The Half Price Books Thread

BudzMcGee

CAGiversary!
Feedback
3 (100%)
As a big fan of Half Price Books I thought a thread discussing the various discounts, promotions and of course our finds was more than well deserved.

All deals posted in the OP and in this thread are YMMV by nature. Some things have universal prices (or damn near) but still.

Always remember to check our local store's page on the HPB.com website to see if it has any additional specials (such as comic Wednesdays)!

Current Promotions:

Upcoming Promotions:


Miscellaneous contest and other deals:

Educator's Discount: If you are an educator you can apply for the Educators Discount Card to save 10% every day at HPB. http://www.hpb.com/community/educators/

Notable Deals (Items that seem to be more universal):
This is not to add every single descent deal found at HPB, but to post ones that seem to be more universal (i.e. items marked with SuperBuy rather than clearance or is reported in multiple places).

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hmm, I very sincerely hope the OP loses their posting privileges temporarily for this. This is not FW, nobody cares what your favorite website is, and we don't need a separate thread for every website, EVEN THOUGH if we did I'm pretty sure there would not be a thread for Half Price Books. Hard to believe your favorite website is this obscure book website, and you love it so much you need to share it with us. The original post appears to have been written by the owner of someone affiliated with this company. This forum is specifically for video game deals. Not much more to say about this one.
 
[quote name='lain21us']Hmm, I very sincerely hope the OP loses their posting privileges temporarily for this. This is not FW, nobody cares what your favorite website is, and we don't need a separate thread for every website, EVEN THOUGH if we did I'm pretty sure there would not be a thread for Half Price Books. Hard to believe your favorite website is this obscure book website, and you love it so much you need to share it with us. The original post appears to have been written by the owner of someone affiliated with this company. This forum is specifically for video game deals. Not much more to say about this one.[/QUOTE]

Well, half price books isn't really that obscure. I think it's a great alternative to Barnes & Noble since you pay for used books which are cheaper. If you ever been to the B&M of a HPB store, they do have some game related things like PC games and various console games that people trade in there, but the majority they are books. However, people can trade in books, so you can find strategy guides there for about $10 or so. I think they do have sales every so often. The website itself sucks because you can't find inventory on anything and you have to call in the store so they can check if they have it. Just don't assume that they are affilliate with the company just because they post about it such as the deals they may have. Mods should handle cases such as this and if they feel that this thread is useless, then they'll do their business and we'll move along, but you shouldn't just overwrite what the OP had written and insert a more useless post than the one before.

Don't we have seperate threads for gaming deals for some websites like NewEgg and Best Buy to keep the conversation to where they belong?

Point is, going to the actually store is a lot better.

Edit: After reading the wikipedia page, I guess the reason why that you think it's obscure is because there's none in your area. Only 15 states have HPB stores. I've seen two around where I live though.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Not sure why you're so butthurt lain, I and many others on this site have gotten great game deals at HPB when they've had a sale.
 
[quote name='lain21us']Hmm, I very sincerely hope the OP loses their posting privileges temporarily for this. This is not FW, nobody cares what your favorite website is, and we don't need a separate thread for every website, EVEN THOUGH if we did I'm pretty sure there would not be a thread for Half Price Books. Hard to believe your favorite website is this obscure book website, and you love it so much you need to share it with us. The original post appears to have been written by the owner of someone affiliated with this company. This forum is specifically for video game deals. Not much more to say about this one.[/QUOTE]


Wow, you really are a top grade assclown. Thank goodness for wiki edit history so I could restore the OP to what it was and should be. The Half Price Books website is mainly useless (it is getting better) and its main purpose is to help you find a store. HPB is limited, but there are enough and enough CAGs who shop there for games to make a thread worth it. They are probably one of the last places to get boxed PC games at a good price. And as the OP notes, they have sales from time to time including 50 and 40% off coupons where CAGs have scored rare games and systems for really good prices.
 
Last 50% off coupon I ended up with Rosetta Stone Spanish Lessons 1+2 for $50. Can't wait for the next one.

Oh and to make this a 'gaming' related post, a friend of mine got a PS3 for 100 with the same coupon.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I love HPB. The two I frequently visit have a pretty good video game selection. I do admit some of their more rarer games cost way too much at times. I saw Wind Waker for gamecube for $65?
 
[quote name='CheapLikeAFox']Wow, you really are a top grade assclown. Thank goodness for wiki edit history so I could restore the OP to what it was and should be.[/QUOTE]

That's a much better use of wiki-edit than my Spuds MacKenzie Partyology picture :) Thanks!

I've never been to an HPB yet, but every time I see one while out of town I drool and say "ooooh, halfpricebooooooks!" It's my white whale of discount stores.
 
Great thread! This is the kind of place where you wouldn't even know they sold video game-related stuff unless someone told you or you went inside. While I don't believe I've ever seen any advertising for their video game section, they certainly carry a little treasure trove of old and new strategy guides ranging from near mint to good condition, along with some occasional gaming gems. Personally, I think it's great that a place like this carries games across almost every major platform you can think of, up to the current generation.

The other day, eye-spyed Wizardry 2 for the NES in excellent condition, just sitting there, lonely on the shelf. And I would have bought it too, had I not already owned the game.. ;)
 
Will be monitoring this thread closely, though I sometimes peruse the video games section, I've never actually bought one from HPB
 
I'm for the thread. I don't have a Fry's in my area and I don't order from Play-Asia, but it doesn't mean I think the threads should be closed. I like checking out these threads just to see what kind of deals they offer.

Last time I was at HPB I picked up Kingdom Hearts (PS2) CIB and in excellent shape for $5. They also had about 10 copies of The Witcher (PC) for $10 each.
 
One of the things that I do like about HPB is that they are one of the few places that are actually willing to haggle with you on the price, at least for games, DVDs, blus, etc. Books are generally just half the price of what it's marked as on the book, hence the name of their store.

Basically there are certain requirements on how they gauge whether or not they can or can not change the price in their system. The system actually tags certain items that can not be changed, and usually these items that flat out can't be worked with are generally the ones that are popular titles that are easy sells, so they usually aren't willing to go any lower than what's marked in store, even if the price is relatively high compared to places like Amazon.

HPB uses Amazon as their price marker to put out product onto the floor, but it is up to each stores discretion to put whatever price they feel like. Prices in the system for HPB are "Recommended" prices rather than what they're supposed to charge which accounts for the vast difference in price between online at Amazon and in store sometimes. And if they refuse to go down on the price you can assume it will be one of the items marked as a easy seller in their system.

Generally there are only a few people that can actually offer to work with you on the price, so if you just go up to the counter the employee there may not be able to help you out if they are not one of the stock managers, as they don't have access to do the adjustment for you. Of course some of them are the cashiers helping out sometimes, so that may not always be the case.

And lastly, this will be quite YMMV, but some stores will also be willing to work out a price with you during a sale. I've had great success doing this at every sale (at least the ones that I've found stuff to buy), and they've had no problem doing it knowing very well there's a sale going on. I even asked the guy helping me out one time, and it was on the last day of a sale with a 50% off coupon, and he was like "Yeah, you can still use the coupon."

I do indeed enjoy shopping at HPB because you are capable of negotiating with the employees on the price, which is always a nice option to have if you don't like the price.

Now to some FAQs that will come up here and there,

Hold policies will vary from store to store. I've been to three different HPBs, and all have a different policy in place for holding products. They don't have a set policy company wide for holds, so it will just be dependent on your store.

Return policy is pretty standard. 7 days to return the product for a refund (they only accept the reason if you didn't want it anymore. if you say you didn't like it, they will not be able to accept the return, so be very careful about this). 30 days if there are defects with the product for a store exchange or store credit.

HPB takes trade-ins of generally everything. I've never seen anything lower than an NES in the store before, but even then that's still pretty good. My current store has Genesis, NES, and a few SNES lying around, and I've picked up plenty of Genesis and SNES games from the store, so they definitely carry older games. Sometimes there are also trade-ins that haven't been processed yet sitting in their sorting area, so I'd give that area a peak once in awhile if you don't find anything on the floor before you leave the store. I can't tell you how many times I've found something there at the last minute.

Of course there are downsides with HPB. Your store may have a crappy selection, stingy stock managers who never go down on price, they don't really have a website set up because prices aren't set and vary store to store, or you just don't have one around your area.

Anyways, food for thought for those of you who are unfamiliar with how HPB works.

Best of luck with your HPB shopping everybody.
 
I'm glad to see this thread. I've worked at Half Price Books for over two years now, and I love working there. They're a great company and I'll try to help out in this thread as much as I can.

For starters, the calendars mentioned in the original post are probably all gone. This varies store to store. I know my particular store ran out weeks ago, so I assume few are left nationwide.

We've had some gems pass through our store as of late. Lunar for Sega CD complete with case and manual (sold for $40 less than 24 hours). A really nice Final Fantasy III for SNES. Pokemon White and Black 2 along with the collectors guide. It's neat to see what comes in day to day. It's also a great feeling to surprise middle aged women who have no idea their box of Nintendo published SNES games are worth more than $2.
 
Wow, didn't expect the butthurt that popped up in the thread. I actually never use the website, just thought this would be convenient for keeping track of their various promotions and such as well as sharing exceptional finds as some items tend to have similar pricing from one store to another.

If you haven't noticed a "gaming" section at your local HPB it is probably because it is labeled as "Software." Keep an eye out!

[quote name='lain21us']Hmm, I very sincerely hope the OP loses their posting privileges temporarily for this. This is not FW, nobody cares what your favorite website is, and we don't need a separate thread for every website, EVEN THOUGH if we did I'm pretty sure there would not be a thread for Half Price Books. Hard to believe your favorite website is this obscure book website, and you love it so much you need to share it with us. The original post appears to have been written by the owner of someone affiliated with this company. This forum is specifically for video game deals. Not much more to say about this one.[/QUOTE]

In the time it took you to write that you could of probably looked and seen I also manage the OP for the Best Buy Trade In thread. Guess I work for them too? Or you could of looked and seen that Half Price Books is primarily a book and mortar store that sells far more than just books.

Last time they did the 50% off coupon I was quite happy to snag a Kinect for $25. And yeah, they do tend to carry a lot of actually pretty descent PC games for cheap. If I can I'll try to make a note of more of their selection next time I'm in store to add to the OP.

They also do have retro games as well (if someone sells them to them). I've seen Atari games even. HPB's motto is that they buy anything that has ever been printed or recorded so... yeah.

[quote name='okwordyoda']For starters, the calendars mentioned in the original post are probably all gone. This varies store to store. I know my particular store ran out weeks ago, so I assume few are left nationwide. [/QUOTE]

I decided to include it since of the 7 stores in my area I frequent 3 and 2 of them still have signs for this up.

Best find I had recently was a very good condition Mario Kart Wii for $3 clearance. I looked over the case/manual/disc for like 5 minutes trying to figure out what was wrong with it. lol
 
Sorry, I guess I didn't realize there were so many great gaming deals at HPB in-store. I saw a bunch of coupons and sales having nothing to do with video games and thought it seemed like BS. I also noticed the OP saying that this was his favorite store and clearly implying that he was not affiliated with the store, though there were some areas in his post that clearly indicated otherwise (I noticed he has since cleaned up these "errors"). I guess if everyone loves this store as much as the OP there's nothing I can say about it.
 
I love HPB. Went there last weekend using the calender coupon. It's always random what you are going to come away with. Great store!

This almost seems like it would be better suited in the deals/bragging forum though, similar to the thrift store find thread.
 
Yeah, avoid the website, it is pretty poorly done right now IMO.

I live in TX and we have a ton of HPB, so this is nice. If you have some in your area just make sure to sign up for the mailing list so they email you their big deal coupons which are 40/50% off on the best days.

They accept gaming stuff, my favorite part about their stores is they usually have a fairly big section of strategy guides. I've found tons of rarer games at HPB, although like square said they do prices off of amazon most of the time, so deals may be rare on them.
 
I'm lucky that one of the HPB's near me clearly has someone who knows gaming a bit in charge of pricing and games are quite often put out at descent prices. Another store it is totally not the case and you'll see stuff like "Bully: Scholarship Edition" for $40 because it is "out of print." :lol:

[quote name='lain21us']Sorry, I guess I didn't realize there were so many great gaming deals at HPB in-store. I saw a bunch of coupons and sales having nothing to do with video games and thought it seemed like BS. I also noticed the OP saying that this was his favorite store and clearly implying that he was not affiliated with the store, though there were some areas in his post that clearly indicated otherwise (I noticed he has since cleaned up these "errors"). I guess if everyone loves this store as much as the OP there's nothing I can say about it.[/QUOTE]

Take a look at the edit history. I haven't touched the OP since I created the thread last night. Nice try though. :roll:
 
The pricing/pricers can leave you shaking your head. My wife went in and saw Luxor Pharaoh's Challenge for DS and thought the price was a mistake. The employee she asked about it said that was the price on Amazon. When she said she could get it for much less he replied "Do it then". She did - picked it up at GS for $7. His copy is still sitting on the shelf for $70 :roll:
 
HPB is a magical place. There is always an over priced something but I bought a complete working N64 for 25. Bought the gf a NES (cables 2 controllers and Super Mario) for 35-15%. My friend bought dk 64 for 15 among a ton of other stuff. It's a great place for old games still able to find complete xbox and ps2 games.
 
Just a heads up for people near Lexington, KY -- the new store opens today and they sent out a round of coupons to everyone on the mailing list (not sure how they id your home store, perhaps I entered that at some point in signing up?)

Anyway, 40% Thurs, 30% Fri, 20% Sat and 50% Sun and Mon at both stores (single item only).

Going to check out the new store today at opening.
 
[quote name='jstew9']Just a heads up for people near Lexington, KY -- the new store opens today and they sent out a round of coupons to everyone on the mailing list (not sure how they id your home store, perhaps I entered that at some point in signing up?)

Anyway, 40% Thurs, 30% Fri, 20% Sat and 50% Sun and Mon at both stores (single item only).

Going to check out the new store today at opening.[/QUOTE]

Is this the Booklover Weekend promo? That's this weekend as well and the coupons for that should be emailed out today according to their blog. If you're getting a grand opening and Booklover coupons, you should be in Uber CAG mode. Good hunting either way.
 
My wife and I each got the Booklover's Weekend coupon via email. 20% off entire purchase. Limit one per customer per day. Valid 2/15 thru 2/18.
 
[quote name='jstew9']Just a heads up for people near Lexington, KY -- the new store opens today and they sent out a round of coupons to everyone on the mailing list (not sure how they id your home store, perhaps I entered that at some point in signing up?)

Anyway, 40% Thurs, 30% Fri, 20% Sat and 50% Sun and Mon at both stores (single item only).

Going to check out the new store today at opening.[/QUOTE]

Did they email a coupon? Does it specifically say limited to those stores? Sometimes they send those out and they actually work at all stores but they don't advertise it. If you were emailed coupons and it doesn't say limited to those stores you should share, they are never one time use only!

Updated OP with the Booklovers coupon. Shame it is only 20% but at least it is off entire purchase?
 
Wow, new store was packed today.

The coupons (that were emailed yes) specifically say the 2 Lexington Stores only.

Note: they were also handing out printed out coupons at the door as well (Lex only as well).
 
[quote name='jstew9']Wow, new store was packed today.

The coupons (that were emailed yes) specifically say the 2 Lexington Stores only.

Note: they were also handing out printed out coupons at the door as well (Lex only as well).[/QUOTE]


Damn. Oh well. Thanks for getting back.

My local store has a copy of New Super Mario Brothers 2 for 3DS I'd much rather get for $10-$12 instead of $16... :)
 
I love my local HPB, I have picked up some pretty awesome books but also picked a brand new sealed copy of Blazblue for the vita during the 50% OFF sale for $7.50 and a sealed Silent Hill PS1 Black Label with Y folds and hang tag on the back still for $29.99. I am usually surprised whenever I go there.
 
5 off 25 here too. I guess it's better than nothing.

Will they let you stack coupons? YMMV depending on the clerk? I still have a couple 15% coupons from the free calendars they've been handing out.
 
[quote name='MooseTheCorgi']I love my local HPB, I have picked up some pretty awesome books but also picked a brand new sealed copy of Blazblue for the vita during the 50% OFF sale for $7.50 and a sealed Silent Hill PS1 Black Label with Y folds and hang tag on the back still for $29.99. I am usually surprised whenever I go there.[/QUOTE]

Wow - that SH can go for $200 or more.
 
Found a PS3 controller with an 8ft extension cable for $30, but the salesperson wouldn't let me stack coupons. She said it was company policy. So used the 20% coupon and picked it up for just under $26 with tax. I'm not complaining.
 
[quote name='bg2001']Wow - that SH can go for $200 or more.[/QUOTE]

I did a quick flip for $100.00. I could have gotten more but the guy that bought it was super enthusiastic and to be honest the money really helps right now. I actually wanted to keep it because I knew I would never come across one again, but my responsibilities take priority.
 
I do not understand Half Price Books pricing. I bought New Super Mario Bros. DS for $9.99. Three weeks later, same HPB they have it without a manual for only...$34.99.
 
[quote name='vicktor']I do not understand Half Price Books pricing. I bought New Super Mario Bros. DS for $9.99. Three weeks later, same HPB they have it without a manual for only...$34.99.[/QUOTE]


Part of the problem is they use Amazon as a guide and as we all know, Amazon could run out temporarily of a product so when they go to look it up they only see the price from one complete lunatic trying to sell something way over priced on the Amazon marketplace.

The other problem is that while some stores have people working who know video games and will stop and say, no, that price doesn't make sense for this item, others don't. That's why you have a store with an incomplete New SMB DS for $34.99 and my store had New SMB 2 for 3DS complete for only $19.99. Which I got for about $17 after taxes and the 20% coupon yesterday. Also grabbed a few random clearance $1 PC games while I was at it for $0.80 each.
 
Just another pricing rant. My local HPB has two non-BC PS3's for $200 each and an NES-style Gameboy Advance SP--the one style I would consider buying--for $70. Even with the coupon, none of that is worth a second thought.
 
[quote name='Agent Hero']Just another pricing rant. My local HPB has two non-BC PS3's for $200 each and an NES-style Gameboy Advance SP--the one style I would consider buying--for $70. Even with the coupon, none of that is worth a second thought.[/QUOTE]
You could ask to speak with someone about adjusting the price. I have experienced both + & - outcomes, but you don't get if you don't ask. Heck, I've even bargained at BB for a sweet discount.

I know I picked up the GBA SP (the model with brighter screen) from a pawn shop about two years ago for a little over $20. So that seems to be a much better starting price for that.
 
Thanks for the coupon. i went in found 66 dollars in GB/GBA games worth picking up told the guy that I left my 15% off coup at home. Wouldn't do shit for me. Put it on hold then saw this post with 20% off.

Found a copy of kirby dreamland 2 kirby star stacker super mario deluxe super mario advance 1 and 4 mario kart gba pkmn crystal pkmn yelow and a bunch of others.
 
Let me clear up a few misconceptions about HPB pricing of video games.

I'm not sure where everyone is getting the we use Amazon as a guideline. That's not entirely true. We can use anything. Our pricing stations have the Internet and we can look up the going rate using just about any site we want.

The main thing we're trained to use is our system itself. The inventory of all 120+ stores are linked and that's where we get our data. So if one store sold the NES GBA for $70 then another store is definitely going to try it because there's proof that that price has worked in the past. Plus we have a fast paced marked down system for all electronics.

I can't explain a $35 NSMB. That seems like a user error for sure. Maybe someone in the company sold a sealed one at some point, and then someone followed suit with the same price not realizing. $20 bucks for NSMB2 makes perfect sense though. Since we're HALF price books, we should stick to half price for all things still in print. Since that games still lists for 40, that's what our price SHOULD be.

I can say as a gamer some of our prices are a bit on the high side BUT as someone who's worked in the store for a few years now I can also say all things video games sell. They just do. With few mark downs and rarely any clearance. It's not a big section of any of our stores, but it's a section that does well. The demand is high. Even the value of GBAs are going up, now that 3DS doesn't have GBA support and everyone is selling their DS Lites. N64 is a cash cow. The systems rarely last a week and the controllers sell themselves.
 
I would see your calm rational, thought out response and reasonable explanation of pricing and raise you some of the games I saw today, just for shits and giggles.

Three that I remember for sure include; Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Gold Edition for $50 (I admit this is a somewhat rarer one now, but $50 still seems high), Bully: Scholarship Edition for $40, Max Payne 3 for $25 (this game has been $19.99 at some retailer for almost two months straight) along with many MSRP $19.99 games being sold used for $19.99 and I know there were a few other "WTF?" prices at the same store. Like I said, one store almost always has really reasonable prices, the other is more like what I described above, and with the exception of the Ultimate Alliance game which is a new arrival, the others (especially Max Payne 3 and Bully) have been on the shelf with no change in price for a month and a half to two months now that I can remember. I can't speak how long the N64 systems stay in store at my local ones, but they always seem to have one or two and a few of the same games every time I look.
 
@okwordyoda, I understand the internet is available to pricers, I personally just wish they would use it more effectively. As to why we assume Amazon is used prominently, while it may be anecdotal, we have been told by the pricers themselves that is what they used. As most CAGs know, the actual sold price on ebay is much more accurate than asking prices on amazon marketplace.

Overall, I am really not complaining too much. The same practices that result in a few high prices also produce a few gems and those are really what we all care about.

@BudzMcGee, to be fair on Bully Scholarship, if it was for the 360, a complete copy still consistently sells for close to $40 shipped on ebay (one certainly can pay less). If it was priced last year, demand was even higher. Before Christmas, they were pushing past $50. I just checked ebay for Marvel Ultimate Alliance Gold and $50+ selling prices are common.
 
[quote name='PapaSmerf']

@BudzMcGee, to be fair on Bully Scholarship, if it was for the 360, a complete copy still consistently sells for close to $40 shipped on ebay (one certainly can pay less). If it was priced last year, demand was even higher. Before Christmas, they were pushing past $50.[/QUOTE]

If that is true then I stand corrected, I also have to consider selling the complete copy I bought at a Blockbuster closing sale for $7... :)
 
bread's done
Back
Top