some time to weed out the books that arent in demand and price them fairly! Books that are popular should be 8+, not every single book. I wanted to spend 100 and walk out with a good amount but i was limited due to this general pricing. Which is technically over pricing. All DVDS were 5$. Didnt matter how unpopular the movie was, all were 5. I know places that sell them for 1$ & in bundle deals. Take some time to sort through this boat load of inventory, do correct pricing & you will find your customers will he alot happier. But the whole Charm of the bookstar earned it 2 stars, and your beautiful cat earned it an extra one! Good...

This was my first time visiting and it was amazing! This place is two stories and is filled wall to wall with books and they also have DVDs and CDs. Some of the aisles are tight to walk through because they are just totally packed but that's part of the charm in my opinion. That being said if you have a wheelchair this may not be a great choice for you because you would have a difficult time moving around and there's no elevator so you wouldn't be able to access the second level which is where half their inventory is. The staff here is so friendly and they have really good prices. I was able to get three hardcovers and three CDs (all were in great condition) for a grand total of $35! Normally just three hardcover books would have cost me $80-$90 not even including the normal prices for CDs. Just a heads up they don't accept credit cards for purchases under $50 dollars so be sure to have some cash on you. They will also buy books DVDs and CDs from you but instead of cash they give you store credit. Bonus points for having a cat that lives in the store (I didn't see him this visit but hopefully next time)! I am a fan of this place and I will definitely be back.

Edit: So apparently I was misinformed about their buyback and credit card policies- oopsies! Please refer to their comment for the correct...