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

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Treasure Island Books was established 1997. We, Dale and Tess Wentz, purchased the store in December 1999 as an existing brick-and-mortar bookstore in Salem, Oregon. In 2003 that location was closed and we moved our entire inventory to our home where we now run our business exclusively online.

In 2009 we added Adornment, a venue for Tess to sell her handcrafted beaded jewelry and chess-themed bookmarks and Christmas ornaments. In 2010, Tess moved to etsy.com. Please visit http://tibooks.etsy.com to see all the pretty things she makes.

Also in 2009, Tess Creates was added as a showcase for some of her jewelry, quilting, and other craft endeavors which are not for sale.

We are a non-smoking home.

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 all the books 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.” We only list books in the “Very Good Minus” or less condition when they are particularly interesting.

We do our best to provide accurate descriptions of our books. Typically, if you don't see a complete description it's because the book has been rated “Fine” (which we equate with “As New”) or “Near Fine.”

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

You'll find that our shipping fees are reasonable. We charge an estimated amount using our analog postage scale and try to get as close to the actual shipping cost charged by the USPS as possible. For Priority Mail and Priority Mail International, we charge only the actual amount quoted by the USPS.

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, 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 manner of moments because they are all right here, not stored in some warehouse across town or in another state. We know our books personally and we can provide you with further information and scans of the book via email within a short time.

Treasure Island Books is a GREEN company!

Our books are shipped in secure wrapping materials which include combinations of any of these whenever possible: RECYCLED, CLEAN plastic bags, paper bags, bubble wrap, foam wrap, 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!

If you cannot find another use for them, these materials can be put into your recycle bins at home.

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.

Speaking of shipping costs, we utilize the USPS product “Click-N-Ship” for all Priority Mail. We get a discount on this and we pass those savings directly to our customers. For more information about our shipping costs, please visit our Shipping Info page.

* * * 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.

HOW WE RATE AND DESCRIBE OUR BOOKS

We have eight 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 customers cannot see and hold the books they are 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 “Fine.”

“NEAR FINE”

These books and their dust jackets are in as-new condition with extremely little reader or shelf wear, if any.

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, 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.

“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. Spines on paperbacks may have one or two creases and covers may be slightly rubbed. Dust jackets 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 or shelf wear and minor edge and corner wear. Bindings will be tight and solid but may have slightly 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 started to tan with age. Covers and dust jackets may be sunned (faded). 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. 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 or 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) or slightly soiled. 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. 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 or 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), 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 notations. 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.

“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 or shelf wear and some edge and corner wear.

Corners may be bumped on hardcover books or curled on paperbacks. 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.

Interior paper and paperback covers that are predominately a light color may have tanned with age. Covers may be sunned (faded), soiled, or have damage such as extensive scuffing. There may be some foxing (brown spotting) on interior paper. Covers and pages may be 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. 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.

Thank you for shopping Treasure Island Books!