Half Price Books

Category:	Book Store
Address:	19500 WA-99, Lynnwood, WA 98036, USA
Phone:	+1 425-776-8885
Site:	hpb.com
Rating:	4.2
Working:	9AM–10PM 9AM–10PM 9AM–10PM 9AM–10PM 9AM–10PM 9AM–10PM 9AM–10PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

A Private User

I see allot of people complaining about selling their items and I have to say that people need to take a step back and think instead of feel. First stores do not pay you for your emotional attachment to an item, we get it you payed allot of money for that item when it was new. You also payed allot of money for your car when its new, but after time and a few dings the value of the car just isnt what it used to be. Lets face the facts things like digital downloads are making physical media less and less valuable (this is of course more drastic when it comes to things like DVDs and CDs). With less people willing to haul around CDs or make room for them on their shelfs theres less demand and the less value. Now lets think a moment about running a business....I know why should you care..well if you really want to know why you arent getting huge checks for your stuff then you might want to think about it. You have to realize the store pays rent and utilities just like you do, every month theres a bill to pay and that bill doesnt go away just because the store had a tough month. Then theres the taxes a store has to pay, on top of that it has to pay its staff, that means training, benefits, meetings even sick days that each regular employee gets payed but really isnt doing much. Plus think of the number of people who touch each item that gets payed. Theres the person who looks up the value of the item and gives you an offer, the person who has to put that item into a basic inventory, the person who sorts the item into the right bin, the person who works the section to put it out to sell (if it doesnt sell then it has to be clearance out and placed on another shelf), theres the person who checks you out....and if you change your mind has to put it in the back to be resorted and re shelved....this doesnt even tackle all the people it takes to to look ups or store transfers and were paying 8 employees if you just decide you dont want. Even then if it only takes an average of 2 minutes to take care of that item were looking at 16 minutes of pay even then if you factor in these employees making minimum wage thats a still $18.50 it cost the store not even counting in what they payed for the item and the longer that item doesnt sale the more it costs the store. Its amazing to me to think that an item that could of cost the store well over $20 (depending on the offer) can be sold for only $3. This doesnt even count in all the items that do get donated to public schools and other programs in the area or for those items in to bad of a conditions to sale or donate get recycled. Which by the way is more cost to the store and no profit in the end......you may not care about any of this, you just might be upset that you think you stuff you no longer want is more valuable and for you I say this, go in with the lowest number you think is fair and if they cant match it than take it back. No one there will force you to sale your stuff to them,no one will be mad at you. They understand that times are tough, weve all had to sale our stuff at one time or another but before you get mad just know that at the end of the day the store wants to make money and can only justify paying so much. If you can make more selling it on your own please do, but if you want to give other people a chance to discover the things that brought you joy, entertainment, knowledge and comfort and dont have to pay a butt load doing so then give Half Price Books a shot

A Private User

The store is called "HALFPRICE BOOKS" which means books for half price. I too remember the days of 25 cent used book stores run out of peoples homes and miss them. But, this is not a book store run out of someones home for the love of books. Halfprice Books is a buisiness, and needs to pay employees and insurance and utilities and rent just like every other business. I for one frequent this store often. When new paperback books can cost between $7.99 and $12.99 and hardbacks are two to three times that, I find Halfprice Books prices to be a great deal. And if I find an older book that in its day had sold for say 3.95, then I get the book for half that. In addition, I have found even better deals in the sale section, getting excellent hardbacks of Stephen King and C.J. Cherryh for $2.00. Ive also found out of print books, such as C.J. Cherryhs Chanur series in hardback for $1.00 a piece. I can go in with $20.00 and come out with 15 books if I spend carefully on great deals. Ive also found audiobooks by James Patterson and Stephen King on CD onsale for $5 that originally sold for $30 or more. My only complaint is the lack of organization and inventory control. I went in looking for Stephen Kings book on writing. They had no way of looking it up the see if they even had it, no one was available to help me look, and I was directed to look in both the fiction section, the sale section and "technical instruction" section. Well, there was not "technical instruction" section, but after asking TWO more employees, none of which had time to help me look or even lead me to a vaguely indicated direction, I was directed to the self help section, where it wasnt. A customer finally told me to check out the non-fiction biography section, since the book was at least partially a auto-biography, and sure enough, I found it there. So, minus one star for poor help and poor inventory control. Im glad I finally found it, because without at least a rudimentory inventory control, I could have been looking forever for something they didnt have. Thanks to that frequent, experienced customer, I finally did . . .

Nate Snowsurfer

Dont expect anything for your books. I took in a trade of about 10 DVDs 5 Playstation games 30 books, which included a Tolkien book set that I bought earlier from the Everett store for $20. I was hoping on the low end to get at least $20 for the lot. I was offered $6.... Openly disappointed with the offered I asked why only $6. The gal said that another gentleman did the quote but she knew that they were only interested in the Tolkien set.So, they thought I brought in a bunch of stuff that wouldnt sell, thats fine. I said, then how about just $6 for the set and I can take everything back home. Nope. The $6 was for everything. I understand they have a business to run, but this just didnt make sense to me. Ill give my box of books to the Salvation Army. And dont expect much in the way of customer service either. Go for the selection and the price.

A Private User

I LOVE this place. Selection is very good, and when my book wasnt available, they took my number promising to call when it came in. And call they did. They also held it for 3 days for me to pick it up. Re: the fact that this is a business.....Aaron of Nov 14th, of course it is. But Ive often found that the lack of customer service or interaction or some sense of caring is essential to every business. And I must admit that reading your detailed response only emphasized the challenge to connect with the valued customer or a frustration of dealing with us. A simple, polite, non-rude " I wish I could give you more....."