This guide covers the Abbotsford–Mission metro in British Columbia, so Mission on the north bank of the Fraser counts, and any entry there says so up front; Aldergrove, part of Langley Township and the Vancouver metro, is left out, Chilliwack is treated separately, and nothing across the border in Sumas or Lynden is included. Prices are in Canadian dollars. The Book Man in Little Oak Mall is the one used bookstore on this page, backed by the secondhand department at House of James on Emerson Street, the sale shelves at the Bevan Avenue library and a handful of charity thrift stores whose own pages list books among what they sell or accept.
Two names mislead on older lists. Murdoch's Bookshoppe in Mission still turns up in business directories, yet the Mission Museum posted in December 2015 that the shop had given up its bricks-and-mortar premises and was selling through its website and the museum's gift shop. Totally Book-ish, whose Mission store at the Junction closed on January 23, 2026 according to Fraser Valley Today, sells new titles and bargain books at the Abbotsford branch it kept open. For a big sale you have to leave the metro and drive east to Chilliwack.
Used and new bookstoreThe Book Man
#5-2630 Bourquin Crescent West, Abbotsford, BC V2S 5N7
Unit 5 in Little Oak Mall on Bourquin Crescent West, some 1.5 km from the Clearbrook library heading east, and the Abbotsford branch of a family-run, locally owned pair whose other store sits in Historic Downtown Chilliwack; between them the two claim more than half a million new and used books. Trading is walk-in with no appointment: a maximum of three boxes on each trip, a phone call first for anything past six, and a credit worth 40 percent of the shop's own selling price, which can then be spent on at most half the price of each secondhand book you buy but never turns into cash. Whatever the buyers can't use goes to the Rotary Club of Chilliwack for its book sale. A Facebook post from the chain dated Saturday, September 26, 2026 was still showing off the shelves, and on statutory holidays the contact page trims this store's day to 10 to 5.
Hours: Daily 9:30am–5:30pmWebsite Christian bookstore and used-book buyerHouse of James
2743 Emerson St, Abbotsford, BC V2T 4H8
On Emerson Street, under a kilometre east of the Clearbrook library, a Christian bookstore and coffeehouse that the Abbotsford News, in its June 2023 story on the store's 50th anniversary, traced from a 1973 start in Mission to this former Nissan dealership in 1997, noting that a used book department was added along the way. It buys secondhand stock on narrow terms: quality Christian titles in good condition, at least 10 books and no more than three boxes, paid by gift card at a quarter of its resale price or in cash at 15 percent. Its intake page, read on September 28, 2026, was buying through September and October, with the last two months of the year listed for donations only, though another line on the same page accepts donations from January to November; anything it passes on goes to local charities unless you collect it within 15 days. The same paper reported that a local author would launch a new book there on Friday, September 25, 2026.
Hours: Mon–Thu 9:30am–5:30pm, Fri 9:30am–8:30pm, Sat 9:30am–5:30pm; closed SunWebsite Hospital auxiliary thrift storeThe Cottage Thrift Store
33228 1st Ave, Mission, BC V2V 1G6
Across the Fraser in Mission, on 1st Avenue downtown, about 9 km north of Abbotsford's city centre: a thrift store run by the Mission Health Care Auxiliary with no paid positions and around 60 volunteers by its own count, raising money for equipment for local health care providers. The auxiliary's store page lists books, CDs, DVDs, videotapes and vinyl records among the stock, while donations of encyclopedias and National Geographic are refused. It closes mid-afternoon, and its Facebook page posted on September 25, 2026 about closing on September 30 for National Truth and Reconciliation Day.
Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–3:30pmWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Abbotsford?
Start at the Abbotsford Community Library on Bevan Avenue, where the branch's own sale shelves were restocked in February 2026 with everything at $2 or less. Pawsitive Thrift and The Cottage in Mission both list books among their stock, and Bibles for Missions puts books at the top of the donations it takes. The Book Man's trade credit is the other route to a lower price: bring books it wants and the credit pays for up to half of each used title you pick.
Where do I sell used books in Abbotsford?
The Book Man is the counter to try first: no appointment, three boxes a visit, a call ahead for more than six, and payment only in trade credit, set at 40 percent of what the store will charge. House of James buys too, but only Christian titles in good shape, a minimum of 10 books, paying 15 percent of the shelf price as cash or 25 percent as a gift card, and only in the months its intake page says it is buying. Everything else is better sold yourself, locally on Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji, or online through Amazon.ca, AbeBooks and eBay.ca. Before hauling a box anywhere, shoot the shelf with BiblioScan: from a single photo of the spines it names the books it recognizes and gives each one a resale estimate, which splits the handful worth listing from the trade pile.
Which day is best for book hunting in Abbotsford?
Saturday: all five shops listed here open that day, and so does the Bevan Avenue library with its sale shelves. On Sunday you are down to The Book Man and its cat-rescue neighbour in the Little Oak Mall building, plus the library for its four afternoon hours. Monday and Tuesday are thin for the thrift circuit, since Bibles for Missions and Pawsitive Thrift both close on Monday and Pawsitive stays shut on Tuesday too, while Friday gives House of James its late evening, open until 8:30pm.
When is the big library book sale in Abbotsford?
Nothing was scheduled on the regional library's events listings on September 28, 2026, and the last one it had advertised in the city was the Friends of the Abbotsford Libraries' spring sale at the Clearbrook branch on Saturday, April 5, 2025. In the meantime the Abbotsford Community Library keeps sale shelves of its own during opening hours, and for a large sale in fall 2026 the Rotary Club of Chilliwack's indoor sale runs from November 1 to November 7, 2026 at Chilliwack Heritage Park, a drive east along Highway 1.