RIP OFF Book Buyback - DO NOT SELL YOUR USED BOOKS TO POWELLS This review is in relation to the used book buyback program and does not reflect on any physical location. As a graduate student I amassed numerous books over the years which I no longer required. Selling them was a prime means to attain extra cash as well as provide a MUCH cheaper alternative for other students or those who require certain texts for various courses. I am sorry to say I decided to sell any books to Powell's. I was quoted a specific amount online prior to shipment and return and had to wait several weeks only to receive almost half of the amount promised. This amounts to a rip off. All of the books I submitted were used but in adequate condition and in similar condition to other online buyback book programs which I recently used. I sold books to: TextbookRush Textbooks.com sellbackyourBook.com Textbook Maniac ...and receive the EXACT quoted amount for all orders. In fact, I sold several orders to Textbook Rush and received the exact amount quoted and payment was received almost immediately. Powells delayed payment even after 10 days. The order was received by UPS on 04/07 and even after 10 days I received ZERO response. I had to email on two occasions before finally recieving payment which was reduced by almost half the quoted amount. Do yourself a favor - AVOID Powells for reselling used books. You will get ripped off compared to all the other buyback programs available and listed online. Not one of the other vendors ripped me off on the quoted amount and paid me immediately through PayPal. Powells delays and uses some felonious unaccountable and non-transparent means of accessing a book's value. Seems like the principal criteria is to save Powell's money irrespective of the book's actual condition. Sell to TextbookRush and get paid exactly what was quoted and on time. This review in regards to Order Confirmation number# 11493617

Powells is one of my favorite things… Powells is one of my favorite things about living in Portland. Used to love getting lost for hours among the endless bookshelves. Now, during the lockdown, love the fact that I can order reading material on their website, and (almost completely) avoid Amazon. Getting ready to place another order today!

Terrible 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.

Just another book seller Instead of rating the quality of their books (acceptable, good, very good, like new) they just use the term 'standard' to cover everything. Previously, you could depend upon Powell books to do a superb job of packaging your books so that they'd arrive in pristine condition. The purchase I just got from them lacked sufficient protective material to keep the books from sliding and tumbling about, during their journey to me. There's nothing special about Powell books anymore. They're just another seller of books.

I sell A LOT of books....I mean… I sell A LOT of books....I mean literally TONS of books! Until about 8 months ago Powell's was great to work with. Then, something changed and now their website is pure crap....and they're not doing a thing about it. Input books to sell, accept the offer....and the site "times out". Re-input the same books and now the site will only take about 2/3 of them...accept anyways (just to salvage your time) and the site times out. Re-input for the third time (same reason as before) and ANOTHER 1/3 is rejected.........and it times out. Until Powell's gets out of the stone ages and upgrades/fixes their site......I'm not working with them. I'd advise anybody not to waste their time here!