Half Price Books

Ample parking is available in the front, along the side, and in the back of the store. Most people miss the back parking.
Staffing levels always seem «just right» for the season; not too many people hovering trying to help and not too few people at the buy-​back area or cash registers.
Each location has a variety so what you may not find at Lane Avenue you may find on Bethel Road which isn’t a far drive. This location is always well organized and clean.

Not just books… VHS, CDs, records, comics, toys, games, and yes, books. I have sold books here. They pay like my college bookstore used ro… very little even for in demands hard cover titles, but they are clearing up space in my house for more than donating them to the library would.
Huge selection and a decent website for ordering from them if you can’t find your selection locally.
This shop is housed in an old Sun TV appliance store, so the layout is a little funky, but that adds to the charm. The people who work here are unfailingly helpful and almost always weirdly seem to know if the item you seek is in stock. Before they even look it up on the computer.
The other great thing you get here… browsing. It’s really tough to flip through books or records or anything online. You can buy stuff here because you saw it, it was in stock, and you are most likely getting a slightly better deal than elsewhere. Now that Amazon charges sales tax in Ohio (and you owed it anyway before they started charging it, so I hope you kept up, you scofflaws), bricks and mortar sellers like this are a great choice and an excellent resource.
If they still sold console TVs and ovens, they’d really be on to something!

I first visited here while on a preview weekend for OSU last winter and loved the seemly endless sections, so I decided to hit it up again last Saturday. I know parking seems to be of big concern, so I actually parked by the Starbucks and walked over, which probably took 30 seconds. It’s easy, close and had lots of spots open.
My intention was to pick up just a book or two to tide me over for a week, so naturally I came out with a stack of books– oops. While I love the vast array of topics, I tend toward fiction and on that end I love the sale section where most books are $ 2. It’s a little hit or miss, but a pretty decent selection overall. And if you’re looking for something specific from the rest of the selection (there’s a whole shelf of one-​pot dishes in the cooking section) you’ll probably find it here!

Jerk in the grey ponytail tried to tell me I had to accept his offer for all items I wanted to sell as a lump, and he would not give me a separate price for each. So what if I brought in each piece separately … I couldn’t be bothered to argue with the idiot, so he got to see my back… leaving the store with their lost business. I’m giving the books and records away for free to the thrift stores, rather than deal with those jerks.

This is my favorite Half Price Books store in the Columbus area, and I have been to them all. I am also pretty sure that it is the largest of them, although it doesn’t look that way from the street (it has a huge wing that you can’t really see until you either walk into the store or go through the back lot — trust me, this place is huge).
A lot of the college students sell their books here, so there are tons of great books on all sorts of different obscure subjects. I am a non-​fiction junkie, and without fail I leave here with five or six books that I had never heard of but apparently desperately need. They have a really decent sociology section with shelves of gender studies books, which are kind of like my crack, so I highly recommend this location just for that.
The only problem with this location is its parking — or lack thereof. There’s a lot in the back, but it fills up quickly, so you will often see several cars prowling around, waiting for someone to leave.
I’ve never sold books here, so I don’t know what the prices are in that regard.

Oh, Half Price Books on Lane Avenue… my parking snobbery has kept that oh so cherished 5^th Star from being posted. And it’s especially true in the wintertime. With almost every visit there is jousting for spaces in front, on the side, around to the rear… someone’s always prowling for that parking spot to open. Sorry… I vent.
Once inside the hallowed aisles of HPB you’re greeted by a full menagerie of books. The shelves are filled with the most eclectic, most popular, most colorful, most philosophical collection to grace all of Columbus. This is truly the closest an operation handling books and music can come to a major public library. Prices are very good even on the most popular literature. Cookbooks are plentiful. Art and famous literature is all there. Scads of it! There is a nice sized area which offers music and video, DVD, CD, vinyl, Blue-​Ray and others. The store runs a Friday vinyl program that delivers good savings on most of the merchandise that already isn’t pricey.
HPB gets a high-​five vote from me. Just be aware that on a semi-​busy day parking is dicey, at best. Sorry HPB — parking snob.

My favorite book store of all time. They have an amazing selection of books, vhs, DVDs, vinyl, CDs, and other assorted odds and ends. They have the best bulldog calendars!
The staff is amazing. There is this one employee who is the best. He has a beard and great knowledge about music and literature.
He’s basically the Buick of book store employees.

Easily my favorite Half Price books locations. I like the kid section here with the table and corner to seat and read books. They also have a few other places one can sit down and read a selection before they buy it. They have pretty extensive music selection as well along with games and other fun kid stuff. Parking can be the only downside here.

I’m a big fan of Half Price books, not only they have a good selection of books (my favorite is the world history section), but this store have a pretty good vinyl selection. Really cool IMO.

It never fails.
1. I decide I need to thin out my library.
2. I drive over to the Lane Ave. HPB and lug my bags/​boxes to the back counter.
3. I decide to browse a bit while waiting for my offer to be ready.
4. I find a bargain in the clearance section.
5. I think to myself, «Well, I’m already buying one thing, so I might as well pick up some other things while I’m at it.»
6. Time passes. Books are selected.
7. At some point my offer is called at the buy counter and I collect my voucher.
8. More books are selected.
9. I finally make it to the check-​out.
10. I get home and wonder why my bookshelves still look so full.

I can’t even with myself right now for not having reviewed this ages ago. I used to work right next to it, for crying out loud.
Everything everyone else says that is good about it is pretty accurate. I’ve never had a bad experience service-​wise; I’ve never walked out of HPB without scoring some good finds; I’ve never had a bad experience selling, and they will buy all kinds of media.
Since I don’t have much new to add as far as overall gushing, here are my couple of tips:
Records are 20% off on Friday evenings. Or at least, they were very recently (this could have changed at some point obviously, call ahead to check if you’re super concerned about this point).
If you like classics old and new, don’t miss the paperback racks near the front of the store, tucked next to where you find the rarer books. You can find older editions of really good books for a dollar or two.
Also, don’t miss the clearance section in the very back. A lot of book club selections migrate to the dollar section (since everyone runs and sells their book when they’re finished), so it’s not just stuff nobody’s ever heard of. I’ve found good books back there.
Paperbacks are half the cover price, which can be awesome if you find an older edition (something something inflation, they’re cheaper).
CDs are kind of freaking expensive considering it’s not 1993 and they’re used. Just saying.

Addicted! I’m such a freaking nerd… I read 1 – 2 books a week, & should probably use a library. However, I enjoy bookstores! The smell, the sight… the people watching! Thankfully the books are very reasonable & I can try new authors, genres, music… just about anything. I could go there weekly & find something without breaking my bank.
If you’re looking for something specific, they can look up things in their computers, too… unless you enjoy the hunt on your own, like me!

Wow… this place is a LOT bigger than I expected! I had a $ 10 gift card and figured I’d stop by, take a look and pick up something cheap to take home. It took me nearly an hour to look around and finally decide. I didn’t even make it to the far section of the store — I think there were academic/​text books back there. They have a great selection of books organized by genre/​type and a vast array of other things like vinyl records, board games and gaming electronics. There was a section up front for vintage and early edition books as well, which were fun to look at. The service was really great, no one was buggy but they were quick to answer questions and help me at checkout.
I ended up with a cookbook (that I didn’t even need) and Cranium (for only $ 5!). Board Game nights are back!

I don’t know why people are hatin’ on Half Price Books so much. I guess they are kinda monopolizing used books in Ohio, but other than that, they’re great! …
But seriously, I love this location. It’s huge, and has a fantastic selection of all types of books and music, though they are lacking on science material. They have science combined with folklore and anthropology in one small row. Ouch.
But speaking of, if your a Scandinavianist, check this place out. They had an impressively large [okay, comparatively] selection of all sorts of Germanic mythology and folklore. You just don’t see Njal’s Saga at every bookstore, even if it is just the Penguin’s Classics version.
The prices vary on if they are steals or not, but they are generally quite great.
Since it is near campus, they also have a lot of textbooks, so you may just get lucky and find one you need here for dirt cheap.

OK — I just need to start out by saying that this Half Price Books is HUGE. I walked in the front door facing Lane Avenue and was not surprised by the size of the store. It was your average size HPB. As I was making my way through the store, I realized there was a whole section of the store I did not see. My cookbook-​loving heart jumped with joy when I saw that there was a WHOLE WALL dedicated to cook books. WOO!
Seriously though, this place rules. It is so close to campus, and I have found EXPENSIVE textbooks here for $ 20. As I am typing this, I want to go back and buy more books! This store is great. My only complaint is that whenever they have a sale, there is literally no parking. Whenever they have a coupon for an additional % off your purchase, it is a madhouse. Make sure to get there early for that. I love this Half Price Books!

This location, along with Graceland, are my two favorite Half Price Books stores. Being situated so close to a university, the store consistently carries novels and textbooks I’ve otherwise had difficulty locating (without having my wallet raped by the avaricious bookstores lining High St.). They also tend to have a great vinyl and CD selection, carrying a plethora of indie, shoegaze and metal titles you are unlikely to find in most other places (I mean, you probably won’t find Swervedriver but I can guarantee you they’ll have a copy of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless). In a recent visit, I found sealed pressings of Nirvana, Massive Attack and Portishead LPs for fairly reasonable prices ($ 20 – 30). Also of interest is their extensive graphic novel and manga selection.
The shop is seemingly bigger than its other Columbus counterparts, so I imagine the selection is better (I still contend that its sister shop in Clintonville has my highest success rate, but this one ain’t far behind, and it’s way better than the Westerville store). Do be aware that some of the customers here are incredibly strange. There was one guy in the store on one of my recent trips who I’m pretty sure had shit his pants. Nonetheless the Half Price chain has proven to be an invaluable resource throughout my costly undergrad years and this location somehow a place I always end up stopping at when in the area.

This is a great location! Don’t be fooled by driving past the front exterior — this place is huge, and there is a second whole section to the parking lot around back. If you are selling a lot of materials, go straight to the back anyway, as that is where the sales desk is, and it has an entrance right off that section of the parking lot. The staff is really friendly and will help you bring in your materials or give you a cart to make it easier.
Your selling results vary by what you’ve got to offer, of course, but I always figure at least the stuff is out of my place and on its way to find someone who does want it, and a little extra cash is always welcome. They accept books, magazines, cds, DVDs, and even have a section for video and computer games now.
Consequently, their buying selection is great too. Recent releases, older books, games for favorite gaming systems from the ‘80s and ‘90s, they have it all! The staff is extremely helpful, and are good at knowing when you are just browsing and leaving you be. But if you have a question, they are happy to help.

I LOVE this Half Price Books location. They don’t pay well when selling books, but I give it all right back to them (and then some) anyway.
HUGE selection… I can look around in here for hours and even when I say I’m not going to, I leave with a ton of stuff.

A good place to stop in and kill a little time. They’ve got a great selection of books, magazines, cds, and games. It’s an ever changing selection of merchandise, so you’ll never get bored.
If you want to get rid of books and cd’s, they’ll buy them from you but they don’t give you much for them. Last time I took 14 cds there and they offered me $ 2 for the lot. I know they weren’t the greatest titles but still… so I took them to Cat Welfare and donated them to the Cat Welfare thrift store (The Catique).
Worth a stop if you are in the area.

My favorite half Price books location, unfortunatly also the one furthest away from home, so when I do stop by about once a month I make sure to really stock up.
They have a huge wall full of magazines at 50 cent each, free coffee, plenty of little nooks to sit and read at, a great CD selection for my husband, and plenty of books and games for my son. The staff is awesome and very helpful, I love Half Price Books!