Half Price Books reviews

Moving into a more corporate mindset despite the facade of the family owned independent bookstore. Management doesn't respect their staff and are often morally inept when it comes to even the simplest of policy (ethics, harassment, retaliation, safety, etc.). The benefits have got significantly worse over time. Raises have also drastically shrunk to essentially non-existent and the bonuses happen or don't based on how financially responsible the company decided to be quarterly. Upper management has repeatedly found ways to sweep real offenses under the rug and use their power to push people out the door. The company has moved far from what made them a special place for its employees and its customers. They have extremely bad business practices and have taken so many missteps recently that I feel they have damaged their image beyond repair.

This is not an easy job, and the work is never done. But if you can grow comfortable with the perpetual state of being Sisyphus, then it's extremely rewarding to breath life into the shelves and to help someone find a book or item they'll love (or can't find on their own). You'll constantly cycle new things in and yet-unbought things out of the store (into the many streams HPB as an overall company manages, where good condition unpurchased items can still find a loving home). Customers will get upset about things no one can control. Customers will leave wet fast-food cups on the shelves. Customers will destroy your alphabetical organization and push your books in and make your job way more difficult, like predictably bad whether. But if you can take all these things in stride and not let the bad apples affect your day, then you'll thrive here.