The Carrying On of A Wayward Son

While working at Hastings, one of the most interesting parts of the job (besides busting petty criminals) involved buybacks. Hastings Entertainment not only sells merchandise, it buys used books, movies and CDs from customers looking to rid themselves of their wares.

Tips for making the most out of your Hastings "buy back" experience

Whenever I would process a buyback, I found myself theorizing why, exactly, a customer was selling a specific book, movie or CD to us.

Sometimes, based on the appearance of the customer, it was pretty easy to spot a need for fast cash. Unlike some stores that buy used merchandise, Hastings offers an extra percentage of money it will purchase your items for if you choose to receive store credit instead of cash. This percentage is not a small one either.

For example, instead of receiving $8 cash for a couple of books, you could get a gift card for $16.

If a customer came into the store and sold us a large quantity of merchandise and chose to receive cash instead of credit, it was safe bet that he had an immediate need for money to be used for something besides entertainment.

One time, a man with a scraggily beard and rail thin arms came in to sell us a stack of DVDs. In the stack were at least two dozen Disney cartoons. Either the man was selling his children’s movie collection or he had just robbed a day care center.

There is no doubt in my mind that I processed buybacks for stolen merchandise. Sometimes we would get customers who came in and sold us movies that had just been released the previous day — often the films were still in shrink-wrap.

Another clue that we were dealing with stolen merchandise was when people came in to sell us multiple copies of the same CD, movie or book.

The other scam that people like to pull (which is actually not a bad idea) was to go to Half-Priced Books, a thrift store or any other place that sells used books for less then a dollar. These customers would buy as many clean-looking books as they could and then sell them at Hastings for a profit. Unlike Half-Priced Books, who is notorious for ripping customers off in their buyback process, Hastings gives a fair amount for books. For a dollar copy of a five year old John Grissom hardback you bought at a used book fair, you can fetch up to $4 at Hastings.

When you go to sell your merchandise, bring a lot of it at one time in order to make your trip worthwhile — but do not bring too much. If you make the buyback process an event, the cashier will devote their full attention to it – analyzing every CD or DVD for the smallest of scratches.

Another tip for making the most out of selling your stuff is to pick your cashier carefully. When faced with multiple cashiers, always pick the one who either seems rushed or completely devoid of concern. These cashiers won’t pay too much attention to what you are selling and will pass your merch through just so they can get back to watching the movie playing on the store’s TV monitors.

What you don’t want to do is sell your stuff to the over-educated college kid working in retail for extra cash. These kids, trying to insert a sense of purpose and duty into their jobs, will go the extra mile and ratchet up the intensity of their judgment when it comes to inspecting your merchandise. I should know, I was one of those kids.

If you are looking to sell your stuff, your best bet is to go Hastings first, sell as much as you can and take the store credit. Whatever is left, take to Half-Priced Books. They’ll buy anything but will only give you the smallest fraction of what it’s worth. Just make sure you’re ready to part with what you’re selling. You don’t want to have to buy it back in a couple of months.