Kazoo Books

I have driven past this used book store for 15 years and never stopped in. It has zero curb appeal, but I had some books to trade in and stopped in. It is so much bigger than the small front looks and cleaner. They have a great selection of every genre. All the used books look almost new. It is well organized. As you can see from the picture, the chair and fireplace look very inviting, but I was the only person in the store.
My books I brought in were in new condition, but I don’t think I got a fair value. It came to about $ 2 a book for hard cover. I have been donating them previously and I will go back to doing that.

Yeah! What a little gem! I had never been in here until today, but had driven by it and didn’t really ever stop in because it looked a little dusty. I’m so glad that I came in today! They had a great selection, and the staff was really kind about recommendations. I was listening in to the conversation between the owner and a man who was in looking for a novel for his 14 year old daughter, keyword: angst. The owner was awesome about pointing him in the direction of Stephanie Meyer and John Green.
They also have a lovely little area with the table and a chair by a little fireplace to read in the store if you want to. And they do fair value on the book exchanges that you bring in. Although they’re only looking for quality books that will actually sell, which explains why their stock is so good.

This second branch of Kazoo books is a delightful new and used bookstore. I found the selection to be quite broad, and they were willing to order anything you need. I especially liked that they marked down the price on a lot of their new books and that they drew attention to local authors.
A few tips for those interested in checking it out:
** Both branches have store cats. In this store, Aztec lives in the main building. There’s an annex with classic literature that’s cat free. Aztec wasn’t an «in your face» type of cat, a little rubbing up against my bag and otherwise it seemed content to do its own thing.
** Trade-​in policy: You can use trade-​in credits toward 100% of the price of used books or 50% of the price of new books. You do have to pay the sales tax on all books (can’t use credit). For example, if you have $ 10 in credit, you can buy a $ 5 used book with trade-​in credit, but would have to pay an extra 30 cents or so in sales tax. The other wrinkle is you have to pay the publisher’s price on new books if you use your credits. They mark down the price on many of the new books — e.g., $ 20 for a booked marked $ 25 by the publisher — so if you wanted to use your credit you would use the $ 10 credit and then pay the extra $ 15 plus sales tax.
** Trade-​in Credit Tracking: They do this on computer, which is awesome! No more losing the little slips that have your used credits on them (like I used to do with Green Apple Books in SF).
** Genre Books: If you’re interested in a particular genre, it’s worth calling first to ask which branch has a better selection. I like fantasy, and while the selection here was good, they told me they have much more fantasy at their Clarendon location.
Great vibe. The staff there was friendly and helpful. I’ll definitely be back.