Ah, so nice to see a huge bookstore. These are rare finds since B&M are so expensive to maintain nowadays; the prices are VERY fair. I ended up buy 2 books. I highly recommend coming in here if you love libraries and bookstores. They even have sections for OLD, antique books and VHS!!! If you're looking for some signed books, you can also find them here! read more

This is one of the best half prices in the Austin area, good size, i found a lot of hardcover john d. macdonalds i'd been looking for. A plus is the goodwill store next door, never know what you'll find, our last trip there i found a fold up black and decker workmate bench.....they come in handy. read more

I used to like coming here for records. Not anymore. Prices have gone up and are ridiculous. $5.99 for a beat up old 45 with a toen sleeve? I dont think so. Better off going to a proper record store where I will pay the same price but the records are in better shape and curated so i dont spend 20 minutes digging for 1 good record. Seriously though, either the beat up old unordered 45s should be bargain bin or they should be in better shape to ask for premium prices. I do love the book selection and prices tho so I'll probably only come here for books from now on. read more

Always a fun stop. From Philosophy to Science they have it all. A local staple that is sure to please. The vinyl selection is very diverse.

half price books, i love you! really. maybe true love. true, true love. great. settled there. so, why only one star? count it, o-n-e. silly, right? well, here's the thing: i am a music collector. you make amazing music available for the non-collector. amazing music for the semi-collector. amazing music for collectors of all levels. in stock, amazing, cheap, and in a sweeping variety of genres, styles, and formats. it might knock lesser people off their feet. but. but i stand against some of your practices. sir mix a lot-sized but. you do two things that you need to stop doing before i will remove the one-star review. attention management: stop doing these two things. now! 1. do not store the "collectible" discs behind the counter in abrasive plastic sleeves. if people really still steal cds, fine. not sure they do but, fine. i will give you that. but. please please please let me get what i want this time. choose a softer sleeve. there are relatively inexpensive soft sleeves that will not scratch the discs at all. your sleeves scratch the discs, deeply. ruined. dead. please stop. your most valuable and expensive cds are endlessly damaged, scratched, and sometimes destroyed at your hands. end the madness and invest in softer sleeves for behind-the-counter storage. small investment now, big bet on the future. 2. do not put price tags on front or back covers. lps: do not ruin the sleeves. cds: do not ruin digipacks. your labels are sooooooo sticky it takes tearing, peeling, crying, lighter fluid, more crying, etc to get your terrible price stickers off of collectible artwork. beautiful artwork. please please please let me get what i want this time. end the adhesive tyrany. please. feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss alternatives to either of the above. i am a serious collector. i treat my media like i love it. i provide serious affection and protection for my collection. i can help. free consulting. hit me up. for the love of future humanity, hit me up. thanks for reading. i love you. get better and i will love you more. read more

I've traded at this location for years, but no more. If you have any DVDs that you want to sell, don't waste your time thinking you'll get a fair shake-- because you won't. I took in an excellent little collection; including all three gift sets of LOTR, the Die Hard collection as well as many movies that were fairly new releases and classics. Over 30 DVD's. Their offer--$15. I'll give them away before I accept that. read more

In my most humble of opinions, this is the best half price bookstore. I can always find fabulous (CHEAP) things here including audiobooks which are the only thing that keep me sane on my 6 hour long drives to the valley. The people working there are always nice, very helpful and know just where to go for my book club book. The location is a total bonus -- stop by for a quick one @ long john silvers or a more delicious bite @ titayas. Don't forget you're next to goodwill too -- clothes, books, food, music -- all in one convenient place. It's like walmart without the stigma. read more

I was the Girl from Ipanema walking passed the record section at Half Price. I almost missed it entirely, actually, until my sights were redirected, after which when I passed, each one I passed made me ahhhh. I lost my cool. My totally awesome traveling record player X-mas gift (deserved more than my stout collection of 45s could offer. Half Price hit the spot. Let me paint you a picture: HPB's record area is the stuff Dreams are made of - it is ginormous, dusty, and enough to make Rhiannon and Sara Smile. I was on cloud nine, on the Edge of Seventeen. We were just on the brink of something awesome, and still unsure what it was. And then we blacked out. We came to; it was an hour later. There was a neat stack of precious 45 finds, and we decided to set a time limit so we wouldn't be there forever, in case the black vortex sucked us in again. Despite the 10 minute timer, my baby said - do you know what he said? - Don't Dream It's Over. I reckoned it was sound advice, and continued thumbing through 45s at the speed of awesome music. "It's like finding gold!!!" he proclaimed in a maniacal voice, and I thought: powdered sugarpoof, I'm Crazy For You. Let's Stay Together through this record mission, because I'm certain that Love Will Keep Us Together. (Love, sure, but also desserts, respect, food, records, and pie.) We drove off giddy as bandits, one LP and ten 45s safely tucked in the getaway vehicle. The 45s were 3 for a dollar. For serious. We got home. We popped the player open and started in, cuddling the cold away, briefly wondering if our kids would ever see a White Christmas in Austin. But mostly we were quiet, listening to the soothing crackle of our new treasures: all of these Songs in the Key of Life. read more

I consistently make the mistake of coming to places like this on a weekend, even though I'm off on two weekdays. I have issues with the douchebaggery of 800 customers in one place. Perhaps it's just me, though. Overall, this store is okay, with a few exceptions. - You can't go in "on a mission," as other reviewers have pointed out, you'll likely be disappointed - Don't bother wasting your time trying to sell books here, they'll rip you off (I sold an entire box of children's books to them for $5, but it was $5 I didn't have) - Visiting on the weekend, not such a great idea, unless you like stumbling over people and trying to look around people who've planted themselves in the middle of an aisle (the girl wasn't even reading a book! Just sitting there, with her feet up on another chair!) - Most employees are indifferent to the 800 customers around them, prioritizing their time with stocking shelves and moving stuff around On the upside, if you have only a genre/category in mind and not a specific book, you'll likely find something to delight you. Organization is pretty good, things are overall easy to find. DVDs and CDs are pretty inexpensive (but not as inexpensive or varietal as Planet Replay http://www.yelp.com/biz/planet-replay-austin ). When you do find something you're interested in, it's usually CHEAP... always a good thing. I'll be back during the week... and not on a specific mission. read more

I wish I could go here. I really do. But I can't. My name Is Kyle and I am a semi-recovering book lover. I mean addict. But not really. Once in '99 I went to the HPB across from Wheatsville and did NOT buy a book. So, it really isn't a problem. Sadly, that lovable eager mutt puppy of a bookstore with the most amazingly fertile section of alien/psychedelic/occult/weirdness is now long gone. Every few daze some new gem, out of print for years, would show up. Personal printings. Monographs. Stuff you couldn't get today for less than 50 or 100 bucks at alibris or powell's or half or amazon, would be five bucks at most. Gorgeous books of sweetly acid-free paper and soft, supple spines, not a trace of glue for miles, tightly sewn pages just begging you to read, touch, enjoy, savor. At leisure. Whenever. Forever! So how could one not take these things home? The X-Files had nothing on that single seven-foot shelf. So where was I? Ah yes; I am not an addict, really. I just like Beauty, in a sort of Keats meets Bukowski way, with Tom Robbins bartending and Albrecht Durer etching it all into longingly fresh medieval symmetry. And books are Beautiful friends who demand nothing, only a one time purchase and a long-term purchase on a shelf somewhere near in order to smile at you daily. A friend. How could a friend be a problem? Ok, sometimes a friend can kind of hog a wall or three or sort of pile up here and there on the floor and maybe walking around the house could get rather labyrinthine, but when you're running into old friends every few feet, how can you complain? Anyhow, HPB on Lamar (and occasionally the South Lamar branch, both with friendly, smart folks working happily) took over in my life from the Guad store, and despite higher prices and a painfully picked-over selection, there were still far too many good books in the music and poetry and travel and art sections to be left alone like that in the poor old book shelter. Then one day it became clear that I have too many tomes, while having not yet luxuriated in so many great ones already on my shelves (and piles) while others get reread annually. So it's been about two years since I visited my old friends on the shelves up here on Lamar . I love you but I can not support you any longer, dear book monkeys. You pout and sulk but we both know how much better life has been since I peeled you off my back and put you in the attic with three little magic syllables: Li Brer Ree. The medication seems to be working fine. And I sure get to eat out more often. By the way, who is that haggard fellow over by the free coffee? Looks strangely like Ed Norton... read more

I am updating my review today after another disappointing visit to Half Price Books. I really can't get over the fact that THIS is what Austin thinks is a great used book store. This is the biggest HPB in Austin, and the selection is not great, unless you're looking for a three year old Oprah's Book Club selection. Even classic pieces of literature only have a few copies. The prices (for buying and especially for selling) are not what I expect of my used book stores. I actually asked for my books back today because their quoted price was simply not a fair deal. (I'll take the trouble to sell the more valuable ones on Amazon, and either donate the common ones to Goodwill or hang on to them until they too become three year old Oprah Book Club selections... except Oprah just retired, shit...) This location does have a respectable number of audiobooks and cd's and dvd's, far more than other HPB locations, and that's what I was looking for today (long car trip coming up). That's what earns the stars today, folks. I still long for the days of visiting Chamblin's Bookmine in my hometown. Jacksonville, you are one lucky city; Austin, one day, I hope you will find a used book store that is as cool as you. read more

Book Selection: Four Stars! Lots of books to look at and buy. Got a NAUI Nitrox book for $3! Sales Service: Four stars! Everyone is really nice, and generally tries to help. I just wish they had a database of items in store. No one really walks around the store to help you find something here. Book purchasing: Total rip-off. I brought items to sell, and they gave me $8 for DVDs, Science Magazines, and about 8 brand new non-fiction (economics, business, science) and science fiction books. I should have sold them all on Amazon. Silly me, but I waited so long (45-60 minutes) for my quote that I didn't want to heckle or anything. I know those books will sell for more than 4 times what they purchased them. :,( read more

My day began so innocently...dropping of my daughter at my mothers so she could play with grandma and her cousin while i visit with my sister and hopefully take her to a favorite watering hole. That's it...nice relaxing family holiday times. But oh hell no...I get hoodwinked into clearing brush for an hour. Then off to a friend of my moms to help him get rid of tons (i mean this almost literally) of books he had laying around all over his living room. We get there and loaded up 10 large (2 man) boxes of books. Then its off to Half Price Books. We debated on how much we would get for this truckload of literacy. I was severely pessimistic...perhaps due to the growing nagging pain in my back. So we get there and thankfully the staff at Half Price transported the tonnage into the store. We had to wait one and a half hours for them to go through all the stuff but in the end we scored over $200. The staff was surprisingly cheerful and helpful on a busy, busy day. Finally my chores were done and i was ready to hit the nearest bar. Huh...?What...? Go by Home Depot for what?....Fencing posts and boards? AAAAhhhhhhh Noooo! So, spend the rest of the day installing fencing for old Ma... I love spending holidays with family and friends... =) read more

About 30 years ago this store was located on Lavaca. It was in a two story building with books upstairs and down, dusty wooden floors, and creaky wooden stairs. Ventilation was natural. It was typical old downtown Austin, before banks came in and rebuilt everything. Old books with marbled endpapers and embossed, gilt spines were everywhere. Old magazines were piled on several full bookcases in an entire section. I even saw a mouse run across the floor one day. The nice thing was, there was a lot of old books, whereas now there are mostly new books, and few magazines. There's DVDs. Avoid the buy counter where attitude is a bit unfriendly, even snarky. I didn't know that having a Ph.D in English automatically meant working at a used bookstore and having a poor attitude but apparently, in some cases, it does. read more

Perhaps the "Buffalo Exchange" of the bookstore set; if only they gave you *half* price for trade-ins, that'd be something. Frankly, that'd be anything. My experience here has been juxtaposed with that notion, and as such, Half Price is a bit of a mixed (book) bag, at best. I'll echo some of the positive things others have noted in that the selection can be pretty terrific (varied subject matter, lots of choices), and were it not for the fact that I've apparently been under some sort of misapprehension that the variety of books I brought in might actually fetch something not masquerading as ridiculous, I'dve likely been back in more often. As is, I hit this place when I want to find a book I've been longing to read and want today, but not one I'm okay with paying through the nose for. And trade-ins? All this time, who knew the real money was in garage sales. read more

Forget the naysayers and three star reviews. This is the best book store in Austin, bar none. Sure, Book People may have some nice sections and cool staff picks, but you're paying $16-20 a book for paperbacks at Book People and about 5 dollars at HPB. There is no comparison, especially considering HPB has a bigger selection. You will walk into this place and be blown away by the incredibly large collection and especially some of their sections. They had some really awesome music books and books on Texas history. I got a few awesome collections here for 5 bucks that retailed for 25 or more. That's another thing they don't advertise well enough; books here are half price AT MOST. Usually they're even less. I tend to find hard copy books in near-perfect condition for under 8 bucks. You really can't beat the price and selection of this place at any used or new bookstore in town. Did I mention they also have CDs, a massive DVD selection, a wall of cheap computer games, and an awesome rare books room? The rare books room is worth the visit alone. They have 200+ year old documents and books being pored over by collectors. This place is basically awesome and its nearly impossible for me to go in here without buying at least 4-5 books. Nothing in town even comes close. read more

Ohhhhhh! I spent too much money here! That front-butt has me cowering in fear! New maps to buy! -half price, swoon, sigh- Employee Pick? I'll give it a try! Ohhhhhh! Field guides everywhere! I'll buy 'em all, I don't care! Please note: This was the actual song playing the last time I was there. It is a blatant attempt to get you to buy things, but upon viewing other patrons, I have some ideas of how you can combat this advertising onslaught. 1. Fall asleep on a chair (or that person was dead). 2. Talk loudly enough on your phone that nobody can hear anything else. 3. Smell absolutely terrible. 4. Stay outside for the bargain books. 5. Peruse the rare books section (they pump in air sweetened with pipe-smoke and extract of tweed). read more

FYI this is best best HPB store in all of Austin. Why? Well its ginormous, with a huge cd section. A section marked all $2.98. For someone who likes to not completely live in the ever so dependent tech savy world, this place is FOR YOU. While everyone else listens to their iPods in their cars, reads their books (if they read at all) on their ipad's (is there a crime scene in your pants?) or on their kindle...or whatever else people have invented for the people who are so bored with their lives they have to spend more money on unnecessary things. Yes, I said it. I got a New Order (best of) cd for 5.98! And I couldn't resist getting a Recover cd that reminded me of 2005 when I listened to bands like that, and went to concerts at Emo's every weekend. O to be 18 again...and it only cost me $2.98 to feel like I was 18 again :) SO many books. SO much time spent here. Sometimes they should just kick me out. They even have a RARE book selection. Kewl! I thought maybe I was being watched the first time I ventured in this section. I walk in and i hear a beep. I walk out and I hear a beep. Okay? Treasures, I get it. 2 cds, 2 awesome books I'm excited to read for under $25. Endless entertainment right there. Staff are all super friendly, helpful and happy most of all. I would be too if I got to work there. If my lifelong ambition would be to open my own used book/music store would you judge me negatively? Who cares. 2 things I love: old books and music. Now time to keep reading The Island by my love, Aldous Huxley. read more

Best location in Austin w/plenty of space to sit and browse before you make your selection. Only location I have ever found that has headphones to listen to bits of CD's before you purchase them, which is AWESOME! Makes me more likely to purchase some unknowns or different style of music if I know I like the selections. Can't say enough about how much I enjoy this location! read more

If you are super poor (as I am) and have a love of literature (as I do) then Half-Priced Books is both a wonderful and very, very dangerous place for you. Seriously, it is like a wonderland. A wonderland full of regrets when you realize that the book that you had paid twenty bucks for, you can now own for ten. Or, oftentimes, less than that. I lend out books often. These books never, EVER get returned. People are always rolling their eyes when I say that I like buying books. Why don't you just go to the library, they always want to know. I don't know! I like owning the book! Sue me! As books vanish or are destroyed over time, Half Priced Books is the perfect place to replenish (or own for the first time) your stock. I found House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski for like eight bucks. Sure, it is a little bit tattered (as most of the books are) but I now own it for EIGHT BUCKS! At Bookpeople, the same book (but a little less tattered) would cost me almost thirty. Thank you, Half Priced Books, for existing. read more

I recently moved from to Austin from Houston, where I would frequently visit the Rice Village and Montrose Half Price locations. I thought they were great, then my jaw dropped when I walked into this store. It's huge. Mostly I browse rather than buy, though, because often the quality isn't worth the price. The other day I wanted to get "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay," and there was only one very well-loved and worn-out copy whose clear plastic cover and bar code told me it had been stolen from a library. And it cost $13.50. The same book costs $10.80 new on Amazon, so I couldn't justify it. Mostly I end up buying magazines here. They have a great selection in the back. A six-month-old New Yorker for 50 cents? Yes please! They also have some cheap stationery and notebooks. read more

I really enjoy their large selection of books and video and audio offerings. My rating for browsing and buying books there would be a 4 or 5, but my rating for their buy back rates for books and things is a 2. So I thought an overall 3 rating is fair. I no longer even try to sell back books there. I would rather give them to friends instead. But hey, that's my prerogative, just as it is the stores' to set the prices they will pay for used items. I enjoy buying books here and there really is a very large selection. You can spend many an hour just browsing through all of the books, movies and music that they offer. My guilty pleasure is crime fiction and they have tons of it for good prices. I can't imagine a topic that they don't have at least a fair amount of books relating to it. I love to visit and recommend visiting, just don't expect much money on sell backs. read more

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

I've finally discovered the secret to my happiness with Half Price Books: go in with a long list of titles to look for. Often I stop in hoping to score a used copy of a recently released book. About 75% of the time I don't find what I want in the new release section and have to either settle for something else or leave empty handed. Last night I went in with a list of books - old and new - that I thought I'd like to read. I didn't find the new releases I wanted but I did find a whole bunch of older books. The older the book the cheaper it is; one of the books I picked up was only $2.98 I left with two books, which will last me a week at most. Then I'll hit the store with my list again. read more

I have yet to actually set foot in the new location on North Lamar, but the old location always had a great selection of gently used books at a nice price. But what I want to rave about is the personalized customer service. I have not had to walk into the door because I call ahead. Unfortunately they have not had the books in question the two times I called, but they took the time to search the store and save me all the time of driving, parking, searching myself, etc. These employees are either trained well or love helping people get their reading on. read more

Great bookstore! I love that they'll search for and hold a book for you so no wasted time :-) I think I already tipped this but if you're selling your books don't sell here , they don't pay much.Their collectible section is excellent though if you're looking to buy! read more

I have a love / hate relationship with HPB. I love that you can sometimes find really interesting books, or that you can find interesting and not so interesting books at great prices. But I don't understand why they run their business the way they do; all I can think of is that they must make more money their way. First of all I am amazed that they still can't tell you what is on the shelves in a particular bookstore. Or that the stores don't have a consistent way of categorizing their titles. Trying to find a book in a smaller section is simple enough, but in the bigger sections it becomes obvious that some of the books are just randomly thrown into what may or may not be the appropriated category. Different store? Different location. Browsing can be fun, but trying to find a specific book can be incredibly frustrating. Computers, barcodes, and ISBN numbers should make inventory and proper shelving a pretty simple task. To make matters worse, you sometimes get attitude from the employees. Some are very helpful and some are very polite. But some are downright surly. It's a surprise to feel like you've inconvenienced an employee when you ask for help finding a book - in a bookstore. Another note - pricing varies widely between stores. Its not unusual to find the same book for double or half the price. I don't love paying $30 for a book and then finding the exact same book for $15 later that day at another location. If you enjoy just browsing the shelves (which I do) then stop by. If you're looking for something specific you can waste a lot of time - try online or BN. For a company with 100+ stores I would think they could do better. read more

Half Price Books is awesome as a buyer, and not so much as a seller. You can find lots and lots of selections here, new and used, and they often have more than one copy, so if you're a teacher and need a set, you can get a handful here. They also have a teacher discount, which is sweet. I've tried a few times to sell books at Half Price, and always expect to recieve way more than I do. The last time, I had about 20 paperbacks that my mom had given me, in hopes that I could collect some cash to turn into classroom books. Thanks, mama, but it didn't take. These were best-seller romance novel types, like Nora Roberts and stuff. They still only gave me $11 for the lot. That really surprised me, but I still took their offer and traded them for Princess Diaries. Next time, either don't get your hopes up, or donate the books next door to Goodwill, where at least you'll get a tax break for them. read more

I don't want to hate on this place, because it really is half-price books. But if you've ever sold your books here, you know that they give you pennies on the dollar, even on brand-new books. Their profit margin must be huge. I do like all the rare and out of print books. I do like the friendly staff. I do like paying less for books than I would on Amazon. I do like the large inventory of all kinds of stuff. BUT, If I were granted one wish, I wish that I could look up my book list online, then consolidate the inventory between stores. It's really disappointing to me to go, search and search and come up empty. Feels like wasted time, and an uphill battle to go find another location and check that store. . . read more

Great LP and CD finds at decent prices but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take better care of collectible music while in your care. Two suggestions: - Find different price stickers for your LPs. Those big red price stickers quickly adhere to the back of LPs and, even when using sticker removing fluid, they leave horrible marks on priceless records. - For CD Box Sets with multiple discs, use a separate sleeve for each disc. I recently purchased a rare import CD set and all 6 discs were stacked on top of each other in one sleeve. 3 of the discs had light scratches throughout from poor storage. Please treat musical history with the respect it deserves!!! read more

Rather than the "Buffalo Exchange," I might call this Half-Price the Cheapo's of the book shops: huge, varied selection with different levels of quality from item to item, and crazy low prices. A few things I've picked up on that make this Half-Price stand out: -Their music writing section is suprisingly well-stocked (then again, this IS Austin). They routinely buy large quantities of jazz books, their biographies section is well organized, and they've even got a section cordoned off just for Beatles-related books. -Their Buddhism section is never low on the classics, and they even make an effort to organize with respect to the different schools! Helluva feat! -Their philosophy section actually includes Foucault, which is refreshing after years of seeing the poor guy relegated to the sociology section. -They've got Zizek!! It's my favorite Half-Price in town, and the Goodwill next door means I can totally waste an afternoon in this shopping center. read more

Dear Half Price Books, Thank you for being GIANT Thank you for being near to mah house Thank you for the $22 you gave me for a bunch of junk my mom thinks I like to read Thank you for giving me a lot of awesomeness to buy and promptly put that money back into your store! OK that's all thanks bai! read more

I haven't sold anything here yet, but have spent a happy hour or two sitting in the aisles of Half Price Books. If you're a bargain shopper, you know that this sort of thing takes time. I would not recommend Half Price Books to anyone that hates the hunt of bargain shopping. This is one of the newer stores, so it's more brightly lit and has a more expansive selection, including cds, dvds, software programs, magazines, sheet music even!! Be aware though, just because it's in this store..doesn't mean you'll get a good price on it. It seems they just charge you half of what the cover price is even if the book is REALLY old. A highly recommended purchase? Get your travel books here, i.e. Lonely Planet, Frommers, etc. Other bookstores will charge $20 or so and you can get a recent version here for under $10 just slightly used. read more

My taste in books is rather eclectic (Chinese painting, obscure martial arts, magic etc.) and finding them in a regular book store is a challenge. Yet every time I go to half price I always come out with a treasure. You must understand that I love books the way M. Monroe loved diamonds and going to this store is a treat I reserve for when I have been especially good. Just the other day I cleaned the whole house and decided that I deserved half price. I found 6 books, a piece of software, and a set for doing water color landscapes (book and paints!) and it was less than $40.00! IF you love books, CDs, DVDs, Software, or Neat activity sets you have to go to half price. 5 stars all the way read more