Pioneer Bookstore

Category:	Used Book Store
Address:	450 Center St, Provo, UT 84601, USA
Phone:	+1 801-225-2665
Site:	pioneerbook.com
Rating:	4.6
Working:	10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–9PM 10AM–9PM Closed

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 6

Vanessa D

Why cant I rate this place 0 stars? I really expected a lot better from all the reviews. First of all, my husband and I went to the store with a box of books. I did my research beforehand on bookstores with good reviews and looked up how much money was a fair exchange for my books. The box had at least $200 worth of books inside. We went to the store in hopes they would talk about their pricing with us. Instead, they told us that they would sort through it after a couple hours. The whole box couldve been done in ten minutes. Reluctantly, we left town for 4 hours. Came back to a RUDE clerk with a Narnia goat beard that said he didnt know why we came back because they were 2 weeks behind on their book sorting. We left town again. 30 minutes later they texted us to return and offered to give us ten dollars cash for the entire box or twenty bucks store credit. So we drive back to the store and goat face asks why we returned. We show the text from the store and he begins to distribute credit without asking us if we even agreed with their RIP-OFF offer. I ask him to go get the books so we can see which books they claimed did or didnt have value. He ROLLS HIS EYES and leaves. He comes back and made two stacks on the counter and says that one pile is for donating and one stack is worth discussing business. I pulled out 5 books from his "donations" pile and said, " Ill take these back." He glanced over and says," Unfortunately, I can only give nine dollars store credit for that, those books have all the cash value." I showed him that they came from the donation pile and we are moving out of state and couldnt use store credit. Goat face persisted that 9 bucks store credit was all he could do if I took the 5 books from the donation pile. After all the WASTEFUL driving back and forth, INSULTING offers and the RUDE clerk, I completely lost my temper and I took my 5 books I wanted back and stormed out of the store. My husband told me I should not have left my remaining box of books there because of how poorly they conducted business and they didnt deserve to keep it. I have another box of books I will not be bringing back to Pioneer Books. They were DISHONEST and HORRIBLE to us, so lesson learned!

Kyle Bond_lkjh

What sets Pioneer Bookstore apart from other stores in Utah County is the combination of the character of the staff, the collection, organization and ambiance. Each staff member that I have come to know better over the last five years has his/her own unique contribution of background knowledge and experience that positively contributes to the customers experience. Specifically, I feel a warm friendly welcome whenever I go into Pioneer Book (I am an English Teacher, so I am aware of my book love bias). While this may sound cliche, I can honestly say that Travis, Scott, Ethan, and many others have sincerely helped me in my search for books and knowledge about the content that I am looking for. Pioneers collection of books include a viarity of classical literature and a large collection of Latter-day Saint literature. While there are many other selections avialible in relation to genre, I have found these two sections to be thier most sought out selections, at least this has been my observation. Some new, rare, and used bookstores are disorganized and chaotic in their enviornment. Pioneer Bookstore gives me the opposite feeling. When you walk in there is a cordial welcome of displays and a thrifty desk made of books. The shelves reach higher than I can reach with my hands as though it were a bookstore out of a movie. It seems like it would be a good place to locally film a plot of two individuals accidentally meeting and later falling in love. There is a neat nook upstairs that is full of tables and chairs that overlooks Provos Main Street and Pioneer will sometimes use that area to invite special guest speakers. Or a guest is welcome to go upstairs and sitdown as he/she would in a coffee shop, in fact the upstairs reminds me very much of a coffee shop, but without the coffee.

Chad S

Great selection for sale, just dont ever take anything here to trade. I brought in a box of books. A pretty large selection of rare or signed LDS books, so I understand the scrutiny for taking some time to make an offer. But after about 45 minutes I was starting to wonder what was going on. Turns out hed mixed up my books with someone else, so we had to go through and sort them out. Then he offered me $20 for almost the entire collection, deciding to pass on only a few. I asked him why so low, again most of them are signed by the authors, but all of them pretty rare. He shrugged and said he never flipped the cover open to even look for a signature. I passed on the offer and took them to Benchmark in SLC, who after flipping through each book for signatures and condition gave me $300 for a good portion of them in about 5 minutes, and then Eborn gave me about $100 for the remainder, who took a little longer because we kept chatting. Ill never go to Pioneer again.

Mekel Vest

Dont be fooled by the name, they dont only have Mormon literature. They do have a large selection of Mormon books but that is only one section of the store. The rest of the store is filled with classics, plays, history, sci-fi, mystery, children, psychology, and even cook books! All of the employees know their books and authors and are more than willing to help you find what you are looking for! If they dont have the book you had in mind they will put you in their system and either call or text you when they get a copy in and they will hold it for you! They even sent me a picture of one of the books so I knew the quality of the book! They also have affordable prices and lots of sales going on through out the year. I have been to a lot of bookstores and this is by far my favorite! With helpful staff, affordable prices, and amazing ambiance pioneer book is not to be missed when visiting downtown Provo!

Amy Black

This is one of my favorite places in all of Provo. Travis, Ethan, Scott, and all of the other fine people who work at Pioneer Book are unfailingly friendly and helpful. I always leave the bookstore with some new find that I did not expect, and their prices are generally quite reasonable. I also enjoy being able to sell back old books that I no longer need for store credit so that I can rotate my book collection. In addition to a wide selection of non-fiction, fiction, and LDS literature, the store boasts a beautiful little collection of fountain pens and inks for sale. Whenever I have family or friends come to visit me in Provo, I always try to take them down to Pioneer Book to show them why it is that Im constantly referring to this place!

Jason Kiser

Ive been patronizing Pioneer Book for over ten years and I maintain that its the best used bookstore in Utah county, if not all of Utah! Dont let the name fool you; while this store certainly has a large selection of Mormon literature, it has a large selection of most genres- with non-fiction on the first floor and fiction upstairs. The atmosphere is charming and nostalgic, with a check-out desk made of old, hardbound books. The staff are very friendly and helpful! I dont know how many hours of my life Ive spent at this place. Ive also sold books to them on numerous occasions when I needed quick cash. Generally speaking, Ive been pleased with the exchange and felt that I was offered a fair price.