Large, well set up HPB with an easy access location and ample parking. Lots of variety in all departments, and usually a few surprising finds to be had. Staff has always been welcoming and friendly. I can't speak to selling books or the fairness of their offers, been many years since I've brought in books. read more

Apparently music has now been added ehich subtracts significantly from enjoying a book crawl thru the stacks. Find a quieter place to shop. read more

This HPB location is VERY big, and as such there have been two separate occasions I've driven up here to get a book that wasn't available the other locations. What's nice is that you can look up books in advance on their website so you can see where a copy is available and either buy in advance/pick up, or place a hold to buy on arrival. They have almost every popular title either in new, or used form. The staff at this location are also very helpful, and they have an info desk right at the entrance that can point you to any specific section as well. The parking lot is massive, you will always be able to find a spot. This location also happens to be near some coffee shops (none attached to their building but nearby) so if you buy a book and wanna go read it with coffee, you can easily do that around the area. read more

Amazing for gifts for yourself, friends, family. Super staff and they have the 2026 Austin Datebook. A super planner and resource for Austin! read more

Half Price Books - Half Price Books in North Lamar - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Austin, Texas

Great place well organized I could stay all day!!!! Great finds old And new I'll be back read more

Great selection of books. Clean and comfortable store. The staff were helpful and friendly. This place is very Austin, a staple. The prices could have been more affordable. read more

Half Price Books - Psychology - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Austin, Texas

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We love this bookstore! It is our go to place to get new and used books, games, movies, music, and comic books. Everything is so clean and organized. The selection is fantastic. The staff are pretty reliable and approachable. This last visit, I came to sell a few items and was okay with their offer. I took the remainder to my favorite charity, so it was no problem. Great bookstore! read more

This place is (one of many things) that makes Austin so unique ( and literate)! Always, always find a surprising read waiting for you in here. Never disappoints! read more

Half Price Books - Can always find some amazing , unknown reads. N Lamar has a great selection - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Austin, Texas

The store is packed with all types of books and assorted other items including posters, videos and music. The process to sell books was easy and fairly quick. read more

This is a lovely, clean, and super spacious Half Price Books. You never know what you're going to find, but you're bound to find something you like in these shelves. I love how big this one is. Also, if by some strange curse, you can't find something specific you are looking for, the staff are all super friendly, so go ahead and ask one of them for help. My husband managed to find some books to complete his collection by asking a book seller to look a few things up. We were then able to pick up his selection from this location at a later date. I am pretty good at not spending too much money here. But every now and again I go overboard. It's hard to leave the books I want behind since I know there's no guarantee that it'll be there when I come back, and I'm definitely coming back. read more

I love this HPB location so much! if they don't have what you're looking for in stock it's super easy to have it ordered and the staff is incredibly helpful. support local bookstores and save money! read more

This place is awesome and I urge everyone to call them and ask if they have a book vs shopping amazon. It would be a sad world indeed without physical bookstores. The rare books section is super interesting. Everything is as affordable as any online retailer, but supporting local people who don't have to work in a massive warehouse. read more

This was my first time in a half price books store and wow! There was so many things to see in the store! I was so excited to see the plethora of childrens books in the back. I even found a couple of joke books for myself! The workers were super friendly and loved seeing the books at an affordable price! read more

Half Price Books - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Austin, Texas

This is the best used book store around. Employees are relaxed and helpful. Looking for a book? Check up front and they can check not only their inventory, but also sister locations. It is well-organized with signs clearly identifying sections. There's a great kids section in the back and rare book room too. The store is very chill; it's very peaceful walking thru the aisles. You can buy records, CDs, and DVDs, along with your books. And, of course, you can sell those to the store. Bring your photo ID, drop off your items, and spend some time enjoying the store while your items are evaluated. Can't forget that they also carry games and some toys, as well as a variety of book-related and book-inspired items. read more

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I've been coming to this Lamar location for years. "Back in the day" I used to buy records here when they were just $1-$3 each. However, the price of vinyl has greatly increased so I don't buy nearly as much as I used to here. This is probably the best half price books location in the city with the largest square footage. They have everything from a large comic book bin, cd selection, records, rare and autographed books. It is also a great place to sell your used books, music and comics. Keep in mind you're probably not gonna get as much for them as you think. Another plus, there is a Goodwill right next-door which also sells books, records etc. read more

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This was a great place to score some awesome books. A great open floor plan with a wonderful selection. A great size kids and game section. One of the biggest half price locations I have been to. The staff was super helpful too. If we are in the area again we will be back for sure. read more

Love this location. They have a great selection of kids series books and YA books. The store is big and doesn't feel cramped despite having a huge selection. It's organized and the staff is friendly. Don't pay full price- shop used here!!! read more

Organized, clean and quiet for anyone shopping. Employees were quick to check me out. Good experience and would come back.

I can't speak on selling books to this store but what I can say is that this store is clean and easy to navigate. It seems they updated everything from the last time we were here. There wasn't any issue finding books in the store. The staff is generally pretty friendly too. The prices of buying things are fair enough. The bathrooms are clean as well. Parking is pretty easy. read more

HPBs business has changed. I have taken in collectible book in that was selling on the Internet for anywhere between $165 and $195, I could not find it any cheaper. The clerk offered me $.50. I took a book of my husband's after he died, and I was given two dollars for it as I was walking away I overheard one of the employees say they were going to sell the book for $300. I didn't go back for a long time, and I will donate my books elsewhere before I take them back No, I would not attempt to sell my books there anymore, I still like to shop and buy if I can find something. However I no longer find real gems in the store. Now the shelves look bare, as though they are holding a going out of business sale and it's the week before they close. What happened to the really good fines? What happened to the variety, so that I could spend hours browsing? read more

With the growth of Amazon, there are very few good brick and mortar book stores still left in Austin. It's a miracle then, I sometimes think, that large-surface bookstores still exist in an age where people rather browse online than in person. While Half Price Books is no less than a chain, it's a good chain, and its North Lamar location is surprisingly grand and neat, especially considering it's located right next to Goodwill. And before someone accuses me of being elitist or something along those lines, one single look through the Goodwill windows reveal a space that is a bit more disorderly and dim. No judgement intended here, just stating a fact. Half Price Books has a fairly good selection and it is not uncommon to find new-ish books at a very reduced price. Old books are also available, of course, generally in very good condition. Living half a mile away from Half Price Books, I catch myself buying more books than I need, but oh, how can I resist the temptation of an affordable, irresistible book? My husband and I moved to Austin a year and a half ago with nothing but our luggages and two cats; our book shelves are now over 60% full and growing. The staff at Half Price Books is always courteous and this location is always clean and quiet. Books are neatly organized, as they should, and the book selection rotates often enough that if one were to visit once a month, they would find at least some new books on the shelves that they haven't seen before. It's well kept, it's filled with books and it's budget-friendly. What more could we be asking for? read more

Who doesn't love good deals and supporting your local businesses? Seriously the nicest staff ever. And it's a great spot for non-book presents too! So many cute objects, journals, games, and more. Been coming here lately to sell some books, they take 3 grocery bags per person per day and offer you a cash amount that you can pick up right then and there. You must bring your ID and you must wait in store while they go through your books to offer you a price. Typically takes 15 minutes or so. Luckily there's a ton to explore and it's not very crowded so it's not hard to social distance. Great experience, we will be back! read more

Ok so the rating isn't because the service they have great staff! It's more about what they are buying how they are pricing. Some of these books are used and over priced I love used book stores for the price so it's annoying to know they are too close to new book prices. Regardless they need to expand a bit more on their book choices and highlight more selections for us to find books that would be super helpful read more

They are just a waste of time. I prefer to give away my books for free rather than letting these people waste my time. They try to buy brand-new books worth hundreds of dollars for a couple of dollars! They essentially want you to donate the books to them. On the other hand, they sell old books at the price of new books to the poor students read more

Great HUGE selection and friendly staff! This place far exceeded my expectations! I loved the way the place is organized, clean, and easy to find things. Have have a great selection of vinyls and magazines as well. read more

My favorite book store, has so much to be discovered! I absolutely love the vast option of books and the sheer amount of them.

They give you 10 cents for a book and then sell it for $8.99. And I am not exaggerating, they give nothing for your stuff, but turn around and sell it at a price that ain't that great. Can't believe Amazon has not shut them down. And if you are looking for something in particular, they don't have it. read more

I love Half price books. Buying books new can get quite expensive especially if you need to buy a lot of them. I love the selection they offer and I've always been able to get the book needed. I called ahead for a certain book, they asked if I needed hard back or paper back, quickly found it and were able to reserve it for me behind the register. When I got there I remembered I needed 1 other book that I did not call about. I went to the information desk. He looked it up on the computer, and walked me to the book. I was able to get in and out in less than 5 minutes with both books. I'm not much of a book store guy and love nothing better than to get in and out as quickly as possible with what I need so this was a 5 star experience in my book. read more

Half Price Books - The Giver - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Austin, Texas

I can't believe that this was the first time I've been to a half-price books.... what have I been doing all my life?! As someone who currently has 24 books checked out from the local library I suppose you could say I'm a bit of a book junkie. I simply LOVE reading and am always looking for my next favorite author, series, or book. It's a habit I'm in no mindset to kick, because reading is an escape, a joy, and pure magic. As a book fanatic, you probably (correctly) assumed I possess my own mini-library. It's true - I have 3-4 bookcases and even more books in storage. Hence, the newfound pleasure of binging books at the library (and on kindle, but we won't discuss that here). Even so, there are always things I love adding to the collection. One day, I aspire to have a library worthy of Beauty and the Beast. I mean, forget about Belle or the Beast.... my one true love is that library. Anyway, back to why this place is so amazing.... they have absolutely everything and I love supporting books being recycled! Yes, I'm probably never going to revisit all of the dog adventure books I bought at the Scholastic Fair in elementary school, but I can sell them and allow some child to cherish them as much as I did. How cool is that?! So not only am I able to clear out my bookshelves to refill them with books I currently love, but I can lessen the blow to my wallet while I do so. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. I also very much appreciate how things are organized. I found three fabulous gluten free cookbooks, language books, textbooks, etc. if you read it, they have it! Anyways, I highly recommend checking this place out! Definitely a must-visit if you're a bookworm looking for the next great find for your collection! read more

To the north Lamar store, I took a few years' collection of book, CDs, and DVDs to sell, well over 300 items, bagged up in HEB reusables, some items still new, unopened, e.g., a Kingsolver audio book (CD), War and Peace, Updike's Rabbit tetralogy, many mint condition books and DVDs, some older oddities, i.e., shipbuilding manuals. After 3.5 hours, my name is called with my offer, $94 and change. I laughed, guffawed, in fact, drawing stares. Immediately, the buyer reached around and said, "But most of those CDs are scratched!" as if I were selling CDs alone. I simply asked if I might rebag, which they helped me to do, even offering a box since we didn't take as much care rebagging as I had bagging. A kind soul who'd helped me bring the bags in helped me carry them out, thanking me for giving them to chance to buy; I was grateful. It only seemed fair at that point to drive around to the Goodwill donation bay so they might make a few dollars from my loss. I know HPB must make a profit, and I am all for keeping my business local, but their condescension was inexcusable. One staff member chimed in, "That's 94 dollars richer!" I laughed again. Lord love a duck! they were inexplicably haughty. While they would only pay me $.05 to $.03 at the buyer's counter, those items they would shelve to sell for 100 to 500 times as much. The Updike tetralogy would bring at least $6 each at their registers. I know because while waiting I wandered around finding the same items I was selling on their shelves. Admittedly, they don't need me to stay in business, and they'll do fine without me. I just know they lost my few dollars worth of business today with their snobby behavior. But, all that said, I will say their floor and sales staff are wonderful folk. The buyer staff could do with some customer service training, though. First item on the training agenda: "The ultimate advantage in the transaction is not to the the seller, but rather to the store in receiving resalable merchandise that is marked up for a profit. Thus, be fair and honest; park the 'I'm doing you a favor taking all this old stuff off your hands' attitude. Take care, HPB. read more

Staff was helpful and kind. They found the book I need to buy, put it away from the floor, and held it for me for a quick check out. It was a positive experience! read more

Great selection and prices!! This location has a lot of parking. Did you know that you can bring your puppies here, too? This place gets four stars for me due to running into a pattern of good and bad service. Otherwise they're perfect!! read more

I think this is probably the largest of the Half Price Books locations in the Austin area. Its large enough and has more of a selection that I think it's worth going out of your way to hit this one over the others. Had a games section that I was able to find a table top game for 25$ less than Amazon was selling still shrink wrapped! read more

Half Price Books - $2 find! - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Austin, Texas

Great place for books, but customer service is not amazing. The assistant at the cash register was quite condescending. First, he was insulted when I asked him why the book that I bought in the store was listed for a lower price on their website. It's OK if you have different pricing strategies, but you don't have to be rude about me not knowing that. I do find it strange, though, that the book itself, bought from the same location online, would be cheaper without the shipping costs than on site. After that, the shop assistant lectured me for a little bit about how all of the books they sell come for half the cover price, which is not true, as I bought some books there before that were much cheaper than the half price. I want to make it clear that I absolutely love this store, but I guess it's better not to question their prices. read more

I really love this location, to the exclusion of all the others. It feels bigger, the staff is relentlessly friendly, and for some reason they always have what I'm looking for. I guess the recent Marvel movies have stoked up the kleptomaniac nerds, because last time they had an employee dedicated just to watching the comic book section, which made me laugh. read more

I was shopping HPB for almost 3 hours in the evening and they began broadcasting the closing countdown. I discovered an area with the selection of books that were just what I needed. There was an amazing selection. Their selections are very organized so one can rapidly be in and out. I don't shop for music anywhere but the books are the best in the city as are the prices IMHO. Also, I love their clearance sale prices! Two dollars on many books! As they were closing I was in line with my overloaded shopping cart full of treasures. The manager saw the situation as I was being helped by a nice, polite young man and began helping immediately. There was no eye rolling or exasperated look upon seeing items over the top of my cart as the store closed. They were curious about my selections from fundraising to gardening to wildlife habitats. I informed them that I'm beginning to set up a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation center, with a separate rescue sanctuary for non-releasable wildlife and some farm animals. It includes public gardens, with a planting area for families to be together with master horticulture volunteers and an educational center and library. Seeing such a large volume and variety of books, the cashier and manager began asking more questions. They were genuinely excited and enthusiastically encouraged me to continue my work and plans. They did not try and rush me out of the store. That kind, personal touch will keep me returning. They helped me through a discouraging day, as I was feeling sick and exhausted. When I opened my wallet at the store, I was horrified to discover that I left my credit card at another store. I expected bothered belittling looks, but the manager made an exception to keep my books overnight as a service since I live in Bastrop. $350 worth of books worth triple the price and excellent customer service. Half Price Books on Lamar is the best! Thank You! read more

I sat in my car listening to music for an hour in the parking lot waiting for this to open at 9am since it was determined to be the only suitable time-waster this early in the morning without having to risk SXSW traffic and shenanigans deeper inside the city. The only other things nearby were a KFC, Whataburger, and McDonalds. Books are always a good idea so I was foaming at the mouth waiting for them to open so I could do something and see if there were any good finds like usual at HPB. They have a pretty large selection when you walk in - you say like "whoa, lots of things" but then you actually start looking for some things and get disappointed quickly. Their audiobooks are limited to one facade of a bank of shelves, about 1/4 the size of the collection at the Rockwall HPB where I always find a hidden gem. There were no hidden gems here after examining every item, most were overpriced, or just godawful nutbag Fox News peoples' books. My Harry Potter search was fruitless. My George R.R. Martin search went just as poorly. And then my final David Foster Wallace search turned up a really beaten up copy of Infinite Jest that was not worth $10, and that was just disappointing, because there are many dumb people in my life I would like to help educate more on things and only David Foster Wallace can help them out; but I would not insult these people with such a beaten up copy. It seems like whoever had been the prior owner had played football (the soccer kind if you're 'merican) with it after getting frustrated that there were all these pages with words on them, lots of words in fact. I have no idea why someone would want to hurt a book that badly unless they didn't understand it, which was still disrespectful to one of the best people that has ever lived, ever. While I didn't walk out with anything special like a present for a friend, at least they were open at 9am and let me kill some time in the morning before going along my merry way. In a neighborhood anchored by a KFC, McDonalds, and a Whataburger they were a welcome addition to have - so while selection would be more around 1 star based on my interests, merely being open boosts them up to 3 stars. read more

Love this spot. Big parking lot and much bigger selection of books. Books, records, rare books, kids, clearance, notebooks, classics, magazines; you name it, they got it. Big enough seating area if you want to sit back and crack open a book. Quick and friendly customer service. You can get in and out fast! The only obnoxious piece is trying to get back onto Lamar when it's busy out. It's aiiight. It's a trade off: busy traffic vs great selection of books. read more

Half Price Books - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Austin, Texas

I usually love half price books, but the staff at this location is routinely rude and/ or indifferent to my son and me. Tonight was the last straw. I walked in and a woman at the entry desk barely glanced up at me without saying a word. Fine, no big deal. I later walked by her again, still not a peep (I'm used to a simple "hi. Finding everything ok?"). The store was fairly empty (Sunday evening, super bowl Sunday in fact, so not a lot of customers), not like she was too busy to acknowledge me. Anyways, I then head to the checkout line and the cashier doesn't say a single word to me either!! He scans my books, tells me the total, hands me my receipt, then sort of stared off to the side of the store (no one else was in line at this time). Come on, it's not that hard for a cashier to say "thanks" or even "bye!" As much as I want to support a local businesses and I love HPB, I'm just going to buy books on amazon (which usually gives big discounts on books also) so I can avoid dealing with the rude employees at my neighborhood HPB. Terrible customer service and I'd imagine their manager doesn't care since that's often the attitude I experience when shopping at this location. read more

Half Price gets an A+ in my book. You know you've struck gold when a bookstore sells a Hanson fan club book for 99 cents. North Lamar is cluttered with commercial businesses, eateries and apartment complexes. This Half Price sits in a weary strip mall just north of UT and Hyde Park in the 5500 block. It shares space with a Goodwill and one of those scary fast food combination stores (I think it's KFC/Church's Chicken, but I can't be sure...). Nevertheless, the parking lot is huge and the ambiance is very pleasant, once inside their sliding doors. They have a splendid poetry selection - pick up any of the classics for under $10. I also have to admire their kids section. I buy $2 novels for my young siblings and am simultaneously blasted by waves of nostalgia - The Blue Heron (3rd grade); Maniac Magee (4th grade); The Catcher in the Rye (junior high). Their DVD and audio book collections are also impressive, and I love that they have a section dedicated to used magazines. Seriously, used magazines? I also appreciate the back wall room of rare books (although admittedly I'm intimidated...). The concept of Half Price Books is to present gently used books at a deeply discounted rate. On North Lamar, you'll find the aisles quietly packed and the staff quietly attentive. I've never had anything less than a smile and a "come back soon" from a cashier. Half Price is a wonderful option for those of us who cannot necessarily shell out $16.95 per hardcover. I'm quickly discovering that there are local bookstores that offer an even further discounted and possibly broader variety of books than Half Price. I'll always be a loyal HFB customer, but it's nice to know that I live in a city that offers alternatives to the alternatives. Stellar bestseller. read more

Half Price Books - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Austin, Texas

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