Where to buy used books in Adelaide

Updated 9/27/2026

Seven stops listed here sit in the city centre framed by the four terraces, most of them a few minutes' walk apart: Michael Treloar on North Terrace, O'Connell's in Station Arcade off Bank Street, Page & Turner upstairs in the Myer Centre, Orchard in Adelaide Arcade, New Morning Books on Frome Street, the Oxfam Bookshop on Hutt Street and a book stall inside the Central Market. The rest are suburban. Goodwood, Clarence Park, Edwardstown and Blackwood line up to the south, Tusmore and Klemzig lie east and north-east, and the last three take a car: Stirling and Woodside in the Hills, and Willaston on Gawler's northern edge. Wherever an entry sits outside the CBD, its first line names the suburb, and every price quoted here is in Australian dollars.

Three of the listed shops publish terms for buying stock, so sort out a plan before you load the car. Orchard wants photos of your spines first, sends back an estimate and settles in cash or store credit at the shop; Treloar takes quality material outright, on consignment or into one of its auctions; Goodwood Books buys in a set of subjects it names, from women's twentieth-century fiction to poetry and queer studies, and asks for a message with photos before anything is carried in. A large share of this list is volunteer-run: the Oxfam Bookshop, the Glenside Lions Club Bookmart, the Rotary Club of Edwardstown's exchange and The Hut's two Book Sheds in the Hills all raise money for a cause, on stock that comes in as donations.

Older Adelaide lists age in predictable ways. Adelaide Booksellers, a secondhand and antiquarian name since 1979, describes itself on its hours page as an online business that takes visitors by prior arrangement only. Blackwood Books changed address in 2025 and the Oxfam Bookshop in 2022, so directory pins for either can point at the wrong door. New Morning Books flagged in May 2026 that a buyer had its building under contract, while saying no redevelopment was planned yet.

Spot map

The best spots

Volunteer charity bookshop

Oxfam Bookshop

Suites 2-3/81-89 Hutt St, Adelaide SA 5000

A Hutt Street shop, 1.1 km east of the city centre, run entirely by volunteers of Adelaide Charity Books Incorporated, which uses the Oxfam name under an agreement with Oxfam Australia and moved into these suites in 2022. The shop guide counts more than 20,000 books and media items sorted into fiction, non-fiction, children's and media, down to subsections for old Penguins, Westerns, vintage fiction and large print, with each price on a cover sticker or pencilled inside. None of the street stock is catalogued online, and the web shop's titles can't be picked up here, so browsing means turning up. The shop's own news page, posting on 10 July 2026, pointed visitors to the free City Connector buses and to stop T1, right outside the entrance.

Hours: Tue 8am–4pm, Wed–Sat 10am–4pmWebsite
New, vintage & collectible books

Orchard Bookshop

Shop 26, Adelaide Arcade, Adelaide SA 5000

An owner-operated shop in Adelaide Arcade whose FAQ answers the new-or-secondhand question with a single word, both, spanning brand new, used and antiquarian stock and pushing shabbier copies onto a sale shelf. It buys through a downsizing form: up to 10 photos of spines stacked in piles of 10 to 15, an offer estimate by reply, then settlement in money or shop credit once the books are carried in. A sample of new acquisitions goes online every Sunday at 7:30pm Adelaide time, and in July 2026 the shop previewed around 100 items bound for the Melbourne Rare Book Fair in its upstairs room at Shop 144, charging $5 at the door and crediting it against purchases. InDaily's 11 September 2026 list of the nation's cutest bookshops, republished from Australian Traveller, included it.

Hours: Tue 10am–4:30pm, Wed–Thu 10am–5:30pm, Fri 10am–6pm, Sat 10am–3pmWebsite
Lions Club bookmart

Glenside Lions Club Bookmart

4 Kennaway St, Tusmore SA 5065

In Tusmore, 4.4 km east of the CBD, a secondhand shop the Glenside Lions Club stocks with donated books, vinyl, CDs, DVDs, games, jigsaws and puzzles. The club's fundraising page says the takings exceed $200,000 a year and are handed on to local, national and international causes. The week is short and uneven, four trading days of which two are mornings only, and the Facebook page repeated that grid in a new-arrivals post on 29 July 2026. Lions Christmas cakes and puddings are sold at the counter all year, from a $2 mini cake up to $20 for the 1.5kg size.

Hours: Mon 10am–1pm, Fri 10am–1pm, Sat–Sun 10am–3pmWebsite
Antiquarian bookseller

Michael Treloar Antiquarian Booksellers

196 North Tce, Adelaide SA 5000

On North Terrace, facing the State Library of South Australia, an out-of-print and antiquarian dealer established in March 1976 that belongs to both ANZAAB and ILAB and also handles vintage photographs, manuscripts and autographs. The door is open Monday to Thursday, while Friday and Saturday visits need an appointment. Material comes in by outright purchase, by consignment or through its own specialised auctions, and its Facebook page promoted a timed online auction of maps, autographs and space memorabilia dated 31 August 2025. Bring the rare find here, not the boot load of paperbacks.

Hours: Mon–Thu 10am–5:30pm; Fri–Sat by appointmentWebsite
Used bookstores

Blackwood Books

Shop 3, 229 Main Rd, Blackwood SA 5051

In Blackwood, about 10 km south of the CBD in the foothills, a shop that calls itself the home of South Australia's biggest range of pre-loved books, counts over 50,000 volumes and moved to Shop 3 on Main Road in 2025 after several earlier addresses. It does not currently pay cash for books, and takes drop-offs for credit only in chosen fields such as Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, Fighting Fantasy, fantasy art and horror, with Australian horror writers especially welcome. A post on 17 September 2026 added that Tuesdays are open by appointment and that books can be held or posted at Australia Post rates. Two days later the page asked people to stop leaving boxes outside the door, where rain and bugs ruin them.

Hours: Wed–Sat 9:30am–4:30pm; Tue by appointmentWebsite

All spots by type

Used bookstores

Used bookstores

New Morning Books

155 Frome St, Adelaide SA 5000

A Frome Street shop on the eastern side of the city grid whose Facebook bio gives its founding as 1988 and its stock as circa 35,000 used books. The owner writes long, dry dispatches from behind the counter, including one in May 2025 about agreeing to take seven square metres of history and philosophy of science off an elderly customer while the shelves were already full. On 22 May 2026 the page reported that the building had gone under contract, adding that redevelopment was not on the cards for now and trading would carry on. Check that page for news before planning a trip around it.

Secondhand & antiquarian bookshop

O'Connell's Bookshop

19 Bank St (Station Arcade), Adelaide SA 5000

A family business in Station Arcade, reached from Bank Street, that gives 1957 as its founding year on its AbeBooks storefront and whose Christmas notice of December 2024 called 2025 the family's 68th year in secondhand, rare and antiquarian books. FIFTY+SA's September 2025 survey of city bookshops featured it with Ben O'Connell at the helm and weekday hours of 10am to 6pm, and Adelaide singer-songwriter Anna Jeavons, who shot a music video among its shelves, called it her favourite bookshop in town in an Instagram post on 18 May 2026. Nothing newer than that 2024 notice has appeared on its Facebook feed, so phone before you rely on the magazine's hours.

Pre-loved & new bookshop

Page & Turner

Level 2, Myer Centre, 14-38 Rundle Mall, Adelaide SA 5000

Up on Level 2 of the Myer Centre off Rundle Mall, a shop that advertises seven-day trading, with Friday running to 9pm, and fills its shelves with pre-loved and some new books in every fiction genre and most non-fiction subjects. Records, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and second-hand sheet music share the floor, and a bar serves coffee and wine; the entry links the shop's Facebook page because its own website shows unrelated gambling pages to search engines. The room doubles as a venue: its Facebook page advertised a free evening gig by The Wisps and The Tangerines for Friday 5 June 2026, and in July 2026 it welcomed the chief executive of the Australian Booksellers Association to talk about Love Your Bookshop.

Hours: Mon 11am–3pm, Tue–Thu 9:30am–5pm, Fri 9:30am–9pm, Sat 9:30am–5pm, Sun 11am–5pmWebsite
Feminist secondhand bookshop

Goodwood Books

145 Goodwood Rd, Goodwood SA 5034

In Goodwood, 2.9 km south of the CBD, a trans-inclusive feminist bookshop and meeting space that sells mostly secondhand, with a small shelf of new titles, and specialises in poetry, theory, memoir, history, gardening, art, making and twentieth-century fiction by women. Its FAQ says it buys good-quality books in named fields, among them twentieth-century fiction by women, poetry, feminism, social theory and queer studies, turns away ex-library copies and textbooks, and wants a message with photos before you bring anything. Its big sale on 13 June 2026 put two large collections it had taken in, of vintage science fiction and fantasy, ancient history, art and archaeology on the tables, and its Facebook page says the online sellers Dexter's Book Co. and tooth_books take over the front room on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October 2026.

Hours: Tue–Fri 10am–4pm, Sat 10am–3pmWebsite
Used bookstores

East Avenue Books

53 East Ave, Clarence Park SA 5034

In Clarence Park, a 4 km run south-south-west from the CBD and a little over a kilometre from Goodwood Books, a shop that sells itself on quality books at affordable prices and keeps $1 bargain boxes of crime, thrillers and general fiction. The shelves cover Australian fiction, classics, poetry, children's picture books and an extensive run of vintage Penguins and Pelicans, and a separate collectables list takes in first editions and signed copies. Its Facebook page had it closed from Christmas 2025 until 15 January 2026, then open on Monday 26 January 2026, a day outside its usual week.

Hours: Tue–Fri 10am–3pm, Sat 10am–4pmWebsite
Used bookstores

O.G. Books & DVDs

80 O.G. Rd, Klemzig SA 5087

In Klemzig, 6.2 km north-east of the CBD, a shop on O.G. Road trading on Facebook as O.G. Books & DVDs. Its page is quiet but alive: a notice for Thursday 19 March 2026 warned that the shop would shut at 3:30pm that afternoon, and earlier posts tag hardcovers and paperbacks in business, self-help and politics. Confirm the day's hours by phone before crossing town for it.

Market stall

Central Market Books

Adelaide Central Market, 44-60 Gouger St, Adelaide SA 5000

A stall on the Victoria Square side of the Adelaide Central Market, a few hundred metres from the city centre, whose market listing credits it with more than 36 years of books, magazines and comics at low prices. FIFTY+SA opened its 24 September 2025 round-up of secondhand book havens with it, singling out the bargain table and the Friday evening session to 9pm. That article gave Tuesday to Saturday without Wednesday, while the market's page gives the stall the full market grid and marks Wednesday as a day when only some stalls open, so Wednesday is a gamble.

Hours: Tue 7am–5:30pm, Wed–Thu 9am–5:30pm, Fri 7am–9pm, Sat 7am–3pmWebsite
Used bookstores

Gawler Books

7 Main North Rd, Willaston SA 5118

Up in Willaston on the northern edge of Gawler, close to 40 km north-north-east of the CBD as the crow flies, an independent shop in a house built in the 1880s with five rooms of books, specialising in pre-loved and out-of-print titles and ordering new ones on request, according to the Business Gawler directory. Frank the chihuahua features in the shop's Facebook posts, and on 24 September 2026 the page told of two customers aged 86 and 94 coming in for Terry Pratchett for a grandson and Jack Higgins for the husband. The directory lists only Wednesday and Saturday mornings, yet the shop's own posts show customers dropping in on a Monday and a Friday in September 2026, so message ahead before making the drive.

Op shops & charity shops

Rotary bookshop

The Rotary Book Exchange

Cnr Towers Tce & Aberfeldy Ave, Edwardstown SA 5039

In Edwardstown, 6.5 km south-west of the CBD, the Rotary Club of Edwardstown's volunteer bookshop, which opened on Sturt Road opposite the Marion Shopping Centre in 1998 and moved to this corner in 2013. The club lists more than 20 genres of pre-loved books along with CDs and DVDs, caps each donation at two medium-sized boxes or bags, and turns away encyclopaedias, Reader's Digest condensed books, textbooks, magazines, library books and jigsaws. Its Facebook page priced an overflowing science fiction and fantasy section from $3 on 12 August 2026 and was showing off a stack of repair manuals on 17 September 2026. It closes on public holidays and between Christmas and New Year.

Hours: Wed–Sat 10am–4pmWebsite
Community bookshop (The Hut)

The Book Shed (Stirling)

Apex Park, off Merrion Tce, Stirling SA 5152

Up in Stirling in the Adelaide Hills, 13.7 km south-east of the CBD, a shed in Apex Park behind the shopping-centre car park and beside the RSL, run by The Hut Community Centre so that the takings fund its financial wellbeing program. The Hut lists travel, biography, fiction, gardening, cooking, craft, art and children's books among the stock, and the shed also opens on Stirling Market Day, the fourth Sunday of the month. Its Instagram put a book by the Irish master of the short story up for grabs on 20 September 2026, with featured titles priced at $4 to $6 and a holds basket for anything reserved in the comments.

Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–4pm; 4th Sun of the month 10am–3pmWebsite
Community bookshop (The Hut)

The Book Shed (Woodside)

68 Onkaparinga Valley Rd, Woodside SA 5244

Out in Woodside, 25 km east of the CBD in the Adelaide Hills and next door to the Ampol service station, the second shed The Hut Community Centre opened in February 2023, some 16 km beyond its Stirling sibling. Its Instagram showed off a vintage cupboard bought for its rarest collectibles and two bookcases of $1 vintage hardbacks on 27 and 28 April 2026, and was recruiting volunteers for weekly or fortnightly shifts on 7 September 2026. The Hut's page adds an opening on the third Sunday of the month that the shed's own Instagram bio leaves out, so ring the shed if you are planning to come on a Sunday.

Hours: Mon, Wed–Sat 10am–4pmWebsite

Scan before you buy

At every one of these spots, snap the shelf with BiblioScan: the AI identifies each book and shows its real resale price. Walk out with profitable books, not random boxes.

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Local sourcing tips

  • Letterpress Books, upstairs on the south side of Gay's Arcade, specialises in Australiana and opens very little: FIFTY+SA reported in September 2025 that it traded on the first and third Fridays, 10am until 4pm, or by appointment, and the arcade's own directory simply says to call.
  • One more volunteer room suits a western loop. Rotary Bookmart, run by the Rotary Club of West Beach at Smith Reserve Hall on Gawler Street in Woodville West, announced a sale starting Saturday 26 September 2026 and lasting through the school holidays, with later dates posted to the club's Facebook feed. In the Hills, the Aldgate Secondhand Music & Book Sale at the Aldgate Pump Hotel is mostly records and CDs but carries books too; the Adelaide Record Fairs calendar listed it for 29 and 30 August 2026 and had the December 2026 edition as date to be confirmed.
  • Chain op shops are spread right across the suburbs. RSPCA South Australia lists books among the stock of its metropolitan op shops as a group, and Salvos Stores was asking for read books on 25 September 2026, yet neither statement points to a particular branch, so treat any Salvos, Vinnies, Red Cross or RSPCA shelf as a chance find rather than a destination.
  • The South Australian Country Women's Association held its Adelaide Branch Book Fair at its Kent Town rooms on Saturday 18 July 2026, with free entry and proceeds going to the Dorothy Dolling Memorial Trust for the education of South Australian women and children; follow the association's events page for the next one.
  • Almost the whole CBD run can be walked in one go. Treloar and Page & Turner are under 200 m apart, Orchard is another 300 m east through the arcades, New Morning Books sits about half a kilometre beyond it and the Oxfam Bookshop 400 m further south-east, while O'Connell's is the outlier to the west, roughly 450 m from Treloar, and the Central Market stall sits about 800 m south of both O'Connell's and Page & Turner. Do it from Tuesday to Thursday, the only days on which Treloar, Orchard and Oxfam all open their doors without an appointment.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find cheap used books in Adelaide?

Dollar boxes and volunteer shelves are where to start, along with the bargain table FIFTY+SA singled out at Central Market Books in 2025. East Avenue Books in Clarence Park keeps dollar boxes of crime and general fiction, the Edwardstown Rotary exchange priced its science fiction and fantasy shelves from $3 in August 2026, and The Book Shed in Stirling featured Instagram picks at $4 to $6 in September 2026. Oxfam's Hutt Street shop keeps reduced-price stock on its own sale shelves, and Rotary Bookmart in Woodville West runs a sale through the September 2026 school holidays. Out at Woodside, The Hut's second shed was selling vintage hardbacks for a dollar each in April 2026.

Where do I sell used books in Adelaide?

Three shops here say they will buy. Orchard Bookshop in Adelaide Arcade wants pictures of the spines first, comes back with an estimate and settles at its counter, Michael Treloar on North Terrace buys quality antiquarian material outright or takes it on consignment or to auction, and Goodwood Books buys women's fiction, poetry, feminism, social theory and a few more fields after you have sent photos. Blackwood Books does not currently pay cash and gives credit only for a short list of genres, and the volunteer shops take donations rather than buy. Everything else goes through Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, eBay.com.au or Amazon.com.au. Take one picture of the shelf in BiblioScan before anything is packed: it pairs each spine it recognises with a resale figure, and the short list you should sell under your own name falls out of the stack meant for a donation bin.

Which day is best for book hunting in Adelaide?

Make it a Saturday if you can, when Oxfam, Orchard, East Avenue, Goodwood Books, the Edwardstown Rotary shop, the Glenside Lions Bookmart and the Stirling shed all trade, though Treloar wants an appointment. Tuesday to Thursday suits the CBD, when Treloar, Orchard and Oxfam overlap, Oxfam opens at 8am on Tuesdays, and the Central Market stall trades Tuesday to Saturday, until 9pm on Fridays like Page & Turner. Sunday is thin, with Glenside Lions open from ten to three, Page & Turner from 11am to 5pm, and Stirling only on its fourth-Sunday market day. Among the shops that publish hours, Monday shuts Oxfam, Orchard, East Avenue, Goodwood, Blackwood, the Rotary exchange and the market stall, while Treloar, Page & Turner, both Book Sheds and the Glenside Lions morning session stay open.

Which op shops have books in Adelaide?

The ones that put books first are volunteer shops rather than chain op shops. The Glenside Lions Club Bookmart in Tusmore sells donated books with music, DVDs and jigsaws, Edwardstown's Rotary exchange shelves pre-loved books across more than 20 listed genres, the Book Sheds in Stirling and Woodside fund The Hut's community programs, and the Oxfam shop in the city is staffed entirely by volunteers. Salvos Stores, Vinnies, Red Cross and RSPCA shops can turn up books too, so fit them in as extras on a route built around the shops above.

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