Media DUMP/ McKay Day!

From time to time, I notice fellow Bloggers sharing their lovely book hauls.  I haven’t yet done so because I very infrequently go out and buy large numbers of books since I already have a house full of them.  Almost every book I read comes from my library these days.  Occasionally, however, I do gather up several large plastic tubs of books & DVDs that the kids & I have grown tired of and take them to our awesome local used media superstore, McKay’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case you aren’t fortunate enough to have one of these or something like it nearby, I’ll describe it for you.  I don’t go any more often than I do because it’s over 30 miles from home.  It’s on the western border of my county, and I live on the eastern border, so it’s a bit of a trip.

Upon arrival, you transfer all your media into tubs.  They’ll take up to three tubs loaded to the brim with books and one loaded with electronics per person per visit.  You drop your materials off at the Greeter’s counter:

The greeter gives you a laminated, numbered barcode.  While the employees research the value of your materials, which can take a while because McKay’s is ALWAYS very busy, you’re free to browse the copious merchandise on two floors of this warehouse-sized heaven.  The first floor is where all the books, electronics, games, and DVDs live.  You can see the top floor in the background; it’s a wide walkway that surrounds three sides of the ground floor.

The second floor is where all the vinyl records, CDs, and comics hang out.  Here’s the view from the top; to the right of and at the end of the blue air duct is the glass elevator:

And here’s a close-up of it:

Once the researchers tally the value of your materials, your number is posted on one of several monitors posted strategically around the store.  Then, you return to the Greeter station, where they offer you the choice between taking cash or store credit, which is worth almost twice as much as the cash option.  Plus, when you trade with store credit, you don’t pay tax, so your credit buys that much more.  Finally, you either return to the merchandise floors to shop more or, if you loaded up your basket while you were waiting for your offerings to be valued, you check out at the Cashier’s station.

Now here’s the beauty of it.  The kids and I went in with a little over $150 worth of store credit left over from previous visits.  After dropping off our materials, getting our additional credit, and buying $95 worth of new (used) stuff, we left with $202 store credit!  Although I didn’t get my own book haul today, I did pick up a couple and the kids left happy.

Don’t you wish you had a McKay’s nearby?

via Daily Prompt: Haul