Where are you located?
81 Greenwood Avenue (Route 302) in Bethel, CT. We are located in the red building next to Citgo, across from the Masonic Temple and Caraluzzi's Bethel Food Market. There is parking on the street in front, or to either side. You can get full directions here, for coming by either bus, train, driving, or biking.
What are your hours?
| Tuesday | Noon to 6PM |
| Wednesday | Noon to 6PM |
| Thursday | Noon to 6PM |
| Friday | 11AM to 7PM |
| Saturday | 10AM to 6PM |
| Sunday | Closed |
| Monday | Closed |
What kind of payments do you accept?
At the store I accept payment in cash or personal check. By mail, personal check, cashiers' check, or money order made payable to "Rainy Day Paperback Exchange". I accept credit card and debit cards payments online for online purchases through PayPal. I do NOT accept credit or debit cards at the physical store. (though there is an ATM located right next door)
Do you have new books?
Generally, no. We have some new specialty books listed on Biblio. We also carry new small-press books by local non-profit groups. Other than that, we do not carry new books.
Do you buy books?
Short answer, no. Long answer, yes, but not from individuals. I will sometimes purchase books at library sales, tag sales, or estate sales, but will not normally purchase books from individuals. There is another used book store down the street that will consider buying books. They deal primarily in rare books and first editions.
How do you get books then?
I will accept books for store credit.
How does credit work?
I give you one quarter of the cover price as store credit. Books in the store are sold at half their cover price.You may pay half of that price in store credit, the other half is paid in cash. Here's two examples:
You bring me a book with a cover price of $4.00. I give you $1.00 in store credit.
You decide to buy a book with a cover price of $4.00. It costs $2.00. You pay $1.00 in cash and $1.00 in store credit. If you have no credit, you pay $2.00 in cash. (plus the appropriate sales tax. Only the real cash is taxed).
What kind of books do you accept?
I accept books on all subjects. I generally only accept paperbacks. I may reject books for the following reasons:
Why not multiple copies?
Its largely an issue of space. I can take back every copy of John Grisham's The Firm everyone brings me and have a whole bookcase of those, or I can refuse to take back excess copies and fill that same bookcase with all kinds of different books. That means more variety for you when you come in.
Will you take back books I bought at your shop?
Sometimes. I do not automatically give you credit for bringing back books you bought at my shop. I may reject them for any of the reasons previously stated. Note there are also some books in the store which are heavily discounted and marked "no return" or simply "NR" on the top or bottom. I will not take these back, period. That's why they're called No Returns.
Do you take hardcovers?
Short answer, no. Slightly longer answer, sometimes. I will almost always accept hardcovers on the following topics:
Do you know anyone who will take hardcovers? I just want them out of the house.
You can try the two other bookstores in town. Relay Bookhouse is at 104 Greenwood Avenue and deals primarily in rare books and first editions. Camelot Shoppe at 14 PT Barnum Square (which is off Greenwood Ave) specializes in history and military books. They also sell model soldiers for wargaming.
If neither of them are interested, consider donating your books to a good cause. Nursing homes, hospices, hospitals, and shelters will often accept books so they can put them in lending library. Or you may donate books to Salvation Army or Goodwill.
You can also try offering your books on Freecycle, an e-mail list that lets people offer free stuff to people to come, please, get this stuff out of the house!
Do you accept anything else for credit?
I will accept comic books and books on tape.
Do you carry anything besides books?
I carry comics, books on tape, and the Rage Collectable Card Game (both versions)
The what?
Rage Collectable Card Game. Think of Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh, but with werewolves. For a slightly longer explanation, check out this splash page. Or if you want to get really detailed, check out River Von. If your kids are pestering you to buy them Rage, but you're not sure, you can check out the Parents Guide to Rage.
I really like the artwork at the store, can I buy prints?
Not currently. Some of the artists have their own website and offer similar items for sale, or can be commisioned to do a piece to your specifications (for less than you might think!) For more information on artists, check out the Artists Page.
What's the dog's name? What kind is she? How'd you get her? How old is she?
All these questions and more are answered by reading Mana's bio.
Who built the website? what program did you use?
I built the website myself. I use Macromedia Dreamweaver. I do some of the html coding by hand, but I use Dreamweaver for all the tables because they're tedious to do by hand.