"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."
"There was an issue with one of the WI Locations years ago I had an issue with a Milwaukee location that shut down years ago and I was asked to leave the store today due to the fact that 7+ years ago o was accused of switching high priced items with stickers for Two dollar ones when they used to have that
Plus at the time I was working secret shopper
Im appalled "
"Took over 100 books (paperback and hardback) to sell. Waited over an hour for the "buyer" to go through all of them. Offered me $8 total. For over 100 books!! They said that they were unable to offer any money for most of them, due to their budget being tight. Yet they are selling those exact same books in their store and online for several dollars each. It's just another scam. They know that most people won't pack up their books and take them back home, so it's an easy way for them to make 100% profit off their customers. "
"I took in 44 DVDs (some of which I bought from them) and they only took 34 of them. I received a grand total of $5 for those 34 DVDs. That was an average of .15 each. When returning to the store most if not all were priced at $5.99. I had 20 books, 17 of which they accepted for a total of $6.00, which averaged to .35 cents each. When returning to the store, the books I found were marked anywhere between $6-$9. If you do your research on line (which takes only a few minutes) you'll probably find your Tax Write off will be worth much more than sell them to HPB. I'll give you an example. One Stephen King book was sold to HPB for a mere .75, I had two copies so I didn't mind to prove a point. I checked online and found the book to be worth anywhere between $17.95 and $29.95 depending upon condition and ISBN#. Don't get ripped off. True you normally only get 50% of the items worth on your taxes, but that's still a lot more than HPB unless you're really hurting for a few dollars. "
"IO brought in 70 Hardcover fiction books of Best Selling offers. The Buyer only ffered me $.25. I asked why and he told me they do not sell those titles and they would throw them away. I told him to pack them back up and I would donate them. He gave me an attitude about if I was not serious in selling them why bring them in. After I put them back in my truck I went back in to check what they had about 3/4 of the books they told me they would trow away they were on the shelves being sold. Never will do business with this place "
"Well, like most of the other reviews regarding selling books, the experience was horrid. But, in reading the reviews there is a pattern that shows up and it is steeped in deception and taking advantage of people. I had brought in 15 boxes of high line fiction both hard back with dust covers and pristine pb. These were all NYT Book list -serious lit titles- in addition to complete sets of Scandinavian crime fiction (Nesbo, Menkell etc)- all very salable items. I roughly estimated at more than 350 titles in excellent condition. I was hoping to net anywhere from $200-400. When the young lady behind the counter told me my tally was $31.73 I was incredulous. She asked if I wanted to put them back in the boxes (no one helped me unload- I am a 72 year old man) and I thought, I've driven 35 miles and to put them back in the car and back into storage just seemed Sisyphean.. that was a mistake, I should have said, yes please box them back up and put them in my car... I was in shock . What's more shocking is that these folks are still in business. Never ever again will I set foot in any of their stores and I will counsel others to avoid this business at all costs."
"I purchased a 20 year old soft cover book that was supposedly in great condition that was $30, way over priced but it was the only place I could find it. When it arrived in the mail, the spine was freshly broken in multiple places due to the inadequate packing. Then when I demanded a partial refund they only offered me $2.50, obscene, unethical, no integrity. I will never purchase from Half Price Books again and I do not recommend any one else do so. Rip off artists!"
"This place is an absolute scam. They are using and abusing their customers to make tons of profit. I brought a rare first edition book in that sells for over $1000 dollars regularly on eBay and other auction sites. I needed some extra money and figured they would offer at least a few hundred; their offer was $7.00! The gas I used to drive there was more than there scummy offer. I used to buy books from them on a consistent basis, however I will never set foot in a half Price books store again. They are stealing from their customers to turn a huge profit."
"I signed up for the discount email program. Called my local HPB store. Told me the book I wanted (Erik Laron’s new book about Churchill) was in stock. Brought my coupon and not only not in stock at my store but, ALL OTHER STORES. Then told me my coupon would not be honored when they got new copies in stock. Offered me a 10% discount vs 50%! They then pushed to sell me other books.
I had this happen before and discount was honored on new shipment arriving. I have been 20 year customer of HFB but, NO MORE! I would rather pay 100% at full price than step foot in that place again. I feel taken advantage of and “bait and switched”. Done, done and done!! "
"I brought in more than 100 DVDs to sell at my local Half Price Books and they only offered me $16.00 after making me wait more than an hour!!! I will never again bring in ANYTHING to sell to these people and they will never get my business again. They only rob from you and then re-sell your items at a marked up price. I expect it won't be long before they go out of business the way they are taking advantage of people. Bad karma."
"Horrible explains it all. I can't begin to explain it. A company that got founded by wanting to recycle books has become a rip off. "
"Took in 60 books because i am down sizing my home. One book was a autographed 1 addition selli g for 79.00 online. Two was collectable high quality Bibles i paid over 200.00 a piece for top quality leather. These threebooks was kept in a glass case and not handled, mint condition. The rest was in very good condition no markings or bent pages. Got 96.10 out of them. I hasnt expecting full value but i didnt want to be raped as well. Never getting my business again."
"Brought in 35 books, many with the original jackets in mint condition. Received $6.00 for them. They’ll turn around and sell them for a couple hundred dollars. It was too much work after loading them up and dragging them into the store to haul them back to my car. I feel very violated after the offer knowing I just helped a ‘for profit’ business steal from me. If I’d known the offer would be so low, I would’ve donated the books to a local library or school. Never, ever again will I allow myself to be used by this business. Take your books elsewhere or donate them. "
"I have to repeat what others have said. I brought in 6 boxes of books, two autographed by the author, several new releases in mint condition, DVD's, unopened board games, Nintendo controllers, 2 Guitar Hero guitars, among other things. I was told the wait would be 30 minutes. An hour and 20 minutes later, I got my offer...$26.00. From now on, I'll donate. A huge waste of time and a huge rip off. On another note, my daughter wanted to buy a used copy of "It". HPB wanted $10.99 for a used copy....Barnes and Noble had a brand new copy for $4.99. Never again. "
"I have shopped there for years and today was the worst experience ever. I did get there 20 minutes before closing with a box of books to sell. I was willing to leave them, which I was told was not their policy. They took about 6 minutes to look through about 40-50 books and gave me $13. Rude and ridiculous. Won’t be back anytime soon. "