Second-hand books in Rochester typically sells for $3 to $675. Edition and condition decide the value, and for most books condition decides it almost alone. A first printing in poor shape is usually worth less than a later one that is clean.
Buying books in Rochester
Rochester built its wealth on photography, optics and photocopying, and the companies that did it left the city an unusual concentration of precision engineering skill and a major museum of photography. Lake-effect snow here is heavy and reliable.
Condition language means different things to different sellers, and a description of good covers everything from crisp to barely holding together. Handling a copy resolves that in seconds and is why serious buyers here prefer to come and look.
What to check in person
Open the boards and check the hinges where the pages meet the spine, which is where a well-read book fails first. Look for damp along the bottom edge, and on anything old or collectable check the title page is present and the plates have not been cut out.
Collecting it in Rochester
It fits in a bag, so most people meet on the way to something else. A station or a high street works, and neither side needs a car.
The road network was built for a considerably larger population than the city now holds, so crossing town is quick and a kerbside load is rarely contested. Lake-effect snow can arrive fast and heavy between November and March, so agree a fallback rather than assuming the day will hold.
Selling your books in Rochester free
The optics and imaging industry left genuinely good camera equipment in private hands here in a way that is unusual anywhere else. The universities clear student housing each May.
Photograph the spine and the title page, and say plainly whether there is any writing, highlighting or a name inside. For a box of books, list a few titles and price the lot rather than trying to sell them one at a time. Textbooks move around the start of term; everything else is steady with a winter lift.
Peer-to-peer payment apps dominate private sales, and buyers will usually offer one before they offer cash. Sales tax does not apply to a private sale between individuals.
Books worth listing in Rochester
Same region (New York)
If nothing in Rochester suits, New York, Buffalo and Yonkers each have their own books page, and a seller will often meet part of the way for something worth the trip.
More in Rochester: everything second hand in Rochester, or Books across the United States.
Prices converted from sterling at the 2 August 2026 rate; sellers set their own price.