Talking about selling books for cash, I just got an amazing e-mail from someone who used to work as a used book buyer in Seattle but no longer does. It seems to be a definitive list:

This is an important question you've raised. I've got a scientific answer for you. Possibly wordy. Apologies in advance.

Ethical used bookstores pay between 25 - 30% of their selling price (which is, in turn, generally half the current retail price) in cash. Trade is generally 50% of sale price. Here's how it breaks down in Seattle:

Elliott Bay Book Company: used books priced below industry norm, sellers get about 20% cash, sometimes less.

Third Place: Slightly better prices, sellers receive about 25%. Sellers run the risk of having valuable books go unnoticed and/or underpriced. I think the buying is better at the Lake Forest Park store, where they also buy in larger volume.

Twice Sold Tales Capitol Hill and Queen Anne: Book prices are higher here on average, and sellers receive 25% in cash, higher on better books.

Twice Sold Tales U District: Prices the same as the other two, but they pay 30% cash, 45% trade. You do need an appointment.

Magus: Pays the best in the city, hands down - prices are, on average, higher, and their cash offers start at 30%, going to 40% on higher-priced items, like university press publications, textbooks, and collectibles. They require appointments but will take walk-ins when there's time. They buy in large quantities, but are often already overstocked on popular fiction - sellers do better with academic books, foreign languages, and classics. One of the few places that will buy your books even with writing or coffee stains in them. If you have something really fancy and high-end, they'll pay 50%.

University Bookstore: Buys with great care and accuracy, but pays less - and buys less - than their U District neighbors. They also buy for Powells, and can offer a lowball price for books that the U Bookstore can't use but that Powell's can.

Spine and Crown: same as Magus, but smaller stock, and therefore buys less.

That's my insider, used-book round-up.

Many thanks to the Anonymous-Former-Used-Book-Buyer, who also advises prospective book sellers to "always call ahead, make sure the store is buying for cash, and ask what percentage they pay for books. If the store won't give you a figure, don't go there - that's a solid rule of thumb." And, finally, the AFUBB also wants me to remind you all that "no one gets rich selling general used books."

(Photo of Magus Books by Joe Mabel from Wikimedia Commons.)