Half Price Books — Local services in Clive

I’m a regular at this location as the staff are generally nice, the building is always clean, and the selection of books are typically great.

Like with any business, I’ve had more positive interactions than negative. That being said, I typically go in to the store to buy books then and there. Anytime I’ve sold a book or placed a book on hold, though, it’s unfortunately been a negative experience. For this reason, I’m giving this location a 3/5 rating.

Feedback on Selling:

I’ve sold books at this location a few times and each time, I’vc not gotten much for my collection, despite my books being in good condition and (typically) popular titles that sell fast.

An example of this would be selling the entirety of the Throne of Glass series in paperback with out of print covers, and being offered around $50 (Which is how much one book with these specifications typically sells for, if not more, rather than all 8).

Looking at other reviews, I’ve not been the only one in this situation. I understand the business has to make a profit and that I’m able to decline an offer if it doesn’t interest me, but for those wanting a more “fair” amount for what you’re selling, please keep in mind that selling at this store is one of many options available to you.

Feedback on Delayed Purchases (Holds):

The night before last (Wednesday, 11/29), I stopped at the store to browse and found two books that I’ve been looking for (A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wrath and Ruin), both out of print covers in hardback. They were priced at $40 each, which is absolutely fair, but I knew that I needed to think about purchasing these instead of impulsively buying. I purchased one other book and while at the register, spoke to a feminine presenting, blonde store associate, about placing the books on hold. She advised me that I was able to do this, and when I clarified which books they were (Including the author, titles, and that they were hardbacks with out of print covers), she confirmed this was still possible. Another store associate at the counter, a larger masculine presenting individual, also advised this was fine. I went and grabbed the books, and asked about how long they could be on hold. Both store associates confirmed they could be on hold for 3 days, which would mean I had until Saturday. I let them know I just wanted to sleep on it and would be in on Friday (12/1) as I was out of town the next day. Again, they confirmed this was fine.

Today, (Friday, 12/1) I went in to pick up the books shortly after the store opened. A different masculine presenting store associate was working at the front counter and attempted to locate my books, but could not. He was not able to leave the front counter, so he asked a different store associate (a younger, feminine presenting individual) to check the back/status for me. A few moments later, a completely new store associate (feminine presenting) came up and advised the hold expired yesterday (11/30) and that they’d sold. This second store associate was fairly curt both to myself and the store associate who’d remained behind the counter. He explained that the ticket must have had the wrong date on them and apologized to me.

I’m still a bit upset about the situation as a whole, but I understand that sometimes mistakes happen. While I wonder if the books were intentionally released, due to their rarity and popularity, they’re just books at the end of the day. I do wish the store associate who came up from the back had been a little more apologetic, rather than curt, but I also know how hard working in customer service can be. In the future, some sort of acknowledgment and accountability for their mistake would...

I know what people have been saying about HPBS's buy-back pricing -- selling media to them, and not getting what was hoped for. But having attempted to sell on eBay before, my attitude about HPBS is this:

They are a business. They have to make a profit or else, we'd be losing a bookstore, and ppl would be losing their jobs. Come on, book lovers -- where would you rather work: a bookstore, or Mickey-D's flipping burgers where you might end up quitting because it's a worse job than HPBS?

Secondly, if you're gonna be so persnickety about trying to get a lot of money off a special edition or specific genre, especially if you do a lot of legwork and research, eBay is definitely your better choice. That is, IF you want to spend the money on various fees for not just listing items (photos, headlines, etc), and keeping a listing going, but paying final value fees, plus shipping (if you're offering free shipping to a customer, thus subtracting that amount from gross profits).

But otherwise, if you're looking just to get rid of books and other media, HPBS is better than trying to run a yard sale, where your very niche books may not even make it off the table, depending on the neighborhood, genre and subject. For example, I am a mystical/spiritual person(not religious). The books I have wouldn't see the wood-grain of most others' bookshelves in my town.

Taking my specific books to HPBS where there will be a lot more people likely to buy my stuff--even if I don't get my full collection value back at all--is a better choice than Ebay for me, because by the time I'm done with any listing, I'll have spent quite a bit of money "dressing up" my listing just to get the books seen by anyone. I don't have that hassle with selling to HPBS, because the books will be out there for everyone to see, I'll have gotten some money out of it, and no real fees to pay, outside of fuel for the trip to the Des Moines area.

The TL;DR here is: if you want the full value of something and don't have a problem with paying Ebay's multiple fees, go for that option, instead of kvetching about not getting "full value" of what you paid for something way-back-when. HPBS is not a place to haggle,...

So I went to the half price books store at 8:30 (clarified with the gal they closed at 9). At 8:40 I asked said lady where a certain type of book was and she pointed out the section In a condescending tone-rather short with me again she was. Nice dude walked me there etc. When I came back to check out at 8:50 (10 minutes before they closed) I swear that the same gal said, "Down here" so when I went to her register & asked, "Did you say down here?" to which she replied "Yes" then I said, "Is that a lot like I can help the next person down here?" To which she replied, "I said I can help you down here." I clearly should have asked if she was alright, "Did someone kidnapp you and force slave labour? Is someone drugging you? Is there a gunman near by? Should I put on my cape & speedo to save the day (in 9 minutes or less of course). I said nothing because maybe her other job is a dog trainer-point, call out commands like "down here boy, good doggie" I love this store, 1st time I have ever had a poor attitude & I have gone there for years! Since the prior location. Go...