When are your sales?

We regularly hold sales at each of our stores. All dates and details for upcoming sales can be found on our Sales page. In addition, teachers with ID receive 20% off every Wednesday and veterans with ID receive 20% off every Thursday.

Do you have [specific book] in stock?

Our books are heavily organized and categorized rather than indexed in a catalog system. If you’re looking for a specific title please ask any store associate to assist you in your search and he or she will be able to show you where the book will be located in the store. Coming soon, we’ll have a fully functional inventory look-up system which will allow store employees to search for a book in any and all stores. Stay updated about that development through our email newsletter.

Where do you get all of these books?

We purchase our books from multiple vendors and from our sister company, Got Books, and sort them by hand for quality before categorizing, alphabetizing and adding them to our shelves. We work with distributors to purchase New York Times Best Sellers as well.

Are you a nonprofit organization?

We are a for-profit company that works with and helps raise money for local nonprofits. Since 2007, Got Books (the sister company to Used Book Superstore) has raised more than $1,000,000.00 for local nonprofit groups through their fundraising program and other donations. Got Books and Used Book Superstore have also raised more than $90,000.00 for RARA (Remarkable, Active, Resilient Adults) since partnering in 2006. We also regularly donate to local schools through reading grants and to local organizations in need through donations for events, raffles and more. Read More>

Why don’t you have more [specific genre] books in stock?

Our inventory depends largely on what we have been able to order that week. At times certain categories are fuller than others because they may be very popular or we may not have purchased enough of a certain genre recently. The inventory fluctuates based on many variables, but we urge you to check back often to see what’s in our stores because we add thousands of items to our shelves every day! We’re now working with vendors to purchase new books and bestsellers, so watch the shelves…they’re filling up!

Will you open a store in my area?

We are always considering new store locations. We began our stores in the north of Boston area, as this is where our warehouse headquarters is located, but definitely plan on opening other retail locations south and west of Boston in the future. We often hear from people who want us to open stores in their area, and we hope to be able to be in every area at some point. Stay up to date on any new store openings via our email newsletter.

How can I donate books?

If you have books to donate bring them into any store (except our Saugus location) and receive a tax receipt on behalf of our nonprofit partner RARA (Remarkable, Active, Resilient Adults). We also accept donations of CDs, DVDs, records and audio books on their behalf. Can’t make it to a store? Got Books, the sister company of the Used Book Superstore, offers a free home pick-up service in many parts of MA and NH as well as hundreds of local drop-off containers around New England, though neither are tax-deductible. More info about these services can be found at www.GotBooks.com.

I haven’t received a coupon in the newsletter – what happened?

Occasionally we run a newsletter-exclusive sale which requires a coupon from our newsletter as a way to reward our subscribers. We sometimes hear of issues that arise with receiving these coupons which may happen for a few reasons. One, some people set their spam filters too high or don’t add newsletter@usedbooksuperstore.com to their safe contacts which may cause the newsletter to get filtered to a junk folder. Others sometimes assume that the coupon they are waiting for (in the event of a newsletter -exclusive sale) will be sent immediately upon signing up for the newsletter. This is not the case; subscribers will receive the coupon in the next regularly scheduled newsletter that goes out after they have subscribed. Others sometimes fail to subscribe to the newsletter in time and therefore miss the last newsletter that was sent with the coupon. If you are signed up for our newsletter in time for a newsletter-exclusive sale (we’ll always provide a final sign up date) you WILL be sent the coupon.

How often are books added to the shelves?

Each store puts new items on the shelves every day. Books are also removed from shelves everyday by either being purchased or by reaching the end of their life cycle and needing to be cleared to make room for new items, so the overall inventory of any store is different every single day.

Are all of the items in the store in used condition?

Most books are in gently used condition, however, we also work with vendors to offer brand new and bestselling books to our shelves. Other items are a mix of new and used and we often have many brand new items such as games, cards, puzzle books, toys and bookmarks available. Everything in the store meets our high standard of quality before it hits the shelves so you can be sure that we always have the highest quality product at the lowest possible price.

Who is Got Books and how do they relate to Used Book Superstore?

Got Books is the sister company to the Used Book Superstore and they sell books and media to the stores for inventory. Got Books is a book seller and professional fundraiser for local nonprofit groups. They provide a free pick-up service and local drop-off locations to collect used books and media to reuse and resell. Got Books opened its first retail book store in Burlington in 2008, though the two are now incorporated as separate entities. The sister companies are operated completely separately financially and otherwise. More information can be found at www.GotBooks.com.

How do books get from Got Books to the Used Book Superstore?

At the Got Books warehouse in Wilmington, the books go through a screening process where they are sorted by hand to determine their best possible use. When books have been set aside for sale at the Used Book Superstore, Got Books sells those books to the stores and delivers them to each location, where they are again sorted and organized by hand before they end up on the shelf for you to purchase.

Do you get all of your books for free?

We do not get any books for free. The stores buy every book we receive from outside vendors or from Got Books, our sister company, and the cost of sorting, handling, employee payroll, high retail rent, utilities and more also factors into the price. Often the stores buy a large lot of unsorted books, which then must be sorted through for quality and condition – not all of the books are in the right condition to go onto our sales floor. After that we must spend time alphabetizing, shelving and categorizing these books, which is very costly and time consuming. We also buy the books donated at the store from RARA (Remarkable, Active, Resilient Adults) and occasionally buy brand new New York Times Best Sellers from publishers.

Why are your fiction books in 3 different places?

We separate fiction books into hardcover, paperback and mass market paperback because we have found through feedback and surveys that most customers usually stick to one type of book. It also allows us to keep all mass markets paperbacks together on special shelves that can fit more copies of them, which ultimately means more selection for you.

Who is RARA?

RARA (Remarkable, Active, Resilient Adults) is the exclusive nonprofit partner of the Used Book Superstore and a group that Got Books, the sister company of the Used Book Superstore, has been partnered with since 2006. RARA is a small nonprofit group based in Lowell which promotes public awareness and understanding of the needs and issues specific to the developmentally delayed and their families. They offer classes and programs for developmentally delayed adults in the Greater Merrimack Valley region to provide access to social, recreational, educational and pre-vocational opportunities to clients. RARA is a part of the Got Books fundraising program and has placed many drop-off donation containers in their name, which each earn them money every time they fill. We buy everything that is donated at the stores from RARA, which allows the stores to give out a tax receipt on their behalf.