Powell's BooksReviews of powells.com

Their selection is great and their customer service response is okay, but I've placed three orders with them and every order has been carelessly shipped. Did they ship in a box? Sometimes, if you order more than 2 or 3 items, but when you do, they use a cardboard backer and pack it in a box. Better than amazon, but they don't size the boxes right, and they dont put much internal padding, which means they bounce around inside. They don't face the corners inside either, so if your hardcover is on the right edge of the cardboard back, the corners are going to be damaged. This has happened with all three of my orders and the hardcovers are the things that arrived damaged. I really wanted to use Powell's as my go to for online ordering when I can't find something locally at my small business book shops, but I am afraid this last experience has really put me off from ever ordering anything from them again. They refund your stuff and will send you a return label, but waiting 10 days for an online order is preposterous when it took four days to reach fulfillment in the first place.

For me, selling books to Powell's via online is unbelievably difficult and their "standards" for book acceptance is vague, at best, on their website. I usually sell to WOB but I sent Powell's a small batch of eight books just to see what they would accept. I check my books carefully, having a 97.3 percentage acceptance rate with WOB. The books I sent were all in Very Good to Like New condition. 1) they discounted one book by one-third because the dust jacket wasn't perfect, 2) they rejected two others due to "water damage" and "loose spine", 3) then rejected another stating "filled in". None of the assessments made by Powell's were accurate nor is there any kind of disclosure on their website that specifically identifies their standards for acceptance. Fortunately I am only out three dollars. Never again.

I was disappointed in the time it took to receive books. I ordered books on a Monday, they weren't shipped until Thursday, and then it took over a week to receive them. I understand the shipping is out of their control, but the time between order and shipping is unacceptable for a store with staffing like Powell's.

Sent over 30 books they rejected all but 3 the three they kept was in the worse condition paid less then 70 cents each and refuses to send the rest back.Should have gotten paid 32.50 I'm a single mom I should have just put them in my ecom site but needed fast money for my car payment now have no books and no payment all my books in good condition with jackets and most are 1st edition

POWELL'S IS GREAT! I bought a paperback "THE OREGON TRAIL DIARY OF ESTHER BELLE HANNA 1852" by Johnny Vincento and really loved the quality. The shipping was fast. The cover had great graphics of an old oil painting from 1849 of the actual FORT LARAMIE, the Diary was authentic and had a nice gloss sheen.

The Powell's website states that they will buy your books..."Thank you for your interest in selling your books to Powell's! You can sell your used books online or in our stores at the used book buying counters." But below it states they will give you credit for your books..."Payout method: Store credit only (No cash or PayPal)." Buying means paying money for books, not giving credit for me to use that amount to put toward a book I want to buy from Powell's. Basically you are donating your books and getting a gift card to buy more books at Powell's.

I bought a book our last day in Portland and discovered when on our way home to Alberta that it was misbound. It took Powell's a few days to answer my email, but the employee who did sent another, slightly cheaper, copy to my stateside address at no charge and with no delay. I am grateful.

I've dealt with Powell's for years and even had the pleasure of visiting the store in Portland some years ago. Their prices are fair and their descriptions are reliable.