Ocean Books

So me and my lady walks into this cool little book store, and this delightful employee behind the counter informs us everything is half off because the place is going out of biz. we chat briefly about online sales, book stores, record stores, the modern era blah blah real quick. Then I start to check out the cool books…
So my girl wants to get her sister a book, but isn’t sure whether her sister already has it. She makes a quick hushed phone call…
Out of the blue flies the female proprietor, who flings accusations of online comparison-​shopping and the demise of storefront book stores, etc etc. I walked up and corrected this boorish ogre and informed her we had an arm full of books we were intending to purchase, and for her to chill out and keep it moving, so to speak.
Then this boss lady starts hurling abuses on her sole employee present, a sprightly lad who undoubtedly was eager to move on with his life and quit tolerating verbal abuse from his unsightly boss. Good luck to this dude, for we are sure his career will go far with his customer service and good attitude.
As for the woman who runs this place, I hope you realize that treating your customers with respect gets your business loyalty that prevents folks such as ourselves from comparison-​shopping online. I still value the hell out of bookstores and record stores etc, the ones that still exist and keep puttering along.
When the ship’s captain is rotten, it doesn’t matter how well-​crafted the boat is nor how valiant the crew. There’s no wonder this place is gonna have to dock elsewhere…

1 Star for cute dog in store.
1 Star for this book I was really into and almost bought.
This rating is for the fabulous customer service my sister received upon our first visit to this lovely bookstore. My family and I were having a beautiful day visiting Half Moon Bay and made our way into the store because who doesn’t love books! We spent about 15 minutes browsing and flipping pages.
I left to continue wandering the street, but my sister stayed to look some more. She basically told me that while she was in the store, she was rudely interrupted by the owner’s loud voice (yes probably announcing to the entire book store). The owner accused her of «comparing prices online.» My sister truthfully said she was reading reviews about it. I understand that some customers may go into bookstores, check online prices, and walk out empty handed when the store ends up being more expensive (who doesn’t do that these days). These doings obviously are detrimental to bookstores, but nobody was doing that today– and who is this lady to be so incredibly rude about it to her customers?
Here’s an advise:
If you’re running a business and wish to increase your sales then you should probably know that humiliating your customer in front of others is probably not going to tempt them to come back for that book sale next Monday. Also, while you’re there maybe you should look through your own bookstore for something like Manners 101.
Oh and after my sister was made uncomfortable by the owner’s comment, she of course put the book down and left. The owner then got upset that she didn’t want to buy anything. yup.
I had to resist the temptation to march back in there. We just decided that it wasn’t worth ruining our day. We gave her our benefit of the doubt, but probably will just check out other book stores instead.

While passing through Half Moon Bay one Sunday afternoon, my family and I wandered into Ocean Books. Like most used bookstore, there was a bargain bin outside on the sidewalk. I selected a $ 1 book from the bin. I proceeded to walk through the bookstore and did not find any other books of interest. I found the selection to be slim and the prices to be high. My daughter however had found two books that she intended to purchase. I approached the owner at the front to pay for my $ 1 book. When I placed my selection on the counter, she looked at me and said very snarky, «Is that all?» Right away I could tell that she was put off by the fact that I was making a $ 1 purchase. I indicated that that was the only book I wish to purchase and she slowly proceeded to calculate my total the whole time with a very unpleasant expression on her face. Total came to $ 1.09. I handed her a one dollar bill and told her I needed to get a dime from my husband. I return to the cash register was a dollar because my husband had no change. She immediately became very hostile and said that she could not make change from a dollar for nine cent. I told her that was all that we had and it was either take it or leave it. She said «I would rather eat the nine cents.» At that point I had had enough of her attitude and told her to keep her book. Another nice customer in the store offered me a dime but again I just wanted to get out of this bookstore. After I walked out of the store I told my daughter to leave her books behind we would get them on Amazon. She made a snide remark to my kid about me.
The other negative reviews on this site about the owner and her attitude are 200% accurate. Avoid this bookstore and check out the other book store two doors down.

The books are overpriced compared to other used books stores but they do have a good selection.
The low rating is mainly for the owner of this store who complains and whines about having to ship items, money, drive to the post office, answer the phone and has the nerve to charge extra for this! ugh

I love this bookstore, and I am simultaneously happy and heartbroken that I live so far away. I can easily believe that I will be spending too many hours and too much money in Ocean Books if they were within 30 minutes’ drive from me.
First of all, they are situated in charming Half Moon Bay downtown. Just on that alone, I was already predisposed to fall in love with them. But then, I came in and the smell of paper just instantly gave me happiness. And to make sure I really would fall in love with them, they have a really great selection of books both old and new. From Fifty Shades of Grey to an old edition of Dante’s Divine Comedies, from travel books to Tolstoy short fictions, Ocean Books have a vast collection to cater to every kind of reader.
Ocean Books is a must stop for any book lover who finds himself or herself in Downtown Half Moon Bay. I know I will drop by again next time I am in the area.

Small, but well-​stocked bookstore in a small, but lovely seaside town. If travelling from San Francisco to Santa Cruz (or vice versa) then it is well worth it to stop here.

Awesome used book store with a surprisingly great selection of anthropology books! They also have a deal through August where you can get 20% off paperbacks if you pay in cash.
The prices can run pretty high for a used bookstore, often over $ 20 for an (admittedly sizeable) paperback. I’m used to the kinds of used bookstores where you walk out with heavy armfuls of books for next to nothing– but this is a really nice store!

I like Ocean Books! Well, I like used book stores in general, so maybe I’m a little biased. But whatever. It’s small but witht he variety of weird and random titles to sort through, you can spend a fair chunk of time in here just browsing. The randomness of the selection here kinda reminds me of my old high school library, come to think of it. O_​o I love my Kindle, but there’s something about actually reading actual paper pages that just really hits the spot… and as someone else mentioned, the smell of old books is enticing (no, that’s not weird at all). I love popping in here during my strolls through town… always something interesting to see, and the staff is very friendly too.

Very cute, small used book shop. It was totally inviting, the lady at the counter was very helpful in pointing me to the right section. They had a great variety of books and seemed to have decent prices, there was even a vintage romance section in the back of the shop, all wrapped in little plastic baggies. Had I had more room in my suitcase, I probably would have left with a few!

This is the worst used book store I have ever experienced. PERIOD. Way over priced and the service is draconian at best. I love used book stores and the ownership of this one is about as bad as it gets. Several years ago I sold some books here I got short changed and the only credit I got was towards additional books I bought in the store. WRONG. Last week I went in again and the owner a older woman bitch from hell, who thinks she has the license to make customers feel bad about her sales made it worse. I brought two of my friends in an then went to the great wine bar across the street and they could not believe her attitude of negativity. One even bought at book because he felt sorry for her. This is not the way to do business and brings the entire experience in Half Moon Bay down to the LCD experience it is. Today I challenged her on her behavior with my friends and she had the audacity to say, «oh I do that all the time with customers, well i used two words and u know what they are. The Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce needs to look into this type of customer experience and adjust it. Overcharging customers is one thing, creating a negative customer experience is another, this does not bode well for a community that is baring hanging on financially.

Though tiny, this is a great used book store on HMB’s Main Street. The inviting (is that weird?) smell of old books beckons me in every time I walk by. I have found some pretty rare and unusual selections here.
Prices are reasonable. The clerks never hover, but they’re happy to help if you need it.
Like most stores on Main Street, the place isn’t open late: 6pm most days, I think. I guess that’s okay, since HMB is a virtual ghost town after 6 anyway (5 pm if it’s a Sunday).

There’s a moon over Main Street tonight, and this bookstore looks even better in that pale lamplight.* I struggle with my instincts at such places that peddle used and new books in The Age of Amazon. How could we have become this way? Must we love what we destroy and destroy the things we love? Are we killing independent bookstores by clicking-​to-​order with free shipping and 30% discounts off of the cover price? Or is Amazon actually helping small sellers find clients for rare and out-​of-​print titles?
Here’s why I liked this store in Half Moon Bay’s Main Street. They had books I never otherwise would have known about, and while I only left the shop with one — a cookbook for mushroom lovers illustrated with scenes for 1970s-​era Tuscany — I made mental notes of others and might eventually return for them.
Amazon only touches the surface of the book publishing industry. It may seem like they have millions of titles, but like McDonalds and its claims to serve billions, there is a lot of other food out there that Ronald cannot provide to you. The same holds true with books.
So do some walking by the light of the moon and find a good bookstore to drop into when daylight comes, like this one in Half Moon Bay. Because on the Internet you’ll never see my shade nor hear the sound of my feet, but you just might bump into me on this particular street. Kindle me this, Foxconn and Mr. Zehr @ Lab126! Your e-​devices cannot light up the night sky like a Pacific moon can!
(*) Note: Extra points if you can figure out this song reference. Gotta love that broken music.

I’ve been to this shop a couple times and the clerk was having a loud personal argument on the phone — so distracting that I couldn’t remember what I was looking for and walked out. ! I resolved to complain to management about the lousy employee who drove the customer away. Went in again and the same employee talked to me. Turned out she *was* the owner.

The name of the bookstore brought me in but they do have books on other subjects. They have a good selection of used books with a lot of older selections. Definitely worth spending some time browsing around. I found a used copy of Pacific Coast Subtidal Marine Invertebrates by Daniel W. Gotshall and Laurence L. Laurent which was a missing piece of my collection so that’s a major score for me and that’s why they get five stars.