Half Price Books

This store appeared to have much of the same fare as the HFB in Chicagoland. Lots of shelves of printed media, plenty of CDs. However, the vinyl stock was lacking. Lots of new, lesser-​known records and few used albums. I had to laugh at the minimum price for some of the LPs by no-​name artists. Quite a Debbie Downer!
I’m no gun nut, so the store’s firearm policy did not break my heart.

Short Version:
Great little used/​new bookstore that doesn’t sort out books between new/​used. Books are half of the MSRP or less, but clearance is really the gem of the store. Definitely designed as a «purchase and leave» type of bookstore, but I found a ton of great deals and escaped with more than 8 books for less than $ 35.
Long Version:
There isn’t really a used bookstore to be found in the Cedar Valley area. It’s sad. Tear-​worthy, really. But I had finished the first book in a young adult series, and I wanted to get started ASAP on the second. The library’s sole copy was checked out for another three weeks, the local new bookstores didn’t sell it, and it would be at least 3 – 4 days until I get receive it from online. What’s a girl to do? Well, drive about an hour out to Half Price Books after calling and finding out they have two copies!
Neat little bookstore. They seem to sell new and used copies alongside each other on all of the shelves. There aren’t any «sections» between the two. All of the books are clearly sorted out and organized by genre and author, and it looks like a regular ol’ new bookstore in how easy it is to find what you’re looking for.
Unlike a standard bookstore, though, it doesn’t appear the management wants you sticking around to read — which is fine, but it’s a bit odd. There are some tables near the kid’s area that could sit adults, but that’s about the gist of seating that I saw. It’s clear they’d prefer you to purchase books and treat this more as a retail establishment than somewhere to buy, drink coffee, and read.
Prices are surprisingly good. Like the name promises, expect to pay about half off what the MSRP is. It doesn’t seem to matter in terms of quality either, but it does matter in terms of hardcover versus softcover. Hardcover and softcover books varied in price, but the same book, with different wear & tear, cost the same, so pick the best version you can find.
Where I really, really fell in love with Half Price Books was the clearance section, though. Oooooh, the clearance section. This is basically a small corner with all of the clearanced books all sorted by genre. This makes it SUPER easy to find clearance books you’d still want to read. The best part? ALL of the clearance books, hardcover or softcover, used or new, are between $ 1 and $ 3. Some of the books are predictably dated (like how-​to books for the iPhone 3), but other books, like fiction or self-​help, don’t really date themselves. I spent over an hour in this corner and ended up picking up an extra 10+ books. I looked like a nutcase bringing those all up to the counter.
This place also has bathrooms — a single male and single female bathroom. Bathrooms have seen better days, but they were clean — just not particularly impressive.
I would definitely come back, and I WILL come back. The treasure in this establishment is the clearance books, but the rest of the books are priced reasonably too. I’ll probably only come when I have the time to stick around, though. While it’s easy to grab and go with their system here, I’d really love to spend time in sections and find some great deals.

I have a compulsion to buy books and look at weird people. This place is full of both! It’s great and only sometimes creepy.
But seriously, it’s a great spot to get your book buying compulsion taken care of on the cheap. I even buy cheap dvds there now and again.
The folks who work there are a wonderful combination of helpful and not caring about you at all until you ask them for help, which in this case is ideal.

I used to work in the area and shopped/​browsed here regularly. I have since moved and have visited other Half Price locations, so that’s why my review is lackluster. This store is completely overstocked with merchandise. Overstocked merchandise makes it incredibly difficult to shop. Sure the selection is fantastic, but there’s something to be said for being able to breathe when your going up and down the aisles. Staff is friendly and the location is nice. Organization leaves a lot to be desired.

This is my go-​to bookstore here in CR. I can spend quite a few hours just wandering and finding new treasures. Occasionally they have carts outside on the sidewalk of books and other materials for $ 1 or $ 2. In addition to books, DVDs, and magazines, they also carry greeting and thank you cards, bookmarks, journals, and activity books for kids. I signed up for the coupons via email but there seems to be only one or two coupons per month. Their Facebook page posts popular and big name incoming books, as well as employee reading lists and suggestions.
In regards to helpful employees, it’s been a hit-​and-​miss in my experience. In one experience, I asked for one gal’s assistance in finding a book; she led me to its proper shelf, went to the computer to check for it in-​stock, but never returned. I had to locate her in order to see if she had found anything. They seem to love their job but sometimes the service just isn’t up to par.

You can really waste some time here, there is a lot to look at. They have a ton of books to browse, they also all seemed to be fairly cheap. I also found there used dvd selection to be pretty darn good! I ended up with 2 DVDs and 2 books for $ 17 which I thought was reasonable. Although it did take awhile at checkout sometimes they are in snail mode;)

Cannot believe we found one of these here in Cedar Rapids!!!
Our favorite bookstore in Dublin AND Berkeley actually has a branch out here.

It is a sad thing that people (including myself) rave about a used bookstore because it carries used cds and dvds. But it is an indication of what has happened to the retail book business. The only other book shop in Cedar Rapids, Barnes & Noble, has drastically reduced the floor space devoted to books, and the only book growth area in town seems to be religious book shops. So I am grateful that there is at least one book shop left in town that devotes the majority of space to real books even though it is a used book store reseller mixed with remainders and CDs/​DVDs and not a true book shop.
Like most resale shops there is no way to search for specific titles other than to browse. Luckily the staff is helpful and knowledgeable. Prices are a bit high for a reseller but judicious use of frequent coupons will get the cost down to a more reasonable range. There are other book resellers in town but none have the inventory that Half Price Books has.
Half Price Books buys material for cash, not for purchase credit as in other used shops, and the cash you get will have to thinking that it is better to just keep the stuff or donate it to the library or local library fund raising organizations. Just don’t expect a windfall.
Overall, this is a very good retail business and will probably survive the coming apocalypse confronting the book industry. Meanwhile, if you want to visit a real book store and see what a book business once was like, there is still Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City.

I love this store, since it’s the only game in town for used CDs and vinyl. The staff really seems to love working there, and that makes it better for everyone. If you have some time to kill, this is a great place.

The other reviewers have already said everything that I was going to so I’m pretty much writing this to get the stupid picture changed. I love that people can’t bring guns in this store & that is their right as business owners.
My only negative critique is that there isn’t an effective way, i.e. computer system, to search for books, CDs, movies by the customers or even staff.

Great way to get cheap books and movies! Love the Clearance DVD section. The staff is always helpful.

This place is a great place to get collectable records. They also sell new and used books. You can go in there and sell your books and magazines you don’t want any more. You can also sign up for their coupon mailing to recieve discounts on your next purchase. Other things they sell are comic books, dvds, video games and collectable posters. They are all reasonablly prices. They have always had great service when I have shopped there.

When the BF and I want to kill some time or get out of the house in the winter time, we head to half price books. They’ve got tons of sports books for him to look at, and tons of cookbooks, stationary, gardening and sociology books for me at really decent prices. The staff is very friendly and always ready to help and the books are organized by category. Prices on calendars, children’s books and games are good too, but buyer beware, one game we bought didn’t have some of the pieces. They have music and movies as well as some basic art supplies. I wanted a large, blank sketchbook, and found one here for 7 bucks. The one I was eyeing at the craft store was twice that amount!