Category: | Book Store |
Address: | 49 W 45th St, New York, NY 10036, USA |
Phone: | +1 212-685-1410 |
Site: | bookoffusa.com |
Rating: | 4.2 |
Working: | 10AM–8PM 10AM–8PM 10AM–8PM 10AM–8PM 10AM–8PM 10AM–8PM 10AM–8PM |
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Screw GooTube
This review is based on their book buyback program. These guys are a complete ripoff. Do NOT sell your books here. I repeat, do NOT sell your books here they dont bother to check the ISBN # and default to giving you $1.00 and change for every book regardless of condition or what it sells for online used. The process goes like this: You drop your books off at the counter and you get a number which they call over speakerphone. When you come to the desk, they give you your "book evaluation" which tells you how much youre getting for your books. It does not list the books nor gives the price youre being paid for each book individually. In fact, it doesnt contain ANY information about the books you just handed them, just a bunch of policies and the total youre getting. This is RED FLAG # 1. RED FLAG #2. I stood by the counter waiting for my turn to be called. I watched my books the entire time. They were placed to the side, and no one even picked them up or looked at them when my # was called and I was offered $15 for the books I turned in. RED FLAG #2. They said they were paying me for 10 books, I told them I only gave them 8 books. Again, no one even looked at my books. The fact they counted 10, speaks to the fact that no one even bothered to count them let alone check their condition (BRAND NEW) or look up the ISBN#. RED FLAG #3. I asked them how they calculated their payouts and they said online. When I said what website did you use, the lady caught an attitude and aggressively repeated ONLINE. At that point, I told them: I watched my books the entire time, no one even picked them up so how could you have checked online? She said nothing and walked away. At that point, I asked for my books back and left the store. Unbelievable the scam theyre running at this place. I sold just 1 of my books for $15 at Lower East Side Books on St. Marks Place between 1st and 2nd ave. Amazon books gave me a total of about $130 for the rest of books. Altogether $145 bucks and these CROOKS wanted to rob me and give me only $15 for ALL 8 books. Stay far, far away from this place. They are crooks. They do not bother to look up books online or check ISBN#s, they just make pretend they do and then offer you $1 and change for each book. I think this is why they have a ticketing system in place, so you walk around the store until your # is called and you dont see that they actually do nothing with your books. Strand books on 12th street and Broadway buys books except on Sunday. And Lower East Side Books will buy books from you as well. Stay the hell away from here unless you wanna get ripped off.
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Casey Penk
I first visited BOOKOFF in Japan!!! What a delight to find a branch here. They offer an excellent selection of Blu-rays as well as games. And theyve got a great number of Japanese language books and games. I was disappointed to find their anime selection limited to three bookshelves. For a Japanese store Id expect more! Their English manga was also limited; although there are more than a dozen bookshelves I didnt find a single title I was looking for. They do offer a nice range of manga box sets. They have a strange mix of other goods, like housewares and calculators, which dilute the idea of what a used book store is supposed to be. Id rather they focus on expanding their media selection. Prices arent great, but arent unreasonable given the location. It is too bad I havent found anywhere in Manhattan that approaches Internet prices. For one example, they charge $100 for an SNES when a fair price is just above $50. Ultimately the cost-benefit analysis favors streaming for video titles, many of which are available legally and free online. Thus is the state of physical media. They do have plenty of sale items, some for $1. And some items are surprisingly affordable -- take the $20 PS1s. Products are clean. They note how theyll give you more trade-in value for clean products, and it fits the quietly refined Japanese aesthetic. I wanted to support them but didnt find a must-have. So I walked out empty-handed.
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くろ Einzbern
tl;dr In short, I had met one thief (who is the guy at the register) and this ruined my first time experience at Bookoff. So I spent around 2 hours here just looking at the selection of manga. They do have a lot, but unfortunately not everything. Hey, they AT LEAST HAVE Japans most popular idol group, AKB48 CDs here. Also, there books are pretty cheap. $1 for Books that have sorta bad art. $2.50-$5 for decently good art Yes, like other reviewers have said they have electronics, books, CDs, Games, etc. However, as far as I have seen.. Only the books are cheap. Everything else could be compared to Amazon. And sometimes Amazon is 60% cheaper. So why I gave this store a 2 stars? So heres what happened. I went to the register and they took just a little long while to stop talking to each other and to get to me. Then the guy told me that it will cost 17.96. Alright, still no problem. So I had exactly 20 dollars in my pocket, gave the guy 19 dollars- 3$5 and 4$1. This was the problem. I gave him 19 dollars. He didnt say anything and gave me 4 cents back. I realized I had only 1 dollar left in my pocket and quickly told him that I wanted to recount the amount I gave him. So yeah, I just took the extra dollar back. The guy said one word: "sorry" but to me, that one words doesnt mean anything. The intent was there, and I believe in greed. His name is on the receipt so Im putting it here. Jeremy P is his name.
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Anthony Smith
I used to love this store. In fact, I even brought them more regular customers. Now, it is a disgrace. Their bluray section is shrinking, their toys are overpriced, and despite the fact they have an over abundance amount of certain titles, they refuse to reduce the price. In the beginning, this place was a goldmine for movies, games, and books. Now, it has become a store with miscellaneous items as if it has become an expensive flea market. Seriously, $30 for a used George Foreman grill? One time, I went in when I saw a sign stating they were hiring, so I inquired. The manager took a look at me and proceeded to say they were not hiring (funny since I saw new employees a week later. Mustve been the fact I was not Asian or thin like most the employees). However, I overlooked that. The breaking point was just a few minutes ago when I went into the store with an LED TV, Xbox, and its games. Naturally, I didnt expect much for the Xbox due to it being an old system, but I was appalled at what they wanted to give me for everything. Everything, TV and all, $38! That is insane. Desperate for cash and to make room, but not that desperate. Its criminal. These people are terrible and should get reevaluated by the Better Business Bureau. Sadly, the once prosperous store has become another NYC slump.
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Matt J
Book Off is great, I make a trip from Philly once a year to visit. About 1/4 of the downstairs has cheap manga (in English). The far wall is lined with gorgeous Japanese manga which havent been published by US companies. And the rest of the space is filled with art books, Japanese magazines, box set series etc. The walk-in floor has a lot of great cheap English books and music. BUT, the biggest attraction for me is their Jpop selection. They have a full sized entire section of the store dedicated to Jpop/anime/game soundtracks; as much as any other CD stores "rock/pop" department. This is a huuuge deal, because the only other option living on the east coast is to order over seas ($40+ per disc!) but Book Off sells for regular CD price or cheaper (they have a nice dollar section). They have an upstairs which Ive never explored, though Ive heard its all books in Japanese. They have a game/technology section which I havent explored but heard good things about. Frankly, I believe this is THE only place to buy Jpop or manga if you live on the eastern half of the country. The internet is always an option, but if youre a person who likes to peruse through physical copies of books/cds and still enjoy the tactile experience of reading, you should visit Book Off. (^_^)b