We Buy Used Books!

Yes, Hive Mind Books buys used books! We have a small budget for this, and limited storage space, which means that we are very selective about what we take. We are seasoned professionals who love books and are therefore highly discerning about what we take. This allows us to pay you more per item for the books that we do end up buying.

Books must meet the following criteria in order to be considered: 

  • First and foremost, we must believe that our specific bookshop has a market for these books. We have to believe we can reliably sell them. And these must be books we do not already have in stock. 

  • Books must be in excellent condition. Ask yourself: is this a book, in this condition, that I would buy off of a shelf or display table? 

  • No writing, highlighting, or marks of any kind can appear on the pages. Pages must be clean. (A book signed by its author is acceptable.) 

  • No torn, bent, or creased pages. No warped spines. Pages and book jacket must be intact. 

  • If a book is hardcover and originally had a dust jacket, it must still have its dust jacket and the jacket must be in very good condition (no tears; fading; heavy wear, etc). 

  • No mold, mildew, foxing, or stains of any kind. 

  • Children’s books must be in pristine condition. It is rare for us to buy used children’s books, as they have typically been too well-loved. 

We do NOT take the following:

  • Textbooks

  • Encyclopedias

  • Out of date manuals or reference materials

  • Christian fiction or devotionals

  • Abridged or condensed books

  • Spiral-bound books

  • Former library copies

  • Mass market paperbacks, unless they’re really cool

  • Anything we don’t think we can sell 

What we are looking for: 

  • A wide variety of quality fiction and nonfiction

  • Books by queer and trans authors

  • Books by BIPOC and marginalized authors

  • Graphic novels

  • Cool and weird books

What do we pay? 

  • Payment varies considerably based on the book’s condition and what we determine to be its market value. We pay a different price for each book we buy. 

  • We do not sell used books at the list price of a new copy, which means we do not pay based on the publisher’s list price printed on the book. We pay based on what we deem to be the book’s current market value. 

  • Payments are made in cash. We are not able to provide credit at this time. 

How do we review and buy the books? 

  • We ask you to please fill out the below form and submit a minimum of 3-5 photos of the books you’d like to sell.  

  • If we are interested in purchasing your books, we will discuss it with you. We may take some, but not all, of what you’re selling, or we may not wish to take any at all. We may not take any books until we have seen them in person for ourselves. 

  • If we do make an offer that you accept, we will make arrangements for retrieving the books from you. Payment will not be sent until we have received the books.


How far will we travel to buy books? 

  • The distance we will travel depends on the size and the value of your collection. 

  • Regions easily accessible for us: Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Jersey City, Hoboken, Newark. 

  • We are also frequently on Long Island and can travel throughout the rest of New Jersey. 

  • If we are unable to buy your books, we will do our best to make recommendations of other book buyers in your area.