BUYING POLICIES

Customers may bring in items to sell or trade, without making an appointment, every day that we are open. In 2006, over 300 customers each day brought in their unwanted book and media items to each of our locations. Most of these orders were processed by our highly trained staff in under an hour, though some larger orders, or orders received during high volume times, took longer.

Our customers are our primary suppliers. By allowing community members to receive cash or trade credit for their unwanted items, and then offering those items for sale to our customers, McKay encourages responsible reuse of resources.

MULTIMEDIA

Age Limits:

Our computer software is subject to age limits.

Condition:

We accept scratched and “very scratched” CDs and video games. However, some DVDs and software may be rejected due to condition. We perform a visual check of all audio books and VHS tapes, and reject any that are in poor condition.

Hardware:

McKay buys and sells a wide variety of video game and MP3 hardware. All video game systems and MP3 players must come with the necessary parts so that we can test them. We only accept hardware that is in good working condition.

BOOKS

Age Limits:

Nonfiction and hardback fiction is subject to age limits, which vary from topic to topic and with different authors.

Condition:

McKay only accepts items that we deem to be in sellable condition. We do not accept discarded library books or books that have been issued by school systems.

Hardback Fiction:

The selection of hardback fiction titles we accept is limited. In most cases, we do not accept hardback fiction titles without their dust jackets.

College Textbooks:

We do accept college textbooks, but there are age limits on most of them. We sell these books at a far lower price than the schools; because of our low prices, we are not able to offer you much for your college textbooks. We suggest you attempt to sell current college textbooks at school before bringing them to us.

Encyclopedia Sets:

McKay accepts complete encyclopedia sets printed within the last ten years, provided they are in good condition.

REJECT ITEMS

We accept a wide variety of items, provided we believe we can sell them. However, there are certain types of items that we do not take. These include the following:

Age Limits: We have age limits on items in certain areas of the store. CDROMS and most nonfiction books are subject to age limits.

Audio books not in their original packaging.
CDs not in their original packaging
Custom published textbooks
DVDs not in their original packaging
Free items: In general, items that come free with purchase or are handed out free by religious groups or other organizations are not accepted.
Library books: McKay does not accept current or discarded library books.
National Geographic Magazines
Periodicals: we accept on a very limited number of used magazines and periodicals.
Reader’s Digest Condensed Fiction
Reader’s Digest Magazines
Ring-bound books are not accepted
Sets: In most cases, sets (CD, books, videos, and books on tape) must be complete in order for us to accept them.
Stapled: We accept a very limited selection of staple-bound books.
Study guides, solution manuals, and lab manuals (even if you have the accompanying text)
Textbooks: We do not accept textbooks if there is any writing in the “Issued To” box at the front of the book.
VHS not in the original packaging

Items we reject from your order will be returned to you at your request. If you do not want them, we will place them in the free boxes at the front of the store. Reject items from drop off orders and large orders are not returned to you.

BLUE AND YELLOW TRADE CREDIT

McKay issues trade credit for items brought in by customers. McKay trade credits come in two colors: BLUE and YELLOW.

Blue credit may be used for books, audio books, and VHS tapes. They cannot be redeemed for anything else in the store.
Yellow credit my be redeemed for anything in the store except items, such as posters, which are designated “cash only.”

Other things you should know about trade credit:

Trade credits never expire.
Blue credit cannot be converted to yellow credit.
Trade credits cannot be converted to cash.
We are unable to replace lost trade slips.

LARGE ORDERS

The number of items we can process on a given day from any one customer is limited. Typically, we are able to process about three normal-sized boxes of books or one normal-sized box of audio-visual items for each customer. You are welcome to bring in larger numbers of items, but it may take us days—or, sometimes, even weeks—to complete large orders, depending on how many other orders we have to work on. All unacceptable items from large orders will be discarded, and we can mail payment to you if you wish.