Comments on: Half Price Crooks?

By: Bobby

Bobby — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:21:16 +0000

i hate phb because they dont have an orderly store, the staff at them is rude especially if your selling them books. i sold to them four times. On the fourth time they started wispering about me alot because this was fourth time in two weeks maybe to much i guess and they asked for proof of purchase. i didnt know what to do i didnt have them and the books were obviously older. Now they have me black listed so i cant sell without proof of purchase. They didnt like me overall because the books i sold them they had to pay 5 bucks a piece for and there actually giving somone money instead of riping them off. The store sucks and is built around tricking you into giving them a bag of books for almost nothing. Crooks

Walmart is to damn convenient to be a good thing.

By: Esther

Esther — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:06:58 +0000

I tried to sell books to Half Price Books. I didn’t like their method so took my books to another used book store (local only to my area) and liked their policies much better. I understand that a used book store cannot pay a lot to buy the used books. That is not my issue with HPB. I am unwilling to sell them books because they make an offer for the assortment of books that you take to them. They will not tell you which books they are paying for and which they are not. In effect, you are donating books to them. I prefer to donate to my library or trade my books than donate to HPB. When I took my books to my local used store, they offered me either a cash payment or credit (a higher amount) to use to buy more books. They also told me which books of mine they did not want. Much fairer way to do business in my mind.

By: The Other Amy

The Other Amy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:04:28 +0000

I can admit to purchasing from Half Price Books, but since they don’t pay a fair price when selling, that is why I call the Half Price Crooks. I have watched them take in a $250 collectible book and pay someone $1 for it. Just seems unethical to me. I have a friend that owns a used book store and he gives people a fair price based on what he believes he can sell it for.

But you can get more of a write off then you would get selling to Half Price Books, so I say, donate or go to a book swapping site.

But don’t get me started about people at book sales with pocket scanners. I consider them parasites

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:52:43 +0000

Half Price Books is terrific. You can walk away with a little extra coin in your pocket whether you’re a seller or a buyer.

By: Amy @ My Friend Amy

Amy @ My Friend Amy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:30:25 +0000

Whoa…quick clarification!!! That wasn’t me!!!! That was some other Amy. You really freaked me out! I haven’t used BookMooch but I think it’s great for people who do.

By: jw

jw — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:21:03 +0000

I like browsing through HPB and their prices are great on the sale racks (paperbacks and kids books for .50!) So obviously they pay almost nothing when you are selling. We have taken several boxes of books and got like $12. If it’s a popular book they won’t pay you because they have too many–if it’s an unpopular book they won’t pay you because it’s unpopular. Good place to buy, bad place to sell, but that makes sense.

I have always liked Wal-Mart–can’t beat their prices on Health and Beauty stuff;don’t like to grocery shop there; don’t like the new huge stores.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:09:43 +0000

I love my local HPB. The staff is great, and I always find goodies. That said, I don’t sell my books back to them. I either put them on a swapping site, or donate them to the library.

Wal-Mart is the devil.

By: cbjames

cbjames — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:18:03 +0000

I have always had good experiences buying at Half Price Books. If you’re not looking for a specific book, you’ll probably find two or three books that look very good. And the price is very good, just what I think a second hand book should cost.

But I’ve never sold there. If they’re selling books at half price, they are probably buying them at 20% of the cover price or much less. A whole bag full of books for only 26 dollars is not much. That’s why I stopped selling books years ago, too heartbreaking. I trade them on-line and donate what I can’t trade.

I do not like Wal-mart. Target actually has a fairly good book section now.

By: puppylover3

puppylover3 — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:15:06 +0000

I like hpb because you can at least get some money for books that are collecting dust on your self.

I like WalMart too. I like that things tend to be cheaper there – that said, I would prefer to shop at Target and Kroger b/c I feel like they are nicer shopping experiences.

By: Mari Partyka

Mari Partyka — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:57:12 +0000

I just brought a paper grocery bag full of books to HPB and received $26. Is that good or bad? I’m not sure… I’m just starting to use HPB to raise money towards a book donation (fitting way to raise money).

I did find a lot of books I hadn’t read yet – and would like to read, it’s clean, I would recommend it if you are not looking for a specific book.

Wal-Mart… no thank you.