Book Exchange

This was the best bookstore in Austin. I went to it for almost 20 years. It made me very sad when Charlotte decided to close it at the end of December last year and not relocate it. Countless wonderful hours were spent in there over the years. My 11 year old daughter misses it too. We got some amazing books for her there at great prices. This was one of her favorite places to go.

Neither the website or the phone number listed on Unilocal work any more, does anyone know if they’re still open?

I love this place, great prices, wide selection and helpful staff. This place reminds me of a paperback bookstore my grandma used to take me to. It has everything you would want and best of all they tend to get a fresh batch of books in all the time. So checking back weekly eventually leads to getting that hard to find book you want.

Book exchange is a nice neighborhood used bookstore. Good selection, friendly staff, and a nice exchange policy. Still, I don’t see anything that earns 5 stars.

This is a great place for the voracious reader who believes in reduce, reuse, recycle. Unlike Half Price Books you get credit for every book you take in to exchange, they keep the information on file in case you want to just drop books off today and shop another day, they have a wonderful selection and the people who work there are extremely helpful and knowledgable. If you want an author and they don’t have anything they’re often able to recommend something similar. They have lots of older paperback books which are wonderful but are no longer in print, and they’re so inexpensive! They also often have copies of very new, high quality books which have a LONG waiting list at the library and with an exchange they’re very inexpensive.

Best bookstore in Austin. The owner is super nice, and the staff is knowledgeable.
Don’t let the industrial setting turn you off… this store is not as «hip» as others, but it’s the best deal in used books.
Don’t throw your books away at Half Price… take the to BE and get a great deal!

this place is the business and it is my contention with this review to try and throw some their way. if you have used books you no longer need, forget the misnomer that is half priced books and take them to the book exchange. they give you an extra discount on top of it already being half the listed price (even for old books that are marked 1.25, not marked out like at hpb). if you bring in something but don’t find anything you want (i suppose that could happen), they will keep your trade history on file for a subsequent visit. it’s not in a computer either, it’s a real life archaic index card filing system. you are into nora roberts or tom clancy you say? i cannot condone this behavior, but at least it’s better than dan brown and danielle steele. this is definitely the place for you then, as they have a metric shit ton of each. it’s the perfect blend of popular and obscure that makes this book store great, and they offer free jelly beans by the register. i have happened across some incredible finds, and it’s so inexpensive it almost feels like stealing (almost). whatever you are looking for, the genial staff will help you find it. however, i recommend just going with a blank slate to see what you can discover.

If you have an unhealthy addiction to paperback romance novels like I do, then this is the place to get your fix. It’s also the place for you if you happen to be addicted to science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, westerns, or regular paperback bestsellers.
I do go to Half-​Price Books for a lot of my more «serious» books, but even half price is too much to pay for my happily ever after fluff that I’ll finish in an hour or two and forget 15 minutes later. When you bring in your already read paperbacks to Book Exchange, you get an extra discount on the used books you buy. They keep a little card at the counter with your name and the number of books you’ve brought in. Then when you buy books, if you have a trade-​in credit, you’ll pay only ¼ of the cover price for the book.
The books are well alphabetized and organized by genre so it’s easy to find what you’re looking for. They’re a great local business that’s celebrating 30 years in Austin, so go check them out!