Dear Booksellers,
We are available by appointment to buy second-hand books in the Antiquarian Bookshop at 37 rue de la Bûcherie on Tuesdays from 12pm to 6.30pm and on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3pm to 6.30pm. To arrange a rendez-vous please contact alex@shakespeareandcompany.com or benbrown@shakespeareandcompany.com.
What we buy
It might be helpful to mention in advance the types of books that we are generally interested in. They are:
- Classic & Contemporary Fiction
- Poetry
- Philosophy (classic or contemporary)
- History (classic or contemporary)
- Religion & Spirituality
- Art (mostly smaller format books; i.e. not monographs)
- Mystery & Sci-Fi (classic or well-known)
- French & Paris interest
- Antiquarian books (rare & first edition)
We are primarily, although not exclusively, interested in paperbacks/softcovers. We rarely buy large format books.
What we don’t buy
We only accept books in good, solid, readable condition - without torn covers or spines; without excessive notes or underlining; and without water or mildew damage. We are unable to pay for any advanced reader's copies/uncorrected proofs. We usually don't consider genres that don't exist in the bookshop itself, such as Text Books.
Our Process
Please note we will have to go through all your books and pick the ones we're interested in. Anything we cannot pay for will be returned to you. Due to limited space, unfortunately we cannot accept book donations. For the same reason, we may ask you to wait outside the shop for your turn to sell.
Payment
Typically we offer between €0.50 and €1.00 for paperbacks, and €1.00 or €2.00 for hardbacks. However, please keep in mind these are merely estimates and that we cannot give a quote for any book without seeing it in person. Any cash payment requires us to take down your identification details (accepted documents: Passport, Valid ID, Titre de séjour & Driving licence). Please make sure you have one when visiting us. We are unable to pay for books without a valid ID. We can only give cash for books up to €300. For larger sums we will pay you via bank transfer and will ask you for your IBAN to do so. In this case we will issue a receipt and email it to you.
Selling Large Quantities Of Books
If you have more than 100 books to sell, we ask that you contact us to schedule an appointment or arrange a home visit (for over 350 books). To do so please don't hesitate to contact Alex Freiman at alex@shakespeareandcompany.com for any inquiries regarding your collections.
Some useful information to include in your message:
- Estimated number of books
- Condition of the books
- What type of subjects does your collection cover
- Photos of your book shelves with legible spines (rather than a list)
