Powell's Books

Bought a new book The Lying Game. Powell's had given a good service and they have charged the best price for this book. I am happy with their service.

My order was shipped on july 16 and haven't received it yet so i wrote an e-mail to know where it was, basically said because of covid it could take up to another 2 months... so a whole 3 months before even receiving the book. I guess more disappointing than anything, never going to order again..

While their packaging of mailed books is excellent, the quality of their used books is a roll of the dice. Powell books doesn't use any sort of grading system, like what other book sellers use (like new, very good, good, acceptable). You'll end up getting whatever they decide to send you. I was upset with with the condition of the used books in my last 2 orders. They were quick to give me a refund, although I prefer to have gotten books that were acceptable.

I'm happy with the fact that there's such a great selection, which allows you to find what you need. In addition, delivery is provided in 3-5 days, which is normal.

At one point the site used to be really good - great/friendly customer service, excellent quality items & reasonable prices.
What came next within the last year or so at least (should i speculate whether this has been a blatant attempt to maintain maximum profits during 'covid'?), standards COMPLETELY dropped.
Items in such poor condition they would not even make a charity store being sent (severely water damaged books at times, books looking like a dog has eaten them, books with loose pages/binding, books with significant creasing, etc)!
To make matters worse, these books have usually been listed in their 'standard' condition (which appears to be akin to 'good or very good') while they SHOULD'VE been correctly listed as 'less than standard' (a condition the site claims to have).
Refunds have been reluctantly/grudgingly given in cases like this - seemingly with no genuine understanding of the inconvenience of then needing to source these same books elsewhere - which can be made infinitely harder if a 'rare' book!
In fact, customer service staff (usually higher staff members such as 'ashley' their 'customer care MANAGER'), attempt to remain tactful, while coldly 'polite' - without actual empathy/understanding/humanity - only profit motive.
Wouldn't it be thought that a GENUINE, HONEST & ETHICAL business of ANY kind not only 'own up' to their own slipped standards & poor customer service but also adhere to THEIR 'guarantee' (listed prominently on their site)?
No, instead, i had a newer order cancelled, ALL blame put on me for the 'increase' in refunded items (not ONCE addressing the MASSIVE, worrying drop in quality of items).
Laughably, i was told:
"... it's become clear that we're unable to meet your condition needs. Due to this, and the fact that such a high rate of refunds has become cost-prohibitive for us, we're unable to continue shipping orders to you."
BIG problem is, they don't even meet THEIR OWN 'condition' standards - not specifically MINE!

Here's their general condition that they claim to have/follow:
"Standard
What does "Standard" condition mean at Powell's? Books in good or better condition, free of writing or other markings in the text (with the possible exception of a previous owner's name in the front). The great majority of the books in our stock fall into this category. In short, when a book is listed as "Standard," you can expect it to be a high quality copy."

"All our new, used, and out-of-print books are in good reading condition — guaranteed.
We recognize that ordering used books on the Web, sight unseen, requires trust. If you've ever tried to sell us your old books, you know firsthand how tough our standards are (haha - we wish!). By enforcing strict quality guidelines, we can guarantee that every book we sell, new or used, is a good reading copy."

A LOT of FALSE/FRAUDULENT/DISHONEST claims made on their website - insult to injury, one of the worst is:
"We're nothing without our customers. Powell's would not be the destination it is now without its loyal customers." - CLEARLY COMPLETELY FALSE, unless you're a customer who is fine with near throw-away/give-away items amongst ones that DO fit their (meaningless) 'standards'.
Based on the proud history of this store displayed on the website, personally, i'd say the store's founder/s would be rolling in their graves to see just how their 'family business' is being conducted AND how their 'loyal customers' are treated!
STAY WELL AWAY!

I find books that Book Scouter says Powell's will accept. When I go to their website to sell the book they are not accepting it. This happens on a regular basis. I have not had this problem with other buy back sites. I'm done with Powell's.

Poorcompany steals your books, bad customer service, bad website, I will never buy and never sell again there

They recieved my books 3 weeks ago and still not paid I sell to a lot of these company's and they all pay a lot quicker then these people. So if you want to get paid sale to anyone but these guys

I'm happy with everything, because everything can be done quickly and without any problems. And the prices here are absolutely normal, completely in line with the quality of the books.

I wanted to recommend this to you as this site has helped me find quite a few books I had not seen elsewhere. Also their prices are affordable, so I am able to add quite a few books to my library due to this.

Always excellent service and great prices! I highly recommend Powell's! My orders have always arrived in a timely manner, and I have never had to contact customer service. A+++++

We live close enough to Portland that visiting the store is easy enough, but online make it even better.

When i read a book review I have to make the decision: Buy it Now or wait for it to show up in our Public Library's catalog.

I'm rather an eclectic reader and stuff that appeals to me often doesn't show up at the library, so ordering from Powells is a good option. Sometimes I have to have a NEW BOOK RIGHT NOW and other times it isn't so urgent.

Powells carries a ton of new books but they really shine with their used book inventory. If I can wait for a title to get recycled by someone and go to the used category there is a lot of $$$ to be saved - so I'll wait for most items I buy.

This is a great store - visit it if you are in Portland or savor it from a distance via the website. No disappointments!

Well known indie bookchain, now located in the Pacific Northwest. I've never had any difficulties ordering items from the web from them. They were early pioneers of e-commerce, before the 'big gorrila'.

Their strength is new and used books, especially academic and scientific publications. This family owned company is a well known collector of used books in North America.

A great online bookstore when it comes to finding great books. The site also acts as a book review site and does what are known as "review-a-day" reviews on books.

This site has different categories which include the e-books category, the used books category, the staff picks category, and even the sell books category. It mainly specializes in both new books and used books.

In the sell books category they actually encourage individuals to sell the site their books.

This is an excellent site for obtaining books especially if they may be difficult to find and an excellent site when it comes to checking out book reviews on books. A site that is definitely highly recommended.