I love shopping at my local Half Price Books bookstore because I never know what I might find. I have to say, though, that the selection was much more surprising and exciting ten years ago than it is today because Half Price Books seems to concentrate now more on current fiction than it did in the chain's earlier days. Too, "collector books," and to Half Price that's anything published before 1960 regardless of condition, have been granted a section of their own - where they are most often overpriced and underwhelming.But that's not why I am irked at Half Price today.
No, what I find hard to understand is why anyone wants to sell anything TO Half Price because the chain's cash offers generally come in somewhere between ludicrous and insulting. Case in point: I brought 35 hardcovers and a couple of large paperbacks to the store today to see what they would pay for them and the offer I received pegs out the "Insulting" end of their offer scale.
Are you ready for this? The offer was for $4.00...total...as in all in. That, friends, is just a hair over ten cents a book, twenty or so of which the clerk admitted would be placed on their shelves at prices ranging from $4 to $7 dollars each. The others they say would be donated to a charity of some sort.
I have a bad foot at the moment and cannot walk without a good bit of pain, so I just could not see packing the books out to my car and lugging them to the local hospital (which is where I should have gone in the first place). So I took the petty change and walked out with an attitude. Thanks for making my day Half Price Books.
I simply don't understand why anyone would sell to Half Price Books...ever. And for me, "ever" has now turned into "never." As in never again will I be ripped off by a major book chain like Half Price Books.
Post # 2,513
I caught on to this several years ago. The fiction section at the Half Price Books in Concord,, CA, is next to the buying counter so while I browse I can hear people picking up their offer which is always very, very low. it constantly broke my heart.
ReplyDeleteUsed to be that a second hand store would divide my books into small piles based on what they would pay for each. They were up front about which books had value and which ones they would not accept. Giving a single lump sum without telling you which ones are worth what always struck me as dishonest.
So, I do buy from Half Price Books, which is still as good as ever here in the Bay Area, but I donate my used books to my local Friends of the Library.
I remember the days, James, when Half Price Books gave competitive and decent bids for used books brought to them. I knew that their offers were progressively getting smaller and smaller every year, but this 10 cents per book offer was ridiculous. But, insulted as I felt, my physical problems of the moment really made it difficult for me to even consider making the number of trips to my car that it would take to load the 40 books back into my car.
DeleteI've donated at a local hospital here before and that's what I will do next time. They put the books in the gift shop at something like a buck a book so that folks trapped there for hours, or even days, at a time will have something to help kill a little time with.
Now, Half Price Books has contacted me via a tweet this afternoon. I'll give them that much credit...but all they really said is that they would "welcome my feedback." I doubt that I will bother.
BTW, I often notice the books that Half Price keeps locked up for sale because they are in the $50+ price range and wonder what they paid for them when they were brought in.
DeleteDonate your used books to the nearest elementary..middle school or high school
DeleteUnfortunately, that's not much of an option in my area these days. Even the hospitals and assisted living facilities around here are hesitant to accept book donations thanks to COVID.
DeleteHow disappointing. I've had a number of problems with HPB over the years mostly surrounding selling books to them. I rarely shop there these days because their selection has really gone downhill. Used to be I could walk out with a pile of books and now I often leave without buying anything.
ReplyDeleteI've had the same experience, Stefanie, many times...walking out empty-handed because nothing appealed to me. In the chain's early days, I could always expect to find two or three older books that were interesting (and I made some really great unexpected autographed books finds back then). But these days it seems to be all about former bestsellers when it comes to fiction sales.
DeleteI brought 80 books to my Friends of the Library group here this morning and they were thrilled to get them. They will be put on sale for $3 a piece and all the money will go to the library system. If I'm going to be forced to give them away anyway, the funds will do more good this way and I'm happy to contribute.
I think Half Price Books has lost its "mission" since the founder died. Just saying.
I took 5 banker boxes to Half Price Books yesterday. Hard backs and paperbacks, current, popular authors that will resell for sure. Never again. It was over 100 books. $6.16 was their offer. I will donate in the future.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain and frustration. I've been donating to Friends of the Library locally, and have taken to giving books away to friends and family on a regular basis. Anything is better than to feeling so ripped off by a huge chain bookstore like HPB.
DeleteYeah I just had brought in my collection and there was also 13 manuscripts for a total of 70 books
ReplyDeleteAnd I did the math I should have gotten around 3.00 to 5.00 per low end book and only got 32 cents per book and I was annoyed by it as well as there prices and how they price each book
also does anyone know if you refuse the offer can you take your stuff
Back?
You can definitely refuse their offer and walk away with your books. But they count on you not wanting to go through the hassle of hauling everything back to your car and having to fill up that empty space at home with the same books you want to get rid of. I've heard them lowball multiple sellers in a row without having anyone actually take the books back. They may gripe, but they take the pennies and leave. Some even spend the little bit of cash right there in Half Price Books.
ReplyDelete