Powell's BooksReviews of powells.com

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.

The website would not accept my email, password or giftcard number. All in all, a totally bad experience i do not want to have again. I will never use Powell's City of Books again. Take my gift card and do whatever it is you do with them to make them unusable. All my friends will hear about this horrible service.

My books that they purchased from me, were delivered last week and I still have yet to receive payment, an email or any kind of communication. Would not recommend sending them books to be bought. And I know for certain it was signed for by a guy named Scott on the 18th of March.

Personally I sent books to them for weeks and did not received an email or status confirmed that they received it. So I email them and get my payment immediately. Overall on OK trading experience.

I always enjoy going to Powell's to buy books. They are always so helpful.

0 stars this company should be shut down , I sold a lot of books and they steal and don`t pay all the lie saying justifications for the books they decide to don't pay and they pay cheaper than the other book companies, i sold thousand of books and i got paid very poorly Not helpful and very bad customer service to dont mention their crap website , Shame on you Ashely saying literally "on=ce we evaluate your books we cant go back to pay you the new book that we didn`t pay because we decided to do so '' I mean really !???

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!

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!!