QBD Books
    (42 reviews)
    Unclaimed

    Company Reviews

    Working at QBD Books

    2.942 ratings in total
    5
    7
    4
    9
    3
    8
    2
    10
    1
    8
    81%
    Rate salary as high or average
    48%
    Employees recommend this employer to friends
    Work/Life balance
    3.2(42 ratings)
    Career development
    2.6(42 ratings)
    Benefits & perks
    3.2(42 ratings)
    Management
    2.5(42 ratings)
    Working environment
    3.0(42 ratings)
    Diversity & equal opportunity
    3.2(42 ratings)
    Ratings for QBD Books are shared as-is from employees in line with our community guidelines

    Reviews

    Showing 42 reviews sorted by most recent
    Sort by
    most recent
    2.0
    Store Manager
    Mar 2026
    Melbourne VIC 30001 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Find another bookstore company to work at
    The good thingsWorking with books, casual staff
    The challengesNo support from upper management. The unrealistic expectations they set on managers and not offering any support at all. All they care about is selling to the point where it takes away from the enjoyment of being a reader and working around books. They expect you to have customers as the number on priority but have an insane amount of operations daily to do which if you are not on top of they get annoyed, there is no balance. Upper management have no appreciate for the staff on a store level. I have never felt more stressed in my life than when I did working here
    1 person found this helpful
    2.0
    Bookseller
    Mar 2026
    Erina NSW 2250Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Not worth the effort
    The good thingsLovely environment, lovely team, great customer interactions, great discounts, enjoyable day-to-day tasks and work flow
    The challengesManagement was subpar, with little to no support for growth work wise. There were contradicting rules, and coaching was often all over the place. I trusted their authority and direction until I discovered they had slandered my work ethic in an important job reference, most of those sentiments being exaggerations or untruths. It was full of grammatical errors and unprofessional statements - unbecoming for any business, let alone a book store, in my opinion. Head office were unempathetic, and did nothing to compensate for the damage done despite the amount of evidence given. If you make an effort every shift to perform to the highest standard like I did, it will most likely go unnoticed. My advice: enjoy it as a side hustle, but don't trust them for anything else.`
    2.0
    Senior Bookseller
    Jul 2025
    All Melbourne VIC11 to 12 years in the role, former employee
    Nepotism is the name of the game
    The good thingsWorking with books is honestly what kept me in the job for as long as I was.
    The challengesHead office will never change. Prepare for 10+ KPI's most days. You can be a reliable staff member but you get nothing if you're not related or friends to someone higher up
    1 person found this helpful
    1.0
    Assistant Manager
    Jun 2025
    Cairns QLD 48701 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Perfect job to clock on and off and leave it at that, terrible if you go higher duties or wish to stay in the company.
    The good thingsLove working with books, regulars are lovely, the work itself is enjoyable and staff discount if you read.
    The challengesAwful upper management. During my 12 months, we went through 3 regionals and 2 store managers. Of those 5, 2 were sacked for misconduct towards customers and other employees. My bereavement leave initially came out of my sick and annual, and I was made to work bleeding from SA because 'no staff'.
    4 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Senior Bookseller
    Feb 2025
    All Brisbane QLD3 to 4 years in the role, current employee
    Good team, head office terrible and souless greedy
    The good thingsGreat team and staff and good discount on books
    The challengesHead office not caring about staff only care about unrealistic kpi goals with little hours I'm down to just under 200 dollars per week and they dont care and expect same kpi targets and work but don't care enough I can't live and now have to find another job, head office is greedy corporate
    1 person found this helpful
    2.0
    Senior Bookseller
    Nov 2024
    Melbourne VIC 30009 to 10 years in the role, former employee
    Buy your books elsewhere
    The good thingsThe managers and and co-workers in the last few years have been great. Being about to discuss your favourite books and authors with like minded people
    The challengesUpper level management toxic, hiring best friends and family members and promoting them over other more experience staff. No job advancement opportunities ever. Upper management expect you to be happy with one shift per week but then get annoyed when you need to get another job as they expect 100% loyalty and commitment. When asking for a part time position after 7 years and being one of the stores best salespeople, got laughed at and told “qbd will never offer part time positions, and if you don’t like your one shift per week you can leave .. Way too many expectations kpi wise, No focus on the customer anymore, its all about the upselling No employee benefits except % discount which is rarely better than the price of books at Big W or amazon.
    2 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Sales Associate
    Aug 2023
    Sydney NSW 2000
    As much as I enjoyed my time with qbd what with sharing my passion of books & recommendations with like minded book worms, the business side killed it. People before profits would help in qbd.
    The good thingsGreat discounts,a passion for books with customers.
    The challengesHead office constantly changing their minds on promotions. The pressure of KPIs to perform is ridiculous
    4 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Retail Sales Assistant
    Jan 2023
    Whilst the job was mostly fun with great team mates the work load and long days were not worth the low pay.
    The good thingsFun and exciting products and books. Great store level management. Team members with similar interests
    The challengesPhysically demanding with overloads of stock. Constant merchandising changes from head office. Poor pay rate for full time team leaders. No career opportunities for long time casual staff members
    5 people found this helpful
    4.0
    Retail Sales Assistant
    Jun 2022
    1 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Thoroughly enjoyable, amazing environment and incredible management (particularly the 2IC who provided wonderful guidance and direction).
    The good thingsGreat management, amazing environment and decent benefits.
    The challengesNo part-time positions throughout the company, meaning that those in leadership positions that are not 2IC or IC are all casual. This makes it difficult to budget and remain only working at one job as you are not guaranteed any hours and often only receive 3-5 hours a week.
    2 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Manager
    Jul 2021
    5 to 6 years in the role, former employee
    It’s a Great job if all you’re after is some part time work with flexible hours.
    The good thingsFlexible part time work hours Working with books
    The challengesRegional managers and upper management are very unsupportive and very demanding. The company does not value book knowledge or knowledge of the book industry at all. Some stores have a very toxic management style and will expect too much of you. Constant upselling required. Very physical job.
    9 people found this helpful
    4.0
    Manager
    Oct 2020
    3 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    i miss working for this company
    The good thingsCustomer Relationships, new books,
    The challengeseverything has challenges
    2 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Sales Role
    Sep 2020
    Challenging
    The good thingsWorking with books, seeing new releases as they come in
    The challengesHead office continually changing their minds, issues with management. No amount of hard work is ever good enough. Little positive feedback. Difficult working environment.
    6 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Sales Assistant
    Jun 2020
    1 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Selfish Management
    The good thingsCustomers are usually nice
    The challengesManagement is very poor and does not care
    4 people found this helpful
    5.0
    Retail Sales Assistant
    Mar 2020
    Less than 1 year in the role, current employee
    Friendly and warm workplace
    The good thingsFriendly team and management that you know will support you and the decisions you make. Everyone works with everyone and its like a family
    The challengesThere are kpi's and while management try to ease the pressure of it, you know u still have to perform well. It is also a very active and demanding job
    3 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Casual Shop assistant
    Mar 2020
    Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Was not the best place to work, put in the hours for no real reward.
    The good thingsDiscount on book, great staff
    The challengesCommunication, long hours, not well planned out promotions.
    2 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Casual Retail Assistant
    Dec 2019
    1 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    It was fun until I was working 3 hours a week
    The good thingsNormally like-minded people, Fun to interact with customers who are looking for books, Can discuss books with almost everyone, staff discount
    The challengesThey severely over-hire so no one ever has hours, struggle to make any ends meet, needs aren't met, management doesn't recognise faults, not made aware of new promotions going on, hours can be cut without you being told why, failure to tell you that you no longer have a job
    6 people found this helpful
    2.0
    Sales Assistant
    Dec 2019
    All Australia
    Working in a bookstore is not the dream job you think it is
    The good thingsGood staff discount Great customer interactions
    The challengesRidiculous operational expectations Lack of consistency & communication Gossip and toxicity
    3 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Senior Staff
    Nov 2019
    1 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    I wish I had the time to explain everything wrong.
    The good thingsNice co-workers. You work with books.
    The challengesWork place politics. Super gossipy. Management love playing favourites. Expects staff to work without play.
    6 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Retail Sales Assistant
    Nov 2019
    5 to 6 years in the role, former employee
    Seemed like the dream job in a book store, turned out to be a toxic working environment that I was forced to leave.
    The good thingsThe first few years of working with the company was really excellent thanks largely to the people in my store and the really nice customers who frequented the shop.
    The challengesManagement, both on a store level and a head office level, made things extremely difficult 90% of the time. Clearly poor business decisions were being made more and more frequently and the rudeness of the managers (both on store levels and regionally) began to push the line too far.
    5 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Sales Assistant
    Nov 2019
    Great place to work if you love reading but management don't look after their staff
    The good thingsTalking with customers about books they've read/ you've read Recommending titles to readers of any age Discussing novels to read with staff members Access to wide range of books
    The challengesOver-worked Poor management in store and head office Limited time to talk to customers Unfair and unsafe workloads
    5 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Sales Role
    Sep 2019
    Mentally and physically draining
    The good thingsBook discount are quite nice
    The challengesAll of it. Management as a whole.
    5 people found this helpful
    1.0
    Casual
    Sep 2019
    Not a good experience, I got nervous every time I had to go to work.
    The good thingsIt was a fair amount of pay.
    The challengesMy fellow co-staff were not friendly and they gave me an unrealistic amount of hours to work. I was not trained properly and although I was a Christmas casual, they failed to contact me to thank me for my efforts or ask if I wanted to stay to work for them.
    2 people found this helpful
    5.0
    Manager
    May 2019
    3 to 4 years in the role, current employee
    It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently.
    The good thingsFantastic staff, excellent upper management, great support, fabulous discounts, great range of products
    The challengesIt's retail...need I say more!
    3.0
    Senior Sales Assistant
    Feb 2019
    3 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    Good job to start you off and develop your skills, but a bit of a dead end job.
    The good thingsGood pay rate, friendly staff and managers. Perks were good too.
    The challengesToo many people hired at a time, therefore not enough hours to be spread so everyone gets a good go. Also, managers leave too much room for favouritism and don't take merit enough into account.
    4.0
    Casual Sales Assistant
    Jul 2018
    5 to 6 years in the role, current employee
    challenging but fun
    The good thingsthe opportunity to nerd out with other book lovers, and usually a fun loveing environment with other hard-working staff members. The company is still growing and changing for the better. There are always great titles on sale.
    The challengesbookselling is still retail. There's merchandising to be done and people and children to clean up after.
    1 person found this helpful
    4.0
    Senior Sales Assistant
    Jun 2018
    3 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    Okay for a first job
    The good thingsGreat people to work with and friendly environment when everyone was happy to work there
    The challengesManagement. Changes of management. Unfairness to some managers across the regions. Staff discount was average.
    3 people found this helpful
    4.0
    Relief Manager
    May 2018
    1 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Amazing place for career and personal development
    The good thingsThe staff are fantastic, and the regional manager is amazingly supportive and grounded. The product range satisfies most customers, and those who aren't can order in what they're after. Plenty of things to do to influence store performance and maintenance.
    The challengesSometimes many company iniatives going at once, many upselling or promotional things to sell at the counter. Store atmosphere can greatly vary between locations -but as an assistant manager you have a lot of influence over how you want your store to be!
    1 person found this helpful
    3.0
    Casual customer service
    Mar 2018
    5 to 6 years in the role, former employee
    Carefully consider working here
    The good thingsGood staff discount, nice to work around books
    The challengesPoorly managed with no support from upper management. Long term employees are not appreciated and working environment was very negative. Unrealistic expectations took the joy out of selling books.
    3 people found this helpful
    3.0
    Casual Retail Assistant
    Feb 2018
    Less than 1 year in the role, current employee
    good for people who love books, low amount of shifts given.
    The good thingswonderful for people who love books and a very friendly environment.
    The challengesvery little shifts unless its around Christmas time. wish there were more
    2.0
    Supervisor/Trainer
    Feb 2018
    3 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    Not great
    The good thingsIt's great if you like books
    The challengesTaking on more then you should be
    1 person found this helpful
    Company Reviews published on our site are the views and opinions of their authors and do not represent the views and opinions of SEEK or its personnel. SEEK does not verify the truth or accuracy of any reviews and does not adopt or endorse any of the comments posted. SEEK posts reviews for what they are worth and for informational purposes only to assist candidates to find employment.