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Categories: Antiques, Bookstores [Edit]
Neighborhoods: UC Campus Area, Telegraph AveMon-Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
"Today was my first time in urban ore and it was like going to the world's largest, most wonderful junkyard. They have everything you could…" read more »
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Moe's is a wonderful book store. I'm glad to see it's managed to stay in the same location for so long (RIP Cody's). I have been a customer for many, many years. When I was a student at Cal, I could always find books the other stores didn't carry here. They have so many awesome, obscure books ranging from untranslated French poetry, enthographies, the classics, folklore, antiquities, and so on. Be sure to visit the rare books room for a real treat.
The staff is very knowledgeable and helpful, too. Don't be shy in asking for help!
You can get lost in the stacks at Moe's for hours! Please go buy books from them so they don't close, too!
Wonderful bookstore in Berkeley. My cousin came here to get all her UC Davis books for CRAZY CHEAP. She called in the order and my sister went to go pick it up.
I found the music section and quickly got lost in all of the reasonably priced music sheets.
Jess and I decided to try to find a long lost book of our childhood. When we described the book to the lady she knew EXACTLY the book we were talking about...JamBerry YESSS!!! Memories of us listening to the cassette tape while turning the pages of the book...smashing our ears into the (now, tiny looking) speakers...singing at the top of our lungs "my berry your berry" in a low bear like tone and dancing to the music. Ahhhh memories...
Sigh. Why can't you be down the street from me all the time, Moe?
Actually, it's probably best that you're not, because my wallet would be empty, my apartment would be crammed full with your items, and I'd shun all social interaction to spend hella QT with books.
Wonderful used book store that is clearly thriving in its learned, cultured, crazed environment. I didn't even get to browse all the sections I wanted to in my trips here while visiting the Yay. Most of my time was spent pouring over the mega-stocked art selections and ended up getting so many things I couldn't bear not to purchase that I had to ship them back to myself in Boston. Reasonable prices, helpful staff, great location in the Beezy.
I started to go to Moe's to find used books for graduate school, but these days I mostly go for their selection of photography books. They have a neat selection of photobooks (both collections of photography and how-to books) on the first floor, but the real gems are on the top floor in the antiques and rare books section. The prices may seem expensive, but that's because the books in that section are often out-of-print. The prices compare favourable to Amazon and the like.
I like coming here for the pocket books in the basement for super cheap and that's about it.
Really enjoyed it's performance in The Graduate.
Don't take your used books to sell at Moe's Books.
Several people referred me to Moe's bookstore as a place that purchases used books and I had read a great review about them in the East Bay Express..so I took my used books there.
Needless to say the experience wasn't worth my time and energy.
I had eight boxes of new quality used books that I loaded into my car to bring over there. I called ahead to ask the store where to park to unload them, they suggested the no parking loading zone in front of the store "but watch out for Berkeley police they ticket pretty quickly". I was lucky to not have to illegally park and found a 30minute spot on the side up the street. I then proceeded to unload the 8 boxes one at a time by myself walking about 100ft down to the store.
Once in the store, the owner asked me to unload each box one at a time and place the books on the counter. I started unloading. Very quickly he started to make a pile for me to put the books back into the box. After I realized he was putting most of the books back, I asked him "Are there any particular types of books you are looking for so I don't have to unload them all?". He said "oh no, we take everything. I just have to see."
So after 30 minutes I had unpacked all the books and re-packed 80% of them!
Of eight boxes of books he took a paper bag full, about 10%.
Then I had to re-load all 8 boxes back in my car to figure out where to them bring somewhere else.
When we were done, I asked him "Why didn't you take most of the books?" He said they were too common or too popular and would not sell easily because people could get them anywhere. Well why didn't he tell me his opinion before he made me unload them all!
Needless to say...most of the books I have, I have had to search out and find myself ....at used bookstores or on http://Amazon.com because they were not mainstream books. I am a hypnotherapist and have a lot of specialty books about metaphysical topics, past lives, healing etc. that you can't find in regular bookstores and many I have purchased form authors directly who self publish. So he statement was not accurate.
On top of the frustration of the inconvenience of the experience, the owner was not very friendly or welcoming and the whole situation felt tense.
I did get $40 for the few used books he did purchase..but if I had known what a hassle it was going to be for such a little return I would not have done it and the customer service was not friendly.
I recommend they find a way to screen books more easily or give people a list of types of books they are looking for AND find convenient parking for people to unload. I think this would raise their business services greatly.
I rated Moe's a 4 due to the selection. It is one of the largest and best bookstores in the country, certainly on the west coast. However, I have noted some sporadic tendencies with the buyers: once I was told they didn't buy edited academic books, only to later discover many edited collections on their shelves. As well, prices can be high, especially in cases when they sell a book that has some marks or highlights in it. These inconsistencies aside, a very good bookstore.
I found first editions of "The Portable Dorothy Parker" and "The Adventures of Augie March" -- all for $11.
My friend found "Godard on Godard" (which she had been looking for for months and had only found the French edition (she doesn't speak French)) and a "Breathless" screenplay. She was happy.
My boyfriend LOVES Moe's and I DREAD having to go with him whenever we are on Telegraph. They do have a lovely selection of books, which of course is critical for a bookstore. But I don't personally find it a comfortable place to browse, maybe I am a bit picky but even my boyfriend jokes about the grumpy male staff here. I like to come when I have a book I need to find, but not just to spend some time. I like the idea of Moe's more than the reality but my boyfriend likes it a lot so you should try it out for yourself and see who you agree with :)
An excellent bookstore.
I often buy books about architecture, art, or design and they have a very good selection of new and used books in these areas, including a special room on the top floor where they keep monographs, rare books, and expensive picture books. I find several books that I am sure to love every time I visit, and often I find very nice, recently published used books. I've bought many treasured tomes here.
I want to live here. I want to sleep on a twin size mattress on every floor and in between every book shelf at Moe's. Me and my wife spend hours here when we come here. We absolutely love looking at the front desk. Everytime we come there are piles and piles of books stacked on top of the counter just yearning to be shelved alphabetically. Oh, sweet books! The book staff here is very knowledgeable and friendly. I've had horrible experiences with stuck-up, "i hate my life", "i'm too busy to help you", staff members at large chain book stores.
The only thing i'm disappointed in with moe's is the limited women's studies and GLBT sections. Expand these sections please!
I don't understand the high ratings - it's unpleasantly disorganized, and they only seem to carry the least remarkable titles by the best known authors in any given genre/area of study. And, insultingly, while the women's studies section is almost completely devoid of literature by important feminist writers, it contains a coffee table book called "Porn for Women", which features photos of dudes running vacuums and preparing gourmet meals. What the fuck? Am I at a bookstore in Berkeley or a cheesy boutique in Middle America?
The store is two levels with a great selection of books. I went in for one thing and walked out $60 poorer and had my daughter's gift, my brother's birthday gift and my traveling books all taken care of.
I am pretty happy to find this wonderful bookstore conveniently located in downtown Berkeley. This bookstore will now be a staple in my Berkeley trips.
If have any weakness, it is my inability to go to Moe's and not buy at least 5 books. The good news is that I always do this and spend between $10-15. Moe's is amazing. I'm a big fiction reader, and they have the best selection of trade paperbacks I've ever seen for the most amazing prices. Some authors I've purchased in this section are: Philip Roth, Franz Kafka, Graham Greene, William Burroughs, Richard Wright, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and on and on and on, and each one of these books has been $3 or less. This place is a bibliophile's Heaven. I have to keep myself away from here and I only go once every month or two, because if I go more often I'll have no money in my bank account and an apartment filled floor to ceiling with used books.
The coolest book I've ever found here is a critical essays book devoted to JD Salinger. I pick it up from time to time and read an essay and it's always an interesting read. I feel so blessed to live in an area with a store like Moe's. There's nothing like it.
There are a lot of awesome books here, when you can find them. The have just about everything you could want, at a reasonably cheaper price than any of the mainstream book stores, here. Great selection, and great staff.
My biggest problem is it seems to be, more often than not, hard to find what I'm looking for. Even with the assistance of the staff, it takes a bit to shuffle through all of the books. That, and the place smells really, really old. Like, a dusty old folks home and mothballs.
I have been collecting books and hanging out in bookstores since the early 1960s (dates me I realize), and I must say this is absolutely the greatest book store I know. The selection is fantastic. The prices are reasonable. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. And, miracle of miracles, they appreciate good customers and they show it! It's always a pleasure browsing here, and I do so at least twice per week. In this time of financial difficulty and closing businesses, Moe's seems to be doing well ... and they richly deserve to be!
Being a cheap Asian, I can appreciate the small discount on the books here. I love books! I love to read!
It's fun to come here to browse and the staff here is pretty attentive.
I love this place so much that there's even a poster on my door behind my rack of tokidoki bags. I kid you not.
If you want a nice bookstore to check out and you happen to be on Telegraph, I'd recommend a gander into Moe's.
Also the smell of books is pretty awesome too. Sniff, sniff, sniff. Inhale and enjoy.
I challenge you to dislike Moe's. Really, I do. Put on your sternest disapproving face, don't crack a smile at a single person, and feign disappointment at their amazing selection and low prices. Grumpily wind your way through all the levels of books, don't pick up a thing (no matter how tempting) and mumble at the friendly salespeople. Finally, drag yourself over to the sell/trade counter, and refuse to let your guard down while the man or woman at the counter judges your books fairly, offers thoughtful explanations about why they can't take some of them, and generally treats you like a nice person.
Go, try it. Just don't try to keep the act up too long. Moe's will break you down!
Whenever I pass by I schedule a little time to cruise Moe's. I had a Leibovitz hard copy book called American Dream I got as a gift some years back. Once you look at her stuff once or twice it's time to use it for...fodder?
But I've got into the habit of checking http://abebooks.com to see what they sell for. Sure enough, they sell for $15-$50 on line. So, in the van it goes and when I go to Moe's, let's see what they give me. Sure enough, $15 store credit!
Great resource. Use it. Use it Now.
136 reviews and they still have a 5 star rating. Need more?
One of the best used psychology sections…
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This place is fascinating! A play pen for book lovers.
Go. Brouse. Wait for a book to jump off the shelf and into your hands. Then buy it. Then buy some impulse item at the counter. Hurry. It's too late for Cody's. It's too late for a Clean Well Lighted Place for Books. It's too late for Stacy's.
If you have a brain (and you must; you're reading this), then it is your duty. A tithe. Go now and don't come back without a book. Preferably several.
I am a big fan of Moe's Books. I love wandering floor upon, floor upon, floor. Just browsing through all the beautiful books. The staff is really knowledgeable. I have never left this store empty handed, it's impossible.
Once and awhile I do cheat on Moe's when visiting NY's Strand Bookstore. But I swear I have never complimented any of the Strand's staff. Moe hires the best people to man this wonderful bookstore.
Just another way to piss away the day. But a day spent at Moe's is not a wasted one. At the end of your days there will be a lot of days you regret. The ones at Moes will not be in that catagory. Lots of books of all sorts. You never know what they will have though they tend to have a decent economics section. Two complains, when I lived in Oakland it was kinda hard to get to Moes by BART just b/c of where I lived and the parking is really bad there. You can't really park in that area without getting a ticket which made me go other places instead. (I guess my car lovin is why I had to leave Oakland. I want to be able to easily drive places. I know I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.)
Also the used books are relatively expensive. You can almost always get the same book for less. Still the staff are super knowledgeable about books.
I've never found anything I actually needed at Moes. I always go in with some vague idea of what I'd like to read, it's never there, and then i see so many other things to take the place instead. It's fantastic store to browse, the staff are very helpful, and the store is clean and well organized with a fantastic selection.
The other thing I love about Moes: they are fantastic for birthday gifts. If you have a friend or family member who loves astronomy, art, architecture, food, history, etc, then this is the place that has a great selection of new and used books on all those different subjects. I have gone through their art book section multiple times to pick up books of Thiebaud, Ansel Adams, Mannet and others to find birthday gifts for my mother.
I love spending the afternoon in Moes when there is nothing else to do. Walk down telegraph, buy things from a nice vendor, stop in Moes, spend the day there, etc.
I actually love Moe's, but you know what? They don't deserve 5 stars across the board.
Cons:
-The majority of their used books are actually pricey. $8.50 for a used paperback Faulkner? Really? Lame.
-They are right next to a little bakery that always makes me hungry with their pumped out the door cookie smells.
Pros:
-Excellent remainder selection--this is the reason I keep coming back
-Decent poetry selection--it's hard to find a place, even in the bay area, that has a good selection of modern poetry authors. I mean, you know what, like poetry didnt cease to exist with Allen Give me a Break Ginsberg and Sylvia Really? Plath, which one might think after having visited a Barnes and Noble.
-Used journals like The Believer always seem to be for sale
-Some new books, which is even more nice now that Cody's BooHoo shut down.
Best bookstore ever. Best prices. Best selection. Nice People. Clean bathroom. Awesome rarities section. 4 levels i believe.
I always go here when i'm in berkeley.
I don't really like reading so it's a wonder I'd even write a review for a bookstore, but this place is pretty unique. Other than having a humongous collection that spans multiple floors with a tiny storefront presence in berkeley, they have an interesting mix of books. New books, used books, old books, antiques. The books are all different sizes and I don't think they're sorted very much within its own sections, but that won't be much of a problem for people looking for something new to read. I found some interesting graphic design books, typography, and photography books that I almost bought if those kinda books weren't so expensive - but that's a retail price, can't really do much about that. I find it funny that their idea of a sale is $2 off a $30 book - that won't sway many into buying them.
If I actually read, I'd probably like this place more.
Moe's is of course a Berkeley institution and anyone who has never been there should make a point to go whether you're new to or visiting the Bay Area. They have a huge space that accommodates many more books than most used stores, and their stock of academic books in particular is pretty much unparalleled in the many dozens of used bookstores I have visited. Go figure; they're located a few blocks from the most prestigious public university in the country. Anyway, to wrap up the praise, I can't deny that the first time I went to Moe's I could easily have browsed for hours.
All of that said, Moe's just doesn't deliver on the best part of used book shopping experience - the surprise find at a bargain price. You just can't expect any great deals there; it's not written into the pricing structure.
At the same time as their prices are on the high side, Moe's buyers give very modest offers to those who are selling their books. But what's worse than the offers in and of themselves is that they are based wholly on market prices on http://amazon.com! Seriously, they use the site like it's a Blue Book. As someone who worked in a used bookstore not so long ago, I find this pretty repulsive. There should be a certain artfulness to the setting of buy offers and selling prices in the second-hand book business which involves knowing something about your local customers and being focused on that market. It should not be about accepting the prices that circulate on the biggest global consumer website as definitive values and facilitating their standardization. I shudder at the thought of this practice's spread. I also doubt if it is good for the stores themselves. It only makes them more homogeneous, predictable, and uninteresting.
To me, Moe's deference to http://amazon.com pricing undermines much of its "independent" charm and makes the place much less "local."
PHOTOBOOKS!!!! Beautiful photobooks!!! I love this store.. Just got a Mark Seliger book for half off.. Whoever is there buyer is brilliant.. Great used and new selection of my favrite photographers... I can honestly spend a thousand with all the photobooks I want. I want dem all!!!!!
Wow, have you ever seen so many books before! 4 stories of them! Just about any book you could think of, you are going to find here. There are even rare and antique books on the 4th floor.
You can spend hours looking through the books at this place and the people who work there have no problem with you browsing through volumes and volumes of books.
The best part of the store, by far, is the sales wrack, were you can pick up hardcover books for about $6. Even the brand new books were on sale though. I think it was 10% off all new fiction.
Definitely a place I will go back to if I have hours to kill!!!
I got all of my crtitical theory coursebooks for the semester for $20. Best store for used and overused theory.
I used to live six blocks from Powell's but I will still give Moe's Books five stars. I love heading straight downstairs, picking something out of the philosophy corner or grabbing a quirky novel I've never heard of, and reading for an hour. Then I wander up to street level and flip through the art books. Afterwards, I head upstairs to check out text books. The text book selection is my favorite thing about Moe's. It's not ideal if you're looking for something specific, but there's always an exciting find in the medical or nature section. The mythology and folklore selection isn't too shabby either. I find it hard not to overspend here, and I always find a good used book to leave with.
The staff are super friendly and seem to really enjoy their jobs. As an example: I was buying David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas to read on a train trip and the store was closing. I was the one of the last customers keeping the employees there. Not only did the clerk chat with me about narrative techniques and recommend a slough of other books, but he remembered they had a cheaper used copy of Cloud Atlas and ran to check if it was still there. Someone had already purchased it, but I left with a very positive impression of the experience.
I am in awe of the people who work at Moe's.
I thought I enjoyed reading but these people are freaking amazing! It is such a breath of fresh air to ask a salesperson at a bookstore if they carry something and for them to know exactly what you are talking about as well as share anecdotes about the book with you. That's definitely service you don't get at your local Barnes and Noble or Borders.
If you ever get a chance, I recommend checking out the antique and out-of-print books on the top floor. If you're a fan of first editions and rare books (or are like me and just like Sebastiao Salgado and other photographers), this place will leave you speechless and a bit broke.
Best bookstore in Berkeley and probably even in East Bay. Four floors of books. Generous buy/trade policy.
Minus one star for lack of good organization. I usually find it really hard to find a specific book. It would help if they had a computer kiosk where patrons can search Moe's database to see where a book is if they have it.
Quite possibly the best used book store I have ever been to.
Ever.
EVER.
I'm sure everything that could have been said to praise this place has already been said, but I had to throw in my two cents. All I know is that I every time I go here, I leave with bags and bags full of used books. If you're in the area, go here! But come with plenty of money and be ready to have a load of books to bring home with you.
Moe's is a cool bookstore, especially for artsy people. It's sophisticated and you can never have enough bookstores. God knows enough of them have closed down in Berkeley already. Moe's still has the same phone number as they did back in 1991, (415) 849-2087. Why they have a 415 phone number I don't know.
Sometimes I like to walk down Telegraph avenue, buy a new pipe (or in the old days maybe some LSD), get some pizza or cheap sushi, maybe take some pictures, perhaps coffee, and go to Moe's and buy an inexpensive used book. Ah Berkeley, gotta love it.
One of the world's great used bookstores.
Friendly, smart people, a terrific reading series, and even with their juiciest volumes (they know what's what), Moe's prices are eminently fair and nothing you will ever pay for through a hole in your head.
An ideal, accomplished.
I STILL LOVE MOE'S, even though it's a long-distance relationship now. I always have some other ostensible reason to be in Berkeley, but really, I'm there to stop in at Moe's. My only problem is that they have so many good books that I can't decide which to get!
I'm generally not one to type in all caps, but I LOVE MOE'S MORE THAN MY FAMILY. If I could make the… Read more »
This is only the 3rd or so used bookstore I've been in but the best one for sure. There are more scholarly pursuits that can't be found at normal bookstores - and here they are cheaper. I would have sold my books to this store based on the joy I have had browsing their 3 stories. You can "trade" your books too. The last time I sold my books to a used book store I was disappointed with the meager pay. My mistake. Nice location too.
Rainy day in San Fransisco, cup of coffee, and Moe's Books. Jacinda and I were in Berkeley for the day during my visit. We didn't plan on rain, but, go with the flow, right?
I lost myself in the theatre section for about an hour, just scanning every title to see if I could add to my library.
Then, the shopping began in earnest. $20 later, I was the proud owner of about 8 titles I'd never seen before, plus a few classics that were priced cheaply due to the overstock.
Bumper sticker? Yes please, I will totally promote this place!
I'll be back.
Neighborhood: North Oakland
Category: Bookstores
Neighborhood: Downtown Berkeley
Category: Bookstores
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Bookstores
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
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