The Book Exchange

Came here to see if they could look at an old book that I had and see if it was worth anything. They were very friendly and told me that they couldn’t really price a signed and dedicated book of that age. The employee then recommended another book seller out in Ocean View, Virginia Beach.
The store was clean, very large, friendly employees, and plenty of parking in Wards corner.
Even though they couldn’t help me with what I needed, they provided a good first impression and I could be back in the future if needed.

They had a great Unilocal $ 10 for $ 20 deal. The girl was helpful when I needed to find a book title. Books were all half off from the price on the book so it was already a great deal.
Support local book shops instead of big retail companies. They win with your business and you save $$ as well! Will definitely go back again!

It was ok. Good price, average selection. I tried to use the 50% discount that Unilocal offers but the check out lady did it wrong and I got confused and ended up not getting the discount. Not a big deal since it only would have saved me $ 6 but a little frustrating.

I’ve been coming here since I was in my single digits, back when Wards Corner was inhabited and dinosaurs roamed the earth. This is a great place to get all your media in exchange for cash or store credit. They now give you a store credit card so that if you lose your credit, it’s on you and not the store. I love finding something new everytime I come in and the staff always remembers me. Truly a great place to shop.

Came here looking for something in particular and they were very accommodating! Found what I wanted and they were even able to put my name on the list if they came across more books in the series… Very professional and courteous.

A good selection, not a great one. That being said, staff are excellent and very helpful. Between the books and the music selection there are many to choose from. There are good deals to be found.

Nice place to clean out your bookshelf to get some store credit and buy different books! They also have DVDs, CDs, & records (if I remember correctly). When you take books to «trade in» they give you a little card with your balance which can be easy to loose, so keep it in a safe spot.
Even if your not trading books it’s a nice place to stop in and browse. All books are sold at half price of the original book price. So for older books it’s probably a good deal, some of the newer books it may not be. They also do charity sales so check their Facebook page from time to time.

Loved this place! We stopped at several other bookstores before making it to this spot but so glad we did. The first bookstores that we stopped at you had to have an appointment and call days ahead to have your books looked at for exchange. This place we walked and she said she’d have a total for us within the next ten minutes!
Easy to browse selection of books, everything was organized and easy to find. We will be coming back here soon!

Big fan of shopping local, therefore I’m a big fan of the Book Exchange.
They take in books, dvds, cds, and vinyl records for store credit. There is no limit to the amount of items you can bring in either! They base the items taken in trade on popularity, condition, and current inventory. For books, you’ll get ¼ of the cover price in store credit. For DVDs you’ll get $ 4 per dvd. For CDs and Vinyl, you’ll get $ 2.50 in store credit.
If they can’t take something because we already have a copy, they welcome you to try it back another time. You can also donate items to their charity sale that they have every other month. All of those sales benefit a local charity.
The store is VERY CLEAN and organized, unlike most used book stores. If you can’t find something you’re looking for, the friendly staff will most certainly help or they can order it for you.
The books are always half off the original retail price, so it’s always a really good deal. Plus,
there’s an active duty military discount, as well as one for teachers! The credit you receive can be used on books, movies, cds, and records too, not just their books.
Definitely will return!

Moving to Ward’s Corner was a little bit of an upgrade from our previous place with a couple grocery stores really close, a couple of restaurants that my family enjoys and finally our very own place to live without having to share with others. I noticed this little Movie/​Music/​Book store right away and was a little excited. However, since moving here almost 5 months ago I’ve only visited twice due to a few characteristics that the store has. Both times I was ignored after the initial quaint welcome which lead to me seeking help. When asked questions they seemed bothered by their body language, rolling of the eyes, and uninterested/​lack of speech (female worker with a nose ring). I came in to trade some stuff and was looking around while they checked on my items. I found many books I wanted but saw that they were priced between $ 20-​$ 30, and these were books that had been out for 15 – 35 years that are available on Amazon (authorized) for all under $ 10. After 30 minutes of looking around I was asked if I was finished shopping… WHAT??? Ignoring the obvious rudeness from the older woman I simply shook my head, grabbed my stuff that they were «looking over» and walked out. The only reason they got 1 star from me was because of the long haired brunette that greeted was the only one who cared of my presence and that they have a decent selection of material with a set $ 4 trade in value. Good luck with these gals because other than the youngest one there (brunette) they will have their claws out and ready for out-​of-​the-​nowhere defensiveness.

The store is well-​kept, and it’s very inviting. The music was great, and I enjoyed browsing the bookshelves while listening to it. The staff is helpful and welcomed us into the store. There were a lot of interesting titles. The books are sorted by genre and audience. I was surprised to see DVDs there also, and the DVD selection was wide. There are fun seats and corners around the shop for people to sit and read if they’re interested. I would go back for sure. They only reason why I gave this store 4 stars and not five is because for some books the prices were marked really high, especially when the book has markings on it from the previous owner. But, overall, it’s a great place to shop at.

This is my favorite locally-​owned business in Hampton Roads.
It’s clean, quiet, well-​stocked, and a good member of the community – they have charity drives about once a month. Their credit policy is eminently fair.
They also have an unusually large stock of non-​book products, which is always nice if one’s reading pile is already big.

This is a decent little bookstore. I assume it’s a Mom & Pop place since I’ve never heard of it before.
I only exchanged money for books so I can’t comment on their buying. As for their their selling, all books are priced at 50% of their original value. So for some new books that start at 24.99 that may not be that great a deal. For older books it usually is a good deal.
As for selection this is a lot smaller than a Half Price Books. The aisles are narrow to navigate. They have movies as well but no board games.

My husband started frequenting this charming used bookstore when he lived in the Ward’s Corner area. Now that we’ve moved to another part of the city, we don’t make it up here as often now.
As is the case with all used bookstores, the selection varies greatly each time you go in, and it’s fun to discover new treats on each visit. It always seems to be sunny when we are up that direction, and the front of the shop can get pretty toasty with the sun streaming in, but it makes it feel cozy and welcoming.
They do accept books, movies, and music for credit, and for things that they can’t take to sell, they can usually put into their charity sale, which is a sale to benefit a charity that changes over time. They advertise when they’ll be hosting the sales on their Facebook page, so you should Like them if you’re interested in knowing when those sales happen. It’s very inexpensive (50 cents for a paperback, $ 1 for hardcovers, $ 7 for a shopping bag full, I think), and all of the proceeds go to good causes.
There are lots of different genres available, from fiction to old yearbooks! I do wish they had more segmentation in the Fiction section. They do pull out the mysteries into their own section, as well as sci-​fi/​fantasy, which is helpful, but there are so many other ways to segment fiction books these days that I hardly want to wade through the whole section to find the types of books I enjoy in that broad genre.
A note to anyone who has store credit there: they are changing their system. Instead of maintaining a record of your credit in the store, they are transitioning to a card that you must bring with you. If you go over a year without visiting the store, the credit on your card will expire. I assume at some point, they will consider all of the credit left at the store expired as well, so I would recommend stopping in and getting up to date if you have credit here.
Overall, nice place, but a little out of the way for me anymore.

This is such a neat store. There is a wide variety of books — and constantly changing stock! If you are unsure about purchasing one, do it! I’ve had multiple times where I waffled on purchasing one, only to find it gone the next time (and not that long afterwards too). The staff is very helpful, friendly and knowledgable.

New favorite place?! So many books (as well as CDs, DVDs, etc) and a wide variety of subjects/​authors. Not only was the store great but the employees are golden and go out of their way to be helpful. This place is a bit of a drive for me but we’ll worth it!
And as far as pricing– they sell their books half off and give credit on books you bring in based off of their condition, how many copies they already have and they also prefer not to sell hardback.

I came here because I am a book hoarder. After realizing that I still have boxes of books I never unpacked when I moved a year ago. So… to The Book Exchange I went. Very cool place. I gave the man at the desk my bin of books and was able to wander around the aisles (my happy place) until he was ready to give me my total. They don’t really take hardback books, FYI and wouldn’t you know most of the credit I got from my books, I spent on more cool books. *sigh* At least now I know where to go when I’m ready to clean out my books again.

Incredible place. I was so sad when I found out the closest Half-​Price Books was 5 hours away, but I think The Book Exchange is even better! They’ve expanded so there is a book section and an audio/​video section. They’ve also renovated the outside (hooray for renewing Ward’s Corner) and it looks much cleaner now. The staff is always friendly and helpful and they in addition to the 50% off everything, they give deals through LivingSocial, Unilocal,and Facebook. I love their charity book sales also.

This is a very cool little new and used book store. Unlike a lot of places around this part of town the owners have put a great deal of work into the interior of their store. In fact you’re going to feel like you’re stepping into a little bistro down in Ghent once you walk in the door.
Their trade in policy is fair and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. There’s plenty of parking as well. If you’re a avid reader you’ll want to check them out.