"I was in HPB over the weekend and most of the employees where children that had very little product knowledge. And all of them proceeded to talk badly about customers that were trying to sell items to the store. Telling each other stories about customers they had issues with. "
"Got my copy today. Looks new. Good experience for me.
-Loran"
"Some days you can sell books, and get a couple dollars back. Most days they buy for less than 1% of what they’ll sell it for. Donating would probably be more beneficial to you…at least that you can take off on your taxes. Got to enjoy the 15-20 minutes of waiting not only for checkin, but then waiting for your offer, and then in the cashier line. "
"Cheapskates snd swindlers "
"I sold 10 books in perfect condition on Visual Basic for 0.25 ! What a joke!!!"
"Books in the store are almost always priced at half the barcode price on the back of the book.
If a brand new book was priced at $18 a decade ago, HPB will price it at $9 regardless of condition.
On a site like ThriftBooks, that same book would be 4 or 5 bucks with free shipping.
I went there for the first time and got 4 books for 32 bucks. And that's after my 10% discount. I walked out with something to make my trip worth it. But everything I got can be ordered way cheaper from something like ThriftBooks or online.
I'm not going to be back anytime soon.
If you want the fun of exploring and finding books then do it at a charity book sale/festival for your local library, church, or YMCA. Books there are less than a buck or 5 bucks to fill a bag and you support your local community.
Lastly, I've heard stories of HPB giving you like 5 bucks for 100 bucks. If you just want to de-clutter and get rid of books you don't want then donate them for your local charity book sale. "
"Myself and two friends have attempted to sell books, magazines and records over the past month. Once at the Dallas Flagship store and one other storefront in DFW. The Flagship store took 15 minutes to review several hundred vintage magazines and offered less than 10 cents p/mag, that's $30 for everything. The vintage mags value is around $5 - $10 per mag.
In addition, the refused to take my books. But, before I could get to the counter to retrieve them for donation, HPB had sent them to recycling and my 35 year old pristine condition books were crushed.
No apologies, just a low ball offer of basically half their value, with no remorse.
"
"I ordered a book that was advertised. HPB baited and switched out the book described with a much older version and charged the same price.
When I complained about it they sounded like they would admit to the scam and come to an equitable solution, but they brushed it aside and ignored the request.
Do not buy from them if you don’t want to be screwed. They are a very shady and unethical. They should be avoided."
"I ordered Duran Duran's 1st album on CD and it was shown in the picture. They sent me a different album that is titled, "The Wedding Album," which I already own. They told me to return it and sent me a packing label and packing return slip, and I sent it back having to pay the cost, but never received a refund. So I not only lost the CD but also never received a refund. Will never shop with them again. I hope they enjoy the $10 that they stole from me."
"How disappointing to take in over 50 paperback and hardback books in excellent shape, to only receive $4.08. Their motto based on a sign in the store says they want to be fair to everyone. Well, $4.08 is like a slap in the face.
I know, I didn't have to accept the $4.08, but I did as I was busy and had other things to do.
Going forward, I will never again ever step foot inside this store.
I would feel much better had I donated the books to a library or other charitable cause where someone could have enjoyed them.
Shame on Half Price Books!!!"
"I called prior to even going to the store to ask about them buying magazines, they said they do buy them but can’t give much money. Ok, I packed up 2 bankers boxes with brand new (most still in plastic) magazines from the last year or so. I lugged them in the store, waited 30 minutes for the buyer to look at them and then was offered $1.25. Yes, like they offered me 1 cent per magazine. Why the hell you can’t tell people beforehand is unbelievable. It was a total waste of time and effort. Now I know to just trash these magazines and never go to HPB again. "
"I bought a used, softcover book from Half Price Books.
Unfortunately, the book is so badly marked-up, underlined, highlighted, written over ... etc etc... basically trashed on EVERY SINGLE PAGE. Some sentences are almost impossible to read because of all the markings. I now have to buy another book so I can read it.
This book was advertised as in good condition and only slightly used. Wrong!
I have been buying used books from abebooks.com for 11 years and have not had a bad experience until now.
"
"We sent in 44 almost pristine books, including pristine copies of 3 Harry Potter hard covers. Grand total...$7.73. Price of one Harry Potter hardcover, in worse condition, from their store shelf..$10.
Bottom line, don't sell here, and don't buy here."
"I went to the HPB's on Northwest highway and Shadybrook in Dallas TX. I saw the sign on the door like all doors of business during these COVID19 times. I know it says face mask, but FaceSheilds are still good, and respected, 99.9 places I go give me hardly a glance once they see I have it on. I have only experienced this at this one store, been in three states and face shields have been fine. I memorized the state and federal regulations, I wear a Faceshield for this reason to follow the guidelines. My husband and I were not three steps in the door when a staffer asked if we could put on facemasks. I have a generalized Anxiety disorder that hits me like a heart attack. I explained no, I can't wear facemasks, they give me anxiety attacks, they would have to call an ambulance, it would not be fun.
The first staffer left me alone after that, then I went to their information center and again a staffer asked if I could put in a mask, again I explained I have an anxiety disorder I can't wear one. She like the staffer before me said nothing else after but I was not treated well in getting useful information to find what I was looking for. I was less than three steps from the information center when a third staffer approached me and again asked if I would put on a mask, I for the third time told him flat out, I can't wear a face mask they trigger Anxiety Attacks. At this point I am upset, state law tells me I can do fine with a face shield which I was wearing! I was using hand sanitizer, I was social distancing, I was following state and federal laws! I meet an exception! I could have gone in without one according to state law!
This staffer then said in a rather abrupt and rude manner, "If you are not wearing a mask, then we CAN'T have you in the building." I was wearing a Faceshield, and I was upset at this point, no wear was I informed that HPB had an additional policy, which would have given me information to avoid this whole situation. So I go outside and was about to cry, I am not a simpering crybaby-but 3 people to give me any information as to why I am being treated this way. They may as well have hauled me out by my arms and kicked me at the door, this situation could have been avoided if they had properly informed the consumer of the ADDITIONAL policy on top of state and federal ones. I have an exception due to my Anxiety disorder. It will be along while before I shop at HPB's again, be it in person or online! If they treat their consumers like this."
"During Covid, I lost my job and was desperate to keep my phone on. In order to make enough money to keep it active, I took my entire collection of Eclipse Phase roleplaying game series and several other rare roleplaying game books to Half Price Books to see how much they could get me. In total, the books were about two hundred to three hundred dollars to collect.
After a thirty minute wait (which I was told would only be ten) they offered me thirty eight dollars. The store rep claimed that since the books were not Dungeons and Dragons, they wouldn't be able to sell them easily. I had no choice but to accept due to the severity of the situation (I needed to keep in contact with potential employers, and was starving). This loss is on me, but it still **** me off that the books sell easily for cover price online."