Powell's

Powell's logo
(23)
Established date:
1971
Listed on BookScouter since:
2016
Min buyback order:
$9
Powell's Books is an independent bookseller serving Portland, Oregon, since 1971. Their mission is "...to be the world's best destination for readers, a place that fosters a culture of reading and connects people with the books they'll love." Being one of the oldest booksellers in the country, it offers a range of book-related services both in-store and online. They also buy used books and textbooks online or in their stores at the used book buying counters. Receive an instant quote by scanning or entering ISBNs; sell your books by dropping them off at a nearby UPS store.
Note: We calculate the star rating based on the reviews and scores the vendor has received over the last 2 years.
Trust Check Passed (March 27, 2024)
No recent complaints received by BookScouter for this store
Current positive reviews found on third-party review sites
Responded within 24 hours to customer service inquiry
Powell's Buyback Details
Payment Information
It typically takes 5–10 business days for books to be processed once they arrive at Powell’s warehouse. Your selected account will be automatically credited once all of your books have arrived and been processed.
•   PayPal
Shipping Information
Powell's provides a UPS pre-paid shipping label.

Powell's Reviews

Sep 14, 2023

Comment: They claimed the book I sold was a library book, it wasn't. They also never notified me about the situation. Do not trust them.

Aug 05, 2023

Comment: Ever since the redesigned buyback site opened up, Powell's has been easy to work with. They don't pay a ton, but for decent general stock, their buyback prices are on par with what many used bookstores would pay in this deflated market. Once in a blue moon they will mistakenly classify a budget publication or university press book (w/ no jacket price) as a book club edition, however their (very good) customer support has always done the right thing if I've complained.

Jun 30, 2023

Comment: They take so much of what they offer They were offering me $38 but then it went to $25 when I chose paypal. Sorry but that is alot. They got half the books I sold for free.

Apr 12, 2023

Comment: While I can't say I was super-impressed with their capability, it was so much better than most of the other vendors I've tried. I've had bad enough experiences that I'm pretty convinced most of these operations are just short of being scams, but Powell's seems more legit.

Jul 22, 2022

Comment: Prepare to wait a month for payment

May 03, 2022

Comment: Finally Powells has updated their online buying module and they have addressed most of the complaints that I & I'm sure many others have voiced over the years. There are still a couple of bugs having to do with printing out labels, but overall much much better. Too bad that now they are paying nothing for books - I inputted 67 books and they accepted 17 and most were under a dollar! Many were 88 cents! So unfortunately after really looking forward to them having a user-friendly site, they are not worth my time, energy and gasoline to bother with. Hoping they can find a way to pay more $ in the future!

Apr 21, 2022

Comment: Newsflash! Powell's has updated their buyback process. Prices are shown immediately(no more agonizing wait time), you have the option to print out a label OR show a qr code at Ups. Your bid # is on the label so no inventory sheet needed inside the box. Finally, they have a "Bid Status" area which shows at what stage your bid is at, ie "in transit", "received by powell's", etc. IMO, they now have the best buyback process of any company! Great job on the redesign Powell's!

Mar 06, 2022

Comment: Great place. Have done over 50 book buy back to powells. Will continue.

Feb 16, 2022

Comment: Easy transactions buy and sell. May take a little time for payments to process from them depending on the time of year, but always pay. Repeat customer.

Jan 26, 2022

Comment: I have been selling to them since 2017. True, they do not pay the highest prices. However they buy the biggest variety of books at a decent price. If you buy right (I pay 25 cents per book) you can make some decent money with them. This is how I enter their orders. I list all the ISBN into a list in Word. Copy and past. You will get some rejections so copy and paste the rejects and most will be accepted. Best part of doing it this way is it will never time out on you again. True, for the size of this company they should be the industry leader in IT, not trying to do business with a horrible system. Have never received bad service from customer service. I have found them friendly and they will TRY to fix your problem. At a minimum you will get a lot of sincere apologies.

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Powell's Contact Info
Address:
7 NW 9th Ave. Portland, OR 97209, USA
Phone:
(800) 878-7323
Powell's logo