Steven Michael Stroud
GBNot the store it used to be! I’m saddened that this formerly indie bookstore has franchised, and it is nothing like it used to be 20 years ago. There selections are mostly new books, few vintage on their shelves. Further DON’T EVER TAKE YOUR USED BOOKS TO SELL THERE! You’ll get a better deal by putting them on eBay. They no longer redeem your old books for cash or credit, they only give in-store credit now, and the amount they offer on credit for your old books is insulting. I used to love shopping at Powells City of Books, but I won’t give them my business any longer. There are better indie bookstores out there that have quality books, quality service, and truly care about the customer.
Midwestern Shopper
GBPowell's Bookstore is the worst Powell's Bookstore is the absolute worst online business you can imagine. They take your money and fail to send you books. They do not reply to emails. The link they provided to follow my order was a bad link. The web site will not let me log into their Web Site or change my password. They have convinced me to go back to Amazon, which is very sad.
Mark
GBTerrible business practices Terrible business practices. I recognize that in order to make money selling used books you need to get them for a decent price. However, this place is a gold mine. It's not just that they pay insultingly low prices for your books, it's that they're rude to you while they're doing it. They truly act like they're doing you a favor, and forget that without you selling back your books, they would be out of business. What's worse is that they have aggressively put every other mom-and-pop bookstore in the area out of business. Portland used to have a thriving used bookstore presence but Powell's has driven their competition completely out of existence. And they ripped off their customers with a contemptuous eye-roll while doing it. There are alternatives, albeit mostly online (Thanks in part to the business practices of companies like Powell's). I get that there is a thrill in hunting through thousands of books in order to find a diamond in the rough, but for ethical reasons, I will be going elsewhere in the future. Don't waste your time.
Jamie Holder
GBTheir website absolutely sucks for booksellers Their website absolutely sucks. After about 2 minutes of entering ISBNs of books to sell, it times out so that you have to start all over. If you don't completely finish your transaction in about 5 minutes, you have to start over. It's ridiculous.
Christopher Lutz
GBWas very disappointed Was very disappointed. I ordered a book that was time sensitive and paid for next-day delivery. Two days later, I received an email saying my order was canceled due to no inventory. While I could have procured the book elsewhere in time, it is now too late.