Specializing in quality used and out-of-print books since the Twentieth Century

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Treasure Island Books was established 1997 and we purchased the store in December 1999 in Salem, Oregon. In 2003 we closed our brick-and-mortar location and moved our entire inventory to our home in nearby Keizer where we now run our business exclusively online.

In June 2010 we opened the Treasure Island Books Annex located at http://tibooks.etsy.com where we feature arts and crafts books, patterns, ephemera, and tattered books suitable for altered art projects.

In April 2011 we opened Tess Creates located at http://TessCreates.etsy.com where we offer the pretty things Tess makes, the vintage treasures she finds, and various crafting supplies.

Tess' hand-crafted bookmarks are also listed for sale here on our website (please see the link at the top of this page).

Ours is a non-smoking home. We do have a little goober dog named Henry but you can rest assured he will not have shed upon nor snorfled in any of our inventory.

We do not accumulate customer information for any sort of mailing list.

We don't sell our customer information and don't even use it ourselves beyond the book order.

We never spam.

Since we don't process credit card purchases in-house, we do not have access to any of that information.

Above all, we respect your privacy.

Because we love books and understand readers like you, we examine everything we list for quality and do our best to accurately describe them. Most of our inventory's condition is rated between “Very Good Plus” and “Very Good Minus.” We only list books in “Good” or “Poor” condition when they are particularly interesting.

Typically, if you don't see a complete description it's because the item has been rated “New” or “As New.”

Please refer to our How We Rate and Describe Our Books section, below, for more information.

We typically only ship via the United States Postal Service (USPS). We charge the exact shipping amount according to the weight of the package shown on our electronic postage scale.

We do not charge a handling fee, no matter how large your order or where it is sent.

Please refer to our Shipping Information page for full details.

Should you have specific questions about any one of our books or other items, please know we don't have such a huge, unwieldy inventory that we don't know where our books are. We can locate a title in our inventory in a matter of moments because they are all right here, not stored in some warehouse across town or in another state. We know our inventory well and we can provide you with further information and scans or photos via email within a short time.

TREASURE ISLAND BOOKS IS A GREEN COMPANY!

Our books and other items are shipped in secure wrapping materials which can include combinations of any of these whenever possible: RECYCLED, CLEAN plastic bags, paper bags, wrapping paper, bubble wrap, foam wrap, chipboard, and cardboard. We often use clean plastic shopping bags to cushion books in cardboard boxes. These recycled supplies may be crumpled and perhaps a bit torn and repaired but there's life in 'em yet and we'd rather put them to good use rather than throw them away! We ask that if you cannot find another use for these materials, please recycle them after you've unwrapped your package.

Using recycled shipping materials helps keep our costs down. We pass those savings along to you in the form of quality used and out-of-print books that are fairly priced, as well as shipping costs that are as low as we can make them and without any handling fees.

HOW WE RATE AND DESCRIBE OUR BOOKS

We have seven book condition categories, the parameters for which we have created. We do not subscribe to any so-called “official” book condition rating system. Rather, we feel that simple common sense combined with honesty suffices for our customers' needs. We understand that you cannot see and hold the books you're shopping for online. To that end, we strive to provide book and dust jacket descriptions that are as accurate as possible, but we do sometimes make errors. Please understand that it's a judgement call to rate the condition of a book and dust jacket, and that each is unique. A book and dust jacket may have a few of one flaw and many of another and none of a third. We evaluate the book or dust jacket as a whole and assign them the most logical category. It's important to note that a book can have one condition rating and its dust jacket another.

“NEW”

ONLY books which are still in the original publisher's shrink wrap are labeled as “New” by us. These books and their dust jackets have no wear at all. Since most publishers do not use shrink wrap, the next category we have for books that are in exceptional condition is “As New.”

“AS NEW”

These books and their dust jackets are in as-new condition with no discernible wear. They may actually be new but not in the original publisher's shrink wrap, if the publisher used it at all. Such titles will not have any creases, may be signed by the author but have no marks other than possibly a remainder mark on the page bottoms, will have tight, solid bindings, and lie square and flat. These books and their dust jackets will have no odor or water damage. Please note: Some of our inventory may be listed as “Near Fine” instead of “As New.” It's the same thing and we're now going with “As New.” We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

“VERY GOOD PLUS”

These books and their dust jackets are judged on the total amount of wear they have been subjected to. Such titles may have some but not all of the wear described here such as very little reader or shelf wear and very little edge or corner wear. Bindings will be tight and solid, and the books will lie square and flat. There may be a minimal amount of marks such as a prior owner's name written in the book and possibly a remainder mark on the page bottoms. They may be signed by the author. Spines on paperbacks will have zero or one shallow crease, and covers may be very slightly rubbed. Dust jackets will be intact or may have one or two closed tears so tiny as to be considered edge wear. Dust jackets may be missing from books which were published with them. These books will have no odor or water damage.

“VERY GOOD”

These books and their dust jackets are judged on the total amount of wear they have been subjected to. Such titles may have some but not all of the wear described here such as minor reader and shelf wear, and minor edge and corner wear. Bindings will be tight and solid but may have slightly cocked (crooked) spines. Paperbacks may have some creases in their spines and may have slightly sprung covers. There may be a couple of shallow creases to the covers of paperbacks and covers may be rubbed although cover art will remain clear and bright. Interior paper and paperback covers that are predominately a light color may have started to tan with age. Covers of paperbacks and dust jackets of hardcovers may be sunned (faded) (usually on the spine), but the text will remain clear. In addition to possibly a remainder mark on the page bottoms, there may be interior marks such as a prior owner's name written inside or a very few light pencil notations. They may be signed by the author. Dust jackets may have a crease, a few small closed tears, or some slight chipping (pieces missing from the edges). Dust jackets may be missing from books which were published with them. These titles may have a very slight odor such as cigarette smoke or “old book” fragrance but it will be faint.

“VERY GOOD MINUS”

These books and their dust jackets are judged on the total amount of wear they have been subjected to. Such titles may have some but not all of the wear described here such as minor reader and shelf wear, and minor edge and corner wear. Bindings will be tight and solid but may have cocked (crooked) spines. Paperbacks may have several creases in their spines and may have slightly sprung covers. There may be some creasing to the covers of paperbacks and covers may be rubbed although cover art will remain clear and bright. Interior paper and paperback covers that are predominately a light color may have tanned with age. Covers may be sunned (faded) (usually on the spine) or slightly soiled, but the text will remain mostly clear. There may be slight foxing (brown spotting) on interior paper but the spots will be few. In addition to possibly a remainder mark on the page bottoms, there may be interior marks such as a prior owner's name written inside or pencil notations. They may be signed by the author. Dust jackets may have a couple of creases, some small closed tears, or some slight chipping (pieces missing from the edges). Dust jackets may be missing from books which were published with them. These titles may have a slight odor such as cigarette smoke or “old book” fragrance.

“GOOD”

We consider these titles to be reader's copies; worn books that are sufficient for that use but probably aren't ones that someone would actively seek out for collecting. However, there are some exceptionally collectible titles in this category that some customers may want to add to their permanent collections. These books and their dust jackets are judged on the total amount of wear they have been subjected to. Such titles may have some but not all of the wear described here such as some reader and shelf wear, and some edge and corner wear. Corners may be bumped on hardcover books or curled on paperbacks. Bindings may be slightly loose and may have cocked (crooked) spines or curved spines on paperbacks from bending. Paperbacks may have several creases in their spines and may have sprung covers. There may be some creasing to the covers of paperbacks and covers may be rubbed although cover art will generally remain clear and bright. Interior paper and paperback covers that are predominately a light color may have tanned with age. Covers may be sunned (faded) (usually the spine), slightly soiled, or have slight damage such as scuffing. There may be some foxing (brown spotting) on interior paper. In addition to possibly a remainder mark on the page bottoms, there may be interior marks such as a prior owner's name written inside or pencil or pen notations. They may be signed by the author. Dust jackets may have creases, closed tears, open tears, or chipping (pieces missing from the edges). Dust jackets may be missing from books which were published with them. These titles may have an odor such as cigarette smoke or “old book” fragrance but it won't be overpowering. These books may have some water damage such as wavy pages, spots, or evidence of past mildew. If the latter, no mildew will remain.

“POOR”

We don't have many books in this category and reserve it only for exceptionally interesting and collectible titles. These books and their dust jackets are judged on the total amount of wear they have been subjected to. Such titles may have some but not all of the wear described here such as some reader and shelf wear, and some edge and corner wear. Corners may be bumped on hardcover books or curled on paperbacks. If hardcovers, bumped corners may be down to the boards (cloth or paper binding worn away). Bindings may be loose and may have cocked (crooked) spines or curved spines on paperbacks from bending. Paperbacks may have several creases in their spines and may have sprung covers. There may be some creasing to the covers of paperbacks and covers may be very rubbed, possibly to the point of obliterating cover text and/or art. Interior paper and paperback covers that are predominately a light color may have tanned with age. Covers may be sunned (faded) (usually the spine), soiled, or have damage such as extensive scuffing. There may be some foxing (brown spotting) on interior paper. Covers and pages may be shaken (loose), detached or missing. In addition to possibly a remainder mark on the page bottoms, there may be interior marks such as a prior owner's name written inside, pencil or pen notations, or scribbling. They may be signed by the author. Dust jackets may have creases, closed tears, open tears, chipping (pieces missing from the edges), or may be in tatters. Dust jackets may be missing from books which were published with them. These titles may have an odor such as cigarette smoke or “old book” fragrance. These books may have some water damage such as wavy pages, spots, or evidence of past mildew. If the latter, no mildew will remain.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The United States Congress passed legislation in August 2008 against merchants and libraries selling or lending children's books published BEFORE 1985 because of POSSIBLE lead content in the inks used to print the books. Therefore, Treasure Island Books is selling such books as COLLECTOR'S ITEMS ONLY FOR ADULT USE ONLY. It is the BUYER'S responsibility to supervise the use of such books around children, and Treasure Island Books assumes no legal responsibility thereof.

Thank you for shopping Treasure Island Books!