From a buyers perspective great experience. It is half off the listing price. Some things will be great deals and others won't be. It's best to Google the book and see if it is selling for half price everywhere already. However, there are a lot of books that aren't normally half off so this is a great deal! A lot of the books looked brand new. I've been trying to build my child's book collection in an affordable way and this will help! From a selling perspective, know they are going to be selling them half off the listing price and they have tons of overhead costs. So I'm not surprised to hear people don't get much. I would look at it as you are helping others get a fair price for books and a good business keep employees when a lot of book stores struggle to make it. read more

My friend and I rode our bikes about 10 miles and spent roughly 2 hours getting to the store because we wanted to sell some books we no longer needed. We brought in 13 books and were hoping to get a little cash for drinks and snacks after the ride. When we arrived, we were told that because we were under 18, we could not sell the books. I understand that businesses have policies regarding minors, but what disappointed me was how the situation was handled. We tried to ask if an adult could assist us with the transaction, but we were repeatedly told no without much explanation or effort to help us understand our options. What frustrated me most was leaving empty-handed after making such a long trip. Even if the policy couldn't be changed, a little more patience, empathy, or guidance would have gone a long way. The experience felt dismissive and left a bad impression. I respect that stores have rules, but customer service matters too. read more

I sold a variety of historical, self-help, religious, and financial books to Half Price Books on 95th Street in Naperville. I was paid $18.35 cash for over 40 books. Waiting in the store while the staff evaluated the books was inconvenient. The workers were not unfriendly but they were not at all cheery. I assume they are students and were preoccupied with school. read more

Poor service. I came to sell two large totes full of books and magazines, waited 30 mins, and got offered $1.75. What kind of scam is this? Location really needs some work. read more

Half Price Books - Name of business - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Naperville, Illinois

BEWARE...these are the rudest most demeaning people I have ever met in a business... I can't fathom how they stay in business...I left in tears!!! read more

Large selection of items board games seems larger than most Store is very clean and has a large staff to help you out with whatever you need they are all wearing face masks which is a good thing read more

Half Price Books - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Naperville, Illinois

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I had brought about 40 dvd's to sell. All good condition and no scratches. Also some books, like GRE prep books, hard cover books. Total about 55 items. They offered it for $28. (They wanted 98%of my items). I couldn't believe it. They were selling the same dvds for average of $ 5.99. But they would buy my dvds for less than 50 cents! Unbelievable!! . I really should have taken it back and donated it looking back. But, I needed to move it out asap and had person waiting to pick me up outside. . Very much a Ripoff place read more

Do not sell your books they pay little unfortunately Swear on god they can do better than this but I think they need a little more empathy and structure read more

My sister came here with my niece to sell some books. She made about $15 dollars and my niece made $1. It's a good way to know that your old books will be put to good use. They have a lot of books here and also board games discounted. read more

Visiting area from out of town. Googled local book stores. Visited HP Books wow I was impressed. Immaculately clean, organized, welcoming. Tables in the back if you want to hang out. Also sell music and movies and magazines and many other things. They also provide sturdy, compact shopping carts and baskets (which they also spent good $ on and didn't go cheap with plastic). Ample amount of titles. Good place to pop in. read more

Half Price Books is always a must-stop when I'm visiting family in Illinois. When I was local to the area, this was my favorite bookstore. Some used bookstores tend to feel dingy or dirty, but that's not the case here at HPB. I've bought hundreds of books here since it opened years ago, and they've all been mint or near-mint condition. Take some time to look at the vintage or collectors edition section. In addition to having good quality books, HPB also has a broad variety of books, many are in specific niche topics. For example, I'm a huge cat lover, and there's a great selection of cat books covering a wide array of topics. Since space is limited, certain areas are smaller than others. Specifically, I wish the poetry section was larger. Don't let the name Half Price BOOKS fool you, they also have a big selection of used records, DVDs, and CDs. This store is such a treat and there's really something for everyone! read more

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I LOVE Half Price Books! The business has really grown since it initially opened in 2012ish (not sure exact year). Fast forward 10 years and employees are no longer knowledgeable, approachable, friendly, or seem to even care where they are. The last three times I visited, the two buyers (employees behind the sell desk) talked so obnoxiously loud and inappropriate conversation. It's the last thing you expect to experience from book store employees. Sad this location has lowered standards for employees. Definitely came more often when book lovers worked there. read more

HPB is based in Dallas, where I used to live, so after shopping at the warehouse-sized flagship store the little neighborhood shops are kind of a let-down. BUT!! I am still glad to have this store! Why? For one thing, I've missed having a convenient location. One nice thing about HPB is that you can sell stuff (books, music, dvds) and they will give you money OR credit. You get more if you take credit, so if you're buying something anyway that may be the way to go. But don't expect to get a fortune back for that stack of assorted old hardcovers and used DVDs, even if they are in good shape. Be glad that's an option at all; most places that I know of ONLY offer credit. Speaking of things being in good shape, I generally saw the stock to be in good condition. They seemed to be picky at this location, which isn't always true. Maybe it's because the place is new. HPB doesn't just rely on purchased items to fill the shelves; they also get overstock so there are "new old" books too. As it was, the shelves were JAMMED, maybe a little too much so. Books need a little space to breathe. And then when someone tries to pull one out, decides they don't want it and forces it back into the space, THAT's when you get the damage. As it is, the cost you're paying for items in very good shape is quite reasonable. Yeah, you can buy used stuff on Amazon etc., but you can't SEE it first, and there's not the immediacy either. I like some of the places in the city too, but well, they're in the city. This is just a lot closer. Customer service was great (again, still riding that new store high; I hope they will keep it up). Overall, it's a fun place to shop on a boring day because you know there will always be something different among the ever-rotating stock of titles. So keep your wish list handy. It's not the flagship, but having this stripmall location isn't half bad. read more

We drove thirty minutes to buy my wife a book for her birthday. Their site says they close at 7. We walk in at 5:50, to hear on the overhead that they close in 10 minutes. We talk to the staff and they let us know that they are deciding to close an hour early to have their holiday party during business hours and are shutting the doors. Needless to say, the entire family was very disappointed. We will not be giving them any business in the future. Not a penny. The price is generally right, but that's some terrible service and messaging. We saw at least 5-6 groups of people questioning what's going on, and people pulling on their locked doors as we left. PS You made a 6 year old cry. Enjoy your party. read more

I love this place, if you like to read and love books you need to visit Half Price Books, plus they are always updating their inventory, a real find. read more

Good books and good deals but a very rude staff. Woman at checkout was not welcoming and never responded to hello's or thank you's

I've always had a great experience selling my books at this location. Staff is always friendly. Today I brought in over a dozen mostly new books and was offered $2 and some change. Not a problem; that's the name of the game! I decided I wanted to try to take some of MY books back and sell them elsewhere. I was told I could not do that. It was an all or nothing deal. To confirm I understood correctly I clarified, "So if I take half these books back and you re-ring up the other half I would get zero dollars?" He confirmed. Still confused I asked, "Are you buying all these books from me or recycling them?". He confirmed he was buying them ALL. So again, to clarify, I asked, "So I can't take some of my books back and have you give me a new offer on half of them? (i.e., a $1 and some change). He again, confirmed that it was all or nothing. I was dumbfounded. I contemplated taking all my books in frustration and going elsewhere but I recently moved and really didn't want to have to return them to a moving box in my basement to be dealt with later. The more I think about it though the more frustrated I get. I definitely will not be returning to this location. I didn't get a smile or a thank you, nothing but irritation today. Hope nobody else has a similar experience. read more

I love Half Price Books! The selling process is a piece of cake. We've sold bookies, DVDs, Blue Rays and CDs. As for shopping, the store is very well organized and it is easy to find what you're looking for. If you can't, the associates are always ready to help. Check out HPB soon, and get ready to be a convert to used books! read more

Half Price Books - Isles and isles of books! - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Naperville, Illinois

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Saw the sign their grand opening weekend and stopped in, thrilled that we now have a Half Price Books. Found a couple of herb books I've been looking for for a while, enjoyed the heck out of the sale section in the back; appreciated the fact that the cookbook section is big enough that there's a vegetarian section. It's a pretty standard HPB; good-sized. It's like shopping at a Borders or a Barnes and Noble except the books / music are used so there's a lot more variety. No comparison with places such as "Bargain Books" that are all remaindered items, but this isn't your Mom and Pop bookstore with a friendly proprietor, either. Don't come here looking for amazing bargains (though you'll find a few in the back) but do plan to enjoy the hunt. (For example, in addition to my herb books, I found a The New Avengers paperback book, based on the 1970s TV show with Patrick Macnee and Joanna Lumlee, and a bargain book giving a survey of silent film, with DVD - both of these for less than $2 each. Yup, they got variety.) Not sure why people are complaining so much about resale prices; most used bookstores, including independents, won't give you jack for what you're selling. And I've never had any more trouble at a HPB finding what I was looking for than at a regular chain bookstore, and when I couldn't find some of what I wanted, the staff was helpful. Sells used magazines too. read more

"Half price" but totally 100% worth it! I could drive down the street to any other bookstore/retailer and find the same thing but at "full price". I ask myself...WHY?--when shopping at Half Price Book will save you a few bucks here & there, enough for a fancy latte or small treat. What I really like about Half Price Books is that although they carry many of the latest and greatest, they also carry some obscure items too. I bought a birthday gift here for a friend who loves Dr. Who, and I found a small section of really unique items. For another, I found some nice CDs of classical music, and although they were "used", it didn't matter because the CDs were in perfect condition! And finally, I have been in to purchase toys and puzzles and cards and even a dictionary. The employees are extremely helpful. Their knowledge is amazing! Every single one of the employees who have helped me over the years has been helpful and tuned-in to the merchandise. It's so wonderful to shop at a place where the employees really care about the business! The return policy has been pain-free. No hassle when I returned a used game set that was missing a couple of pieces, and no problem when I returned a CD because we didn't like it. As a seller, I have sold boatloads of items, mostly books and DVDs. Truthfully, you don't make much on these, but it's only fair as they do need to make a profit. I'm looking forward to perusing the aisles for more gems! Half Price Books, I'm so glad that you are in my neighborhood! read more

Half Price Books - CDs of every genre! - Books, Mags, Music & Video Near Me - Naperville, Illinois

I went in here after going to 2nd and Charles and was a little bit disappointed. After reading the reviews that seemed like Half Price Books was the place to go to, but they don't have near the selection of Second and Charles, and noticed the prices here are bit higher. They are selling used books for $5+ ... When you can literally find them for a dollar elsewhere... They seem to have some new stuff but not as much as the other store.. On another note, Employees are super helpful and friendly read more

I collect used vinyl albums. I have had the best luck finding musical gems in very good shape here.

Simply awesome. Very nice selection of second hand books, comics, video games and reasonable prices too. When I go to Half Price Books I spend at least one hour to look around. I usually find a lot of things to buy. When I dont purchase books and games online I am usually getting them here and other Half Price Books locations. read more

I lugged in 2 milk crates full of CDs. 25 minutes later, I walked out with $40 cash. I didn't count how many CDs were in the crates, but $40 was better than dusty copies of the Vengaboys, Nickelback, and NSync collecting dust in my basement. The employees here are friendly, mostly guys in their early/mid-20s. They thoroughly explained their selling criteria to me: Must be in good condition, what they pay you is based on demand, and they take everything. That's right, unlike Disc Replay, they took everything in the 2 crates, including the previous titles as well as Beatles "Revolver" and a Chumbawamba "Tubthumping" single. The one drawback is that you have to stay in the store while they look through your items. I'm not completely positive, but my guess is so that you don't accuse them of stealing your junk later on, and so that you spend time browsing and re-investing whatever money they give you. So, I browsed, but vowed not to touch anything since I wanted cold, hard, cash. The worst part is, there's a clearance section. That's supposed to be a good thing, but this aisle is very narrow and just wide enough for one person to browse. There were 2 employees shelving books, and 1 customer browsing. Each time I passed, someone was occupying the space. I never got around to browsing the clearance. Books are reasonably priced compared to Barnes & Noble list prices. Most of the cookbooks were between $10-13, and these were thick, hardcover, fancy pants cookbooks. I picked up a copy of "Little Miss Giggles," I love Roger Hargreaves childrens books, and these were $2/each. From fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, history, animals, sports, sci-fi, it's all here. Even a copy of a book about the history of farts. When I went back to the counter to collect my loot, the guy said, "you've got some good ones here!" I guess my horrible box set of club mixes, solo Spice Girl projects, and Vitamin C, he was taken back to his high school days. As S.M.'s review pointed out, you can't expect a lot of money for whatever you're selling. But the $40 was worth more to me than something I wasn't going to use. If you've ever sold at Plato's Closet or Disc Replay, you've already experienced the sting you feel when offered less than expected - so go in with LOW expectations when selling! read more

Pros: Lots of books, vinyl records, etc, many interesting and some even reasonable. Cons: Chain store with VERY high profit margins and misleading pricing. The name of the store is actually false advertising. Most books are not half priced. Example: 30 year old best selling sci fi title that originally sold for 4.95 in 1984. Now it's marked at 3.95, yellow pages and all!!! FYI, if the book has no bar-coded price on it, they will indeed charge you half the original SRP, so yes, I just pulled off the sticker. Sorry HPB, but I just wanted to pay half price like your store says! $2.50 for a yellowed 30 year old paperback is plenty given that you paid somebody else around 10 cents for it. Oh and no, don't take books there to sell. I brought in a huge box of mint or totally unused titles and received around $15 for more than 30 books!!! I went back to see how they would be priced and sure enough, they're all now at least half of SRP. One little box set of Narnia books alone is now $25, so these guys are cleaning up but good. I don't mind people making money on used books, but come on already, you didn't even take my best titles. Go to places like Myopic in the city if you really wany to shop for cool treasures. Worst of all, they only make you an offer on the whole lot you're selling, and reject what they don't want. They politely refuse to tell you what any one book is worth (unless you only bring in one). "Oh just leave them and we'll recycle them for you." Yeah, right. I brought the rejects to Goodwill as they were mostly kids books that someone willl love to buy for way less than half price. In the future I will bring ALL my books to Goodwill as the tax write off is worth more than the money you'll get at HPB and the prices Goodwill charges are far less than half price. Everybody wins and I will feel better too! Avoid this place like the plague. read more

i brought my little sister here to buy books for her summer reading (aka books you're required to own so you can annotate but you will probably never read ever again). I was pleasantly surprised at the selection at this location and the customer service. I gave an employee the title of a book I was looking for and he walked me straight to it. Amazing. Their prices vary depending on the book, the edition, whether it's been written in, etc. Books are mostly organized by genre, then alphabetically by author. There's also a clearance section where most items are $3. In addition to books, you can find vinyls, DVDs, VHS, CDs, notebooks, typical book store items-- I was inexplicably drawn to their collection of vintage books. We unintentionally spent two hours here and were late to dinner. Oops. As we were leaving, my sister noticed that one of her books had a lot of intelligent annotations in the margins and how it potentially means that she has one fewer book to read this summer. So, I suppose if you had too much fun over the summer and find yourself in a time crunch, that could be an option? Not that I'm advocating it, of course... read more

Not enough people working there, takes forever to get a price on books you bring in for them to buy and then you only get pennies on the dollar. Also, they are not 2nd Amendment friendly with their sign in the door taking away your rights. No need to give them any business if this is how they want to run theirs read more

OK.. as far as the actual store.. I'd say its pretty cool.. but the trade in part is a total RIP OFF. We had hoped to get store credit. Usually when we go to places like this they offer a smaller amount for cash. and more if you use it on store credit. While they checked out stuff my husband and I walked around and had about $45 worth of stuff in our cart 1/2 way through the store. When they called my husbands name they informed us that what we brought in was worth $15! (cash no store credit) We had probably 75 items We had some Cd's.. TONS of great condition books, several DVD Movies and also some TV show Series. Well needless to say we did not buy ANYTHING there.. If your looking for some neat finds.. this a is a great place.. but.. please check around before you try to sell them your stuff... they are totally under cutting you.. read more

Found the HPB here in naperville, a bit bigger than the one in palatine, a lot more dvd's and movies and video games! Ryan got an N64 game here for 4 bucks! Biggest pet peeve: mean(ish) customers. The lady ahead of us came in here and somewhat rudely explained that the DVD discs were mismatched, she kept going on and the employee was waiting for her to finish so he could kindly tell her that they would give her the correct discs. Good customer service and next time, check the DVD's before you walk out (just in case) read more

I loved this place! Just went to it for the first time, and received a fair payback (in cash, not store credit) for the number of books I brought in. I only waited about 15 minutes while they sorted my books, and I spent that time looking though their large selection of books! I honestly feel that they had a good selection..I found a few newer books, and loved their collector's section. I would definitely go back! read more

You want a book? This is the place to go! Totally retro! They even offer coffee to their customers. Who does that anymore? Places to read and collections that will surprise an old Bibliophile like me! If you miss the smell of books, the sound of vinyl records and a decent comic book collection for purchase then this is the place to go! They'll even buy your old books and CDs for credit! read more

My wife and I love shopping at Half Priced Books. It's almost become like a date night. The selection at this location isn't bad. The staff is friendly and knowledge. read more

I really love shopping here. So many cool books to peruse at excellent prices, but my favorite section is in the back where items are $2-$3. If my kids are with me and they find a book that they like, I don't even hesitate about buying it for them because the prices are really fair and I want them to read! If you sign up on the HPB.com mailing list, you will receive much appreciated coupons from time to time. You will also find music, video games, toys and gifts here. The store is always changing which makes this a fun place to shop. read more

I haven't tried selling books here, but I do love browsing their selections for purchase. Always a great deal, especially on kids books and educational workbooks. Sign up with their coupon program, teachers and homeschoolers receive discounts too. Staff is on the quieter side, but friendly. Restrooms are clean. Some seating available, also a kids table in the children's area. Complimentary coffee and water. read more

This is a review of the VINYL RECORDS at this particular location... I have, since this location opened, tried to make it in here with some regularity (I teach in the area, which makes it easier to stop by from time to time). So I feel I actually have something consistent based on numerous experiences to be able to say when writing a review of this location. Compared to other area HPB locations (I also frequent Palatine and especially Bloomingdale), the selection of records here is pretty good. Like other HPBs, they take everything that comes in the door, so a good deal of the records are beaten up, with various degrees of marks which may (or may not) affect play, varying degrees of groove wear, and covers that vary in condition from quite nice to quite well-loved. However, tucked away next to these records are also some that can actually be in quite good shape. If you are wiling to do the footwork to comb through the gunk to find these good ones, you can do well re: finding some nice stuff to take home. However, you also have another concern to deal with at this particular location once you find these good records you don't run into as often as you do at the Palatine or Bloomingdale HPBs, and this is the *high prices* this location charges for their music. As a another customer noted, the used CDs here are quite pricey, and the same thing is also true of the records. I regularly see records here that would sell for a good few dollars less in the same condition at the Palatine and Bloomingdale locations. (In a few cases, like some of the Jazz records, 2 to 3 times less. More often, though, the price difference has been less than this, at least on items I was able to make a direct comparison on.) Why they are higher here--I am not sure. My theory is this may be because there is less competition in this area than those other HPB locations have. For instance, HPB Palatine has Rainbow Records very close by, and they usually have fairly low prices on used records, so this leads to better price control at that HPB location, I believe. The next closest used record store to the Naperville HPB is Kiss the Sky (FYE is the closest new record store), and they are known for overpricing their records, as well. (See the reviews here on Yelp--there are a lot of complaints about this issue for KTS.) So it seems like there just isn't the price control pressure here constraining them and keeping the prices lower. The one area where this isn't the case are the clearance records. Here, much more often, it's the case that clearance records seem to go for just .50 cents, whereas more often clearance records at Bloomingdale go for $1.00. (Palatine also tends to have a lot of 50 cent records though. At all 3 places, the clearance records seem to be all over the map in terms of the shape they are actually in at these price points. That is, a .50 record is not necessarily in worse shape than a 1.00 record, and not all .50 or 1.00 records are of equal quality with other records of the exact same price, either. This is another HPB quirk that seems to happen at all HPB locations, and not any particular location.) Given the overpricing issue here, I don't feel comfortable giving this HPB higher than 2 stars. (The complaints regarding low pay out people have left here for this location are also true. However, that's an across the board issue that HPBs has a chain, at least throughout the Chicagoland area, and not just an issue specific to this location. Given this fact, I haven't reduced the score more based on that factor relative to other HPBs I've rated here on Yelp.) [Note: If you want actual money for your records, but you don't want to sell them yourself on say, Ebay or whatnot, HPBs is not the place to do it. I recommend you take them to either Dusty Groove or one of the Reckless Records locations in Chicago, because you will get more money--in some cases, a lot more (depending on what you are trying to sell, of course). You'll likely get even more if you do trade ins at these places rather than a straight up sale.] read more

Decent amount of books but over crowded and hard to find. Don't bother selling your stuff there they give you almost nothing for it

I love these stores. Especially for kids books. The selection here is great. It's not just about books, either. The music, the DVDs...and I found an amazing pair of headphones here for $10. And when in doubt, a gift card for my book lovers will do nicely! read more

Love it, and of course they're over crowded, they just opened. Great selection, great prices. As for selling, it requires a basic understanding of the law of supply and demand, you can't go in there expecting pure gold. The staff is great there too. As with any new opening, there might be a few hiccups, but they'll get the kinks worked out soon. read more

My children love this place. My pocketbook also love this place. The establishment is not as big as a very popular bookstore chain but it compensates for the lack of size by its quirky charm. The staff is very helpful and it is easy to find whatever book you are currently looking for. You can also "sell" them your gently used books. I have never done it personally BUT that might be a checklist for this summer's getting rid of clutter goal. read more

Twenty dollars got me what felt like over hundred pounds of books. Steeply discounted books. Wide selection. Great way to spend a couple hours. read more