Half Price Books — Attraction in Monroeville

My daughter picked out some books at their Bethel Park location on 1/5/2021, and I paid with a check. Once we got home, she noticed that she already had two of the books. On 1/7/2021, we drove to their Monroeville location to return the books, and I was told that because I paid with a check that I had to wait 7 days until the check cleared to return the books. Okay; but you only have 7 days to return the books to get your money back, right? I NEVER had an issue with returning a book at this location when I paid by check. The manager, Matt, said that's the way it always was since he worked there; six years. Again, I NEVER had an issue returning books to this location after writing a check. I was not happy. Matt got an attitude about it, and told the cashier to give me a store credit. Not going to work; paying with a check is like paying with cash and I am returning the books within the 7 day period. Never again. Matt called his district manager who told him to give me the refund. I took the money and we went to Barnes & Noble in Monroeville Mall.

*Disappointed in the the offer made on books that they buy. I understand their position but feel like they low ball their customers. You could make more money selling them on Craigslist, OfferUp or Facebook Marketplace.

Otherwise, this store is great. Decent prices and a good selection. Clean and organized. Staff is friendly...

I went to HPB today for the very first time to sell books. The man at the Book Buy counter had a strange energy from the moment he looked up at me from his computer. Antagonistic almost? Disdainful almost? I told myself that maybe he just had an odd way about him, don't take it personal. I made sure to smile, be especially polite. Then browsed the store while he appraised my books. One of which is a First Printing (the most valuable type of First Edition) of "I Am The Darker Brother: An Anthology of Modern Poems by Negro Americans' (1968) in pristine condition. Gwendolyn Brooks, Countee Cullen, and Langston Hughes are among the contributors. One of Langston's last projects before he died. I was expecting enough money for lunch, at the very least. So my jaw dropped when I was offered $7 for everything. My other 20 or so books were all also First Editions. I asked him if he had seen that the poetry book was a First Printing. He said yes, then took the book in his hand, glanced down at it's cover, and said, "We would only sell this book for, like, a dollar", with a shrug. This man either a) has absolutely no business appraising books, or b) has as little respect for Black artists as he had for me, a complete stranger who was nothing but polite to him. I will never set foot in Half Priced Books again, not even to shop. I've never been so insulted in...

I despise this store. They truely will not give you a fair trade in price. All other stores will give you a print out (if you ask) of what percentage they will give you (i.e. 40% or whatever) of the price they will sell it for. This place won't even throw you a fair value, then theyll flip it for 5.99 or 7.99, when they only gave you 30 cents or less. They will give you a printout of what they'll GIVE you for each book, NOT what they will SELL it for. If you want to get money for your books, DONATE THEM to a charity and CLAIM them on your tax return. The payoff is more than fair for donations. I had the lowest expectations for trade in values...but apparently my rock bottom expectations weren't low enough. I'm not even mad, I'm just extremely appalled at how unfair they value the books you bring vs. Reselling the books themselves. I question if it's even legal. I would've been happy with even 50 cents a book, they couldn't even do that for my hardcovers. Don't waste your time.

Anyways..... I can never find the books I'm looking for, and they're way too pricey for used books as it is! I also HATE how the childrens section is organized by author/alphabetically. Seriously, no one knows children's books by author, we know them by title. If they reorganized them by title, I would be able to find a...