I quite enjoy HPB. I was able to get 8 books I needed for a research paper for $25 dollars. If I had bought them at, say Barnes and Noble or Borders, it would have been at least $150. Philosophy books are not cheap, but they were an excellent buy at HPB
I just 5 books in there today they were all like 80+ yrs old, I added up the prices from albris and ebay and got like 110$ they offered me 3$! Are you Kidding?
I'm guessing this won't do anything to calm your apparent irritation with half price books, because I have a feeling that you just don't like the stores for some reason. (Thus the slightly disturbing amount of time you spent making ALL of those videos.)
I am a Half Price Books employee and I couldn't help but giggle at the serious tone of your "accusations". If you'd ever stop to read our pricing/buying guidelines you'd know why each of those items was marked at each of those prices. Duh!
For instance, I saw a used copy of Fleet Foxes - s/t on vinyl for $18 today. It retails for $15 and is still in print. I've complained numerous times about their unethical pricing practices, but have always been met with indifference.
I know that this is going to be a hard one for you to grasp, but here goes: You don't have to buy anything at HPB. Anything. You never have to darken the door of any of the 103 locations. Why anyone would shop at a store they hate is beyond me.
Please explain "unethical pricing practices" for me. Did the price tag say $15, but when you went to the cash register did the wiley bookseller secretly charge you $18? After you left did the employees gather and laugh mockingly at the ruse they pulled off on you while twirling their waxed mustaches?
Please, fatasterisk. I've worked in numerous record shops, often being in charge of assessing value of a record. The good ones just have to look at a record and will instantly recall the retail price, its print availability, what to offer to the seller, and what a fair markup from that would be. Generally, records as popular as the Fleet Foxes' album will be $11-12 at the very highest, but more generally around $10. Half Price Books has a person hired to specifically grade and price vinyl
Now, there are a couple explanations for why they would charge that much for a used record that retails brand new for $15.
One explanation could be that the buyer is a complete moron that doesn't understand that GEMM is the most inaccurate place you can go to find the appropriate market price.
Another could be that they mark it up because they know they can probably fool an uninformed buyer into purchasing it at that price.
The latter is what I think is probably the case and thus, why I think they are highly unethical in their practices. It is the duty of every record store vinyl grader to assess things at a fair price for the consumer. It's called the Golden Rule. I know in this age of individualism that treating people fairly isn't too much fun, but remember, it's how you would like to be treated.
You are missing the point, there are things that are priced too high at HPB, I work there I know. There are also things that get priced way lower than market value at HPB and people get a sweet deal on these things. It cuts both ways. Overpriced things sit and gather dust and then get marked down most of the time. Collectible-type things like vinyl do have some subjectivity to the pricing and errors do get made.
Who is this "uninformed buyer" of which you speak? People pay the price that they are comfortable paying. There is no coercion, if the price is too high for them they wait for it to be marked down or... they don't buy it. Maybe the record person is a moron, or maybe they are marking things up in an order to dupe a naive buyer, or here's the most likely scenario, they're too busy with their job to really assess each record, so they guess some times and make mistakes.
I would like to believe that they guess and make mistakes, but from my conversations with the people at the stores in my area, they assess based on three sites (none of which give accurate market prices). Trust me, I've worked in this industry for a long time. The record buyers at HPB are simply incompetent. You need to be able to assess the appropriate price off the top of your head based on your knowledge of the market. I am certain that the people they hire to do this do not collect records.
The people at the stores in your area may be stupid, I mean, you live there, so the smarts of the entire region are questionable. There are 103 however; HPB is not a monolithic entity. Some stores have better pricing than others, it's true. Earlier you asserted that the pricing was unethical, and now you say that the record buyers are "simply incompetent." So what is it? Is HPB a cabal of evil schemers out to those less aware of the "industry" or is it a confederacy of dunces?
Can't they be both? I often find some of the dumbest people are also some of the most sinister. They know that the price they put on items is typically the retail price, but they do it anyway. That strikes me as being unethical in the realm of used retail ethics.
Fonz, I promise you that whatever HPB employee or manager that you came to with your complaints about "unethical pricing practices" did not just meet you with indifference, but also with utter contempt.
I hate Half Price Books as much as you do, but these videos are stupid. The items there shouldn't be half of market value, that would be awesome for the buyer, but a bit nonsensical in most instances. The market dictates the value of an item, so naturally, a rare book is not going to be half its cover price, it's just a generalization. What irks me about HPB's pricing practices are when they charge above market price.
I quite enjoy HPB. I was able to get 8 books I needed for a research paper for $25 dollars. If I had bought them at, say Barnes and Noble or Borders, it would have been at least $150. Philosophy books are not cheap, but they were an excellent buy at HPB
Historybuffessay 10 months ago
I just 5 books in there today they were all like 80+ yrs old, I added up the prices from albris and ebay and got like 110$ they offered me 3$! Are you Kidding?
SeattleMashUps 1 year ago
I'm guessing this won't do anything to calm your apparent irritation with half price books, because I have a feeling that you just don't like the stores for some reason. (Thus the slightly disturbing amount of time you spent making ALL of those videos.)
I am a Half Price Books employee and I couldn't help but giggle at the serious tone of your "accusations". If you'd ever stop to read our pricing/buying guidelines you'd know why each of those items was marked at each of those prices. Duh!
Scmoe99 2 years ago
hey, you fallacious fuckwad.... have you ever thought about being a reporter for Fox News? they hire misanthropes just like you!
kawaiiluv1994 2 years ago
I love imagining a 14-15 year old saying this in their nasally little voice.
fonzmccool 2 years ago
Comment removed
TheWinnifred22 2 years ago
why don't you just buy em on ebay then?
mattytee420 2 years ago
You're wrong about Half Price Books wowtcg. To quote Seinfeld, "they're real, and they're spectacular!"
StPaulFilms 2 years ago
For instance, I saw a used copy of Fleet Foxes - s/t on vinyl for $18 today. It retails for $15 and is still in print. I've complained numerous times about their unethical pricing practices, but have always been met with indifference.
fonzmccool 2 years ago
I know that this is going to be a hard one for you to grasp, but here goes: You don't have to buy anything at HPB. Anything. You never have to darken the door of any of the 103 locations. Why anyone would shop at a store they hate is beyond me.
fatasterisk 2 years ago
Please explain "unethical pricing practices" for me. Did the price tag say $15, but when you went to the cash register did the wiley bookseller secretly charge you $18? After you left did the employees gather and laugh mockingly at the ruse they pulled off on you while twirling their waxed mustaches?
fatasterisk 2 years ago
Please, fatasterisk. I've worked in numerous record shops, often being in charge of assessing value of a record. The good ones just have to look at a record and will instantly recall the retail price, its print availability, what to offer to the seller, and what a fair markup from that would be. Generally, records as popular as the Fleet Foxes' album will be $11-12 at the very highest, but more generally around $10. Half Price Books has a person hired to specifically grade and price vinyl
fonzmccool 2 years ago
Now, there are a couple explanations for why they would charge that much for a used record that retails brand new for $15.
One explanation could be that the buyer is a complete moron that doesn't understand that GEMM is the most inaccurate place you can go to find the appropriate market price.
Another could be that they mark it up because they know they can probably fool an uninformed buyer into purchasing it at that price.
fonzmccool 2 years ago
The latter is what I think is probably the case and thus, why I think they are highly unethical in their practices. It is the duty of every record store vinyl grader to assess things at a fair price for the consumer. It's called the Golden Rule. I know in this age of individualism that treating people fairly isn't too much fun, but remember, it's how you would like to be treated.
fonzmccool 2 years ago
You are missing the point, there are things that are priced too high at HPB, I work there I know. There are also things that get priced way lower than market value at HPB and people get a sweet deal on these things. It cuts both ways. Overpriced things sit and gather dust and then get marked down most of the time. Collectible-type things like vinyl do have some subjectivity to the pricing and errors do get made.
fatasterisk 2 years ago
Who is this "uninformed buyer" of which you speak? People pay the price that they are comfortable paying. There is no coercion, if the price is too high for them they wait for it to be marked down or... they don't buy it. Maybe the record person is a moron, or maybe they are marking things up in an order to dupe a naive buyer, or here's the most likely scenario, they're too busy with their job to really assess each record, so they guess some times and make mistakes.
fatasterisk 2 years ago
I would like to believe that they guess and make mistakes, but from my conversations with the people at the stores in my area, they assess based on three sites (none of which give accurate market prices). Trust me, I've worked in this industry for a long time. The record buyers at HPB are simply incompetent. You need to be able to assess the appropriate price off the top of your head based on your knowledge of the market. I am certain that the people they hire to do this do not collect records.
fonzmccool 2 years ago
The people at the stores in your area may be stupid, I mean, you live there, so the smarts of the entire region are questionable. There are 103 however; HPB is not a monolithic entity. Some stores have better pricing than others, it's true. Earlier you asserted that the pricing was unethical, and now you say that the record buyers are "simply incompetent." So what is it? Is HPB a cabal of evil schemers out to those less aware of the "industry" or is it a confederacy of dunces?
fatasterisk 2 years ago
Can't they be both? I often find some of the dumbest people are also some of the most sinister. They know that the price they put on items is typically the retail price, but they do it anyway. That strikes me as being unethical in the realm of used retail ethics.
fonzmccool 2 years ago
Fonz, I promise you that whatever HPB employee or manager that you came to with your complaints about "unethical pricing practices" did not just meet you with indifference, but also with utter contempt.
fatasterisk 2 years ago
I hate Half Price Books as much as you do, but these videos are stupid. The items there shouldn't be half of market value, that would be awesome for the buyer, but a bit nonsensical in most instances. The market dictates the value of an item, so naturally, a rare book is not going to be half its cover price, it's just a generalization. What irks me about HPB's pricing practices are when they charge above market price.
fonzmccool 2 years ago 2
Nice vid.
TheWarriorwarrior 2 years ago
Thanks.
wowtcg 2 years ago