Where to buy used books in Brighton

Updated 01/10/2026

Brighton and Hove, on the English south coast, keeps its densest cluster in North Laine: Books for Amnesty shares Sydney Street with Dave's Books and its back-issue comics, while the Oxfam Bookshop and Snoopers Paradise share Kensington Gardens, all four within 200 yards of one another. Hove holds the second pair, Oxfam's books branch on Blatchington Road and the British Heart Foundation shop on George Street, with Books Alive and its floor of secondhand Christian titles further out in Hangleton, and the Martlets hospice lists books at three of its branches, on London Road, on Western Road and up in Woodingdean. Beyond those you need a bus, a car or a train: the Sussex Emmaus site in Portslade, the Shabitat depot off Lewes Road, the Sunday car boots at the Racecourse and the Marina, and, just over the city boundary, St Barnabas House in Shoreham-by-Sea (Adur), the antiquarian Bow Windows in Lewes and Train of Thought in Worthing. Figures on this page are in pounds sterling.

Most of these shops run on donations rather than buying, and several want warning before a big drop. Books for Amnesty asks for car-loads to be arranged by email because Sydney Street closes to traffic for most of the day, St Barnabas House wants a phone call in case its stockroom is full, and Shabitat went as far as reporting a donor to the council in 2025 over donations left on its doorstep. If you have stock to move, the routes that pay are a pitch at one of the boot sales, a deal with one of the Snoopers Paradise traders, or listing online.

Spot map

The best spots

Amnesty Bookshop

Books for Amnesty

15 Sydney St, Brighton BN1 4EN

The pink volunteer-run bookshop on Sydney Street in North Laine, which Amnesty International UK says has been supplying books to Brighton since 2007, with stock leaning towards contemporary fiction, poetry, drama, art, history, social sciences and children's books. The Badger, the University of Sussex students' paper, noted in May 2026 that the boxes outside the door hold books at £1. The street goes pedestrian from 11am daily, so the shop asks anyone arriving by car with donations to email the manager beforehand, and it runs a collection service it says can usually be fitted in within a few weeks.

Hours: Mon–Sat 11am–5:30pm, Sun 11am–4pmWebsite

Oxfam Books & Music

Oxfam Bookshop Brighton

30 Kensington Gardens, Brighton BN1 4AL

Oxfam's specialist books and music branch in North Laine, on the same street as Snoopers Paradise. The Badger's bookshop round-up of May 2026 singled out its classics, non-fiction and politics sections and a music corner of books, records and CDs, adding that copies in like-new condition are priced a little higher. The charity's page for the shop prints no opening times and sends you to the branch on 01273 698093 instead.

Website

Oxfam Books & Music

Oxfam Bookshop Hove

50 Blatchington Rd, Hove BN3 3YH

In Hove, Oxfam's books-and-music branch, a separate shop from the Oxfam clothing and homewares outlet a few doors down at number 42. BBC News reported on 21 July 2025 that Nick Cave had handed 2,000 books from his own shelves to the Oxfam bookshop in Hove, and that the deputy manager said the gift had tripled takings. A year on, on 23 July 2026, Oxfam announced that more than a thousand books from Raymond Briggs's personal library, among them around 30 comic annuals from the 1950s, had gone on sale here and online. No hours appear on the branch page, which gives an email address but no phone number.

Website

Indoor vintage market

Snoopers Paradise

7-8 Kensington Gardens, Brighton BN1 4AL

A North Laine emporium of more than 90 independent traders under one roof, the count The Argus gave in a feature published on 1 July 2026. Its website says at least four sections are given over to pre-owned vinyl and books, popular and esoteric titles alike, and its FAQ spells out the house terms: each stallholder runs their own stock, nothing gets posted, and as a second-hand shop it offers no refunds or exchanges. Sellers send pictures and the price they want through the contact form, the details go out to the traders, and silence means no interest. The homepage showed the doors open from 10:15am to 5:45pm on Thursday 1 October 2026; for other days ring 01273 602558.

Website

Emmaus secondhand superstore

Sussex Emmaus Secondhand Superstore

Drove Rd, Portslade, Brighton BN41 2PA

Over in Portslade, almost four miles west-northwest of central Brighton, the big shop on the Sussex Emmaus site off Drove Road, run by a charity supporting people rebuilding their lives after homelessness. Its shop page lists books and records among the furniture, mirrors, lampshades, musical instruments, toys and DIY tools, with fresh stock arriving daily and delivery offered on larger pieces. For National Storytelling Week, a Facebook post on 7 February 2025 described the Portslade shop as full of books waiting to be discovered. That post gave a 10am opening, whereas the charity's current shop page says 9:30am.

Hours: Tue–Sat 9:30am–5pmWebsite

All spots by type

Second-hand bookshops

Back-issue comics shop

Dave's Books

3 Sydney St, Brighton BN1 4EN

The back-issue side of Dave's on Sydney Street, which also goes by Dave's Toys, Games and Comics on Instagram: number 5 sells manga, graphic novels and new comics, while number 3 keeps the back issues alongside role-playing games, trading cards, board games and action figures. The business says it has been celebrating comics, graphic novels and games for more than 40 years, and on 23 May 2024 its own Instagram account listed vintage comics among the regular back issues. When the Wayback Machine captured its website on 8 June 2026, the page carried the same seven-day timetable as the live site, with Christmas Day and Boxing Day the two closures.

Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–6pm, Sun 10:30am–5pmWebsite

Christian bookshop with a secondhand floor

Books Alive

86 Elm Dr, Hove BN3 7JL

In Hove's West Blatchington and Hangleton end, a Christian bookshop selling Bibles, books and study material, with a whole floor, which it calls the Upper Room, given to thousands of secondhand Christian books its regulars describe as a treasure trove. Parking is free and the number 5 bus stops almost outside, by the shop's own directions. That description of the secondhand floor was already on the homepage the Wayback Machine saved on 14 April 2026, and the shop mentions special collections kept away from the shelves that you can ask to see.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–5pm; closed Sun and bank holidaysWebsite

Antiquarian bookshop

Bow Windows Bookshop

175 High St, Lewes BN7 1YE

Over in Lewes, the East Sussex county town some 7.4 miles east-northeast of central Brighton, an antiquarian bookseller founded in 1964 and trading from this High Street address since 1994. It describes a large general stock of old and fine books and maps, from early leatherbound volumes to modern first editions, wording the Internet Archive also preserved from the homepage on 21 September 2026. The shop also buys, saying it never turns down any quantity or type of book on the spot, with a particular eye for Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury group, Sussex material, private press work and illustrated children's books; phone 01273 480780 or send photos with author, title and date.

Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–4pmWebsite

Secondhand records and books

Train of Thought

7/8 Haverscroft Buildings, North St, Worthing BN11 1DY

In Worthing, about ten miles west along the coast in West Sussex, a North Street shop that calls itself mainly a second-hand record and book shop. Its book side covers classic novels, sci-fi and fantasy, comics and graphic novels, film and TV titles, biographies, the occult, history and politics, though it says it stocks no cookery or gardening. The homepage the Wayback Machine archived on 7 May 2026 shows the same second-hand billing and the same offer to buy books, comics, records, CDs and DVDs for cash or part exchange.

Hours: Tue–Sat 11am–5:30pmWebsite

Charity shops

Charity shop (British Heart Foundation)

British Heart Foundation, George Street

62-63 George St, Hove BN3 3YD

In Hove, on George Street, the BHF branch that The Argus reported on 16 April 2025 had sold 10,457 children's books in twelve months, more than any other British Heart Foundation shop in the country. Its manager credited a school nearby and parents coming in with their children every day. The charity's own page for the shop adds clothes, toys and homewares to the books, and lists 01273 227322 for enquiries.

Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–6pmWebsite

Charity shop (St Barnabas House hospice)

St Barnabas House, Shoreham

46 High St, Shoreham-by-Sea BN43 5DA

In Shoreham-by-Sea, part of Adur district, six miles west of central Brighton, the High Street shop of the St Barnabas House hospice. St Barnabas lists books for this shop next to clothing, handbags, shoes and bric-a-brac, along with a children's corner of clothes, toys and games, and the Wayback Machine's copy from 10 July 2026 carries the same wording. Donors are asked to ring 01273 453083 before setting out, since the shop stops taking items once its storage is full.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 10am–4pmWebsite

Reuse workers' co-op

Shabitat

Saunders Park Depot, Lewes Rd, Brighton BN2 4AE

At the Saunders Park depot off Lewes Road, a reuse shop that split from the Magpie Recycling Co-op to trade as an independent workers' co-op, and that leaves the price of every book, CD and DVD up to you. Alongside the furniture and clothing, free bric-a-brac waits by the entrance, and the co-op flags its £1 sales on social media. Mind the donation rule: The Argus reported on 12 September 2025 that Shabitat had reported a man to the council for leaving a bag outside, and its website asks donors to come during opening hours.

Website

Charity shop (Sussex Beacon)

Sussex Beacon charity shop

130 St James's St, Brighton BN2 1TH

In Kemptown, the St James's Street branch of the Sussex Beacon, the HIV care charity, which bills it as the place for vintage fashion, retro DVDs, CDs and second-hand books in great condition, leaving furniture to its London Road home store. Brighton and Hove News reported on 26 November 2025 that a mural of Elton John by the local art collective The Postman had been unveiled on the shop, facing an older Freddie Mercury piece, after homophobic graffiti was sprayed on its wall. Larger donations can be collected free if you call 01273 682992 or email the retail team.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 11am–4pmWebsite

Charity shop (Martlets hospice)

Martlets, London Road

89-90 London Rd, Brighton BN1 4JF

The London Road branch of Martlets, the Hove hospice, which BBC News reported on 24 April 2025 had just been refitted and reopened by Fatboy Slim to mark ten years of trading, by which point it had sold more than 230,000 items and raised over £1m. Since the makeover the shop leans on sustainable fashion and furniture, but the hospice's page for it still lists books next to homewares, CDs and vinyl. As of 1 October 2026 that page also says the branch is taking a break from donations, so ring 01273 686160 before carrying a box of books there.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 10am–4pmWebsite

Charity shop (Martlets hospice)

Martlets, Western Road

71 Western Rd, Brighton BN1 2HA

On the main shopping run of Western Road, a Martlets branch pitched at high street clothing brands, with shoes, bags and scarves alongside a shelf range the charity spells out as vinyl, books, homeware, CDs and electrical items. That list was already on the Martlets page in the Wayback Machine capture of 15 June 2026. Its late-afternoon closing is half an hour after the London Road branch, and the shop number is 01273 736207.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–5:30pm, Sun 10am–4pmWebsite

Charity shop (Martlets hospice)

Martlets, Woodingdean

17-19 Warren Rd, Woodingdean, Brighton BN2 6PH

In Woodingdean, the hilltop suburb roughly three miles out of the city centre on the Downs, the village-centre branch of the Martlets hospice. The charity describes its stock as clothes, children's toys, books and DVDs at low prices, and that same line turns up in a 15 June 2026 archived snapshot of the branch listing. Unlike the two city-centre Martlets, this one shuts on Sundays; call 01273 302377 about donations.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9am–5pm; closed SunWebsite

Car boot sales & markets

Car boot sale

Brighton Racecourse Car Boot Sale

Brighton Racecourse, Freshfield Rd, Brighton BN2 9XZ

Up on the Racecourse above Whitehawk, a boot sale the organiser says opens every Sunday, letting buyers in from 10:30am for 80p, early birds from 8:30am for £2.50, and directing everyone through the main entrance on Manor Hill. Its FAQ puts the average crowd at 4,000, while a Facebook post dated 26 September 2026 announced the next morning's sale, Sunday 27 September. Books are not mentioned anywhere in its listings, so count any paperbacks you find as a bonus; sellers pay £10 and may take as much room as is free.

Hours: Sun 10:30am–4pmWebsite

Car boot sale

Brighton Marina Giant Car Boot Sale

Top floor, Brighton Marina multi-storey car park, Marina Way, Brighton BN2 5UF

Down at the Marina, on the top level of the multi-storey car park, a Sunday boot fair whose organiser counts thirty years in the Brighton area and lets buyers in and park for nothing. Its Facebook page posted an open-as-usual notice on 26 September 2026 for the next morning, 27 September, and the website keeps a first-come, first-served rule for sellers, at £12 a bay paid on arrival. The organiser lists furniture, antiques, collectables, toys, kitchenware and clothes as what turns up, without naming books.

Hours: Sun 6am–2pmWebsite

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.

Try BiblioScan for free

Local sourcing tips

Do North Laine on foot. Amnesty's shop and Dave's Books stand about 60 yards apart on Sydney Street, and Oxfam's Kensington Gardens branch is on the same stretch as Snoopers, one turn away, a short walk from Brighton station. Come by train or bus rather than car, because Sydney Street shuts to vehicles from late morning. On a Sunday the Amnesty shop and Dave's Books both trade, but Oxfam gives no times for its branch, so phone before building a Sunday around it.
Hove splits into a walkable pair and two drives. Oxfam's Blatchington Road books branch and the BHF on George Street are under 200 yards apart, while Books Alive in Hangleton and the Emmaus superstore in Portslade want a car or a bus. Emmaus trades Tuesday to Saturday and Books Alive closes Sundays and bank holidays, so pair those two between Tuesday and Saturday.
Several names in Brighton bookshop round-ups deal in new stock. City Books on Western Road answers its own FAQ with "We only sell new books!", and The Badger described Last Bookshop on Gardner Street in February 2025 as a shop of publishers' overstock, brand-new and capped at £5. Goldsboro Books on Ship Street specialises in signed hardback first editions, though it says it also keeps a rare and collectable shelf, and Kemptown Bookshop stocks new titles. Cookbookbake on the Hove seafront talks of signed and out-of-print cookbooks but does not describe any of them as used.
Two smaller leads come with caveats. A school car boot called Hove Carboot was due to open at Brunswick Primary on Somerhill Road on Sunday 3 May 2026, charging buyers £1, and the Facebook event its organiser published listed 3, 17 and 31 May. Brighton Open Market, off London Road, lists a unit called Stop Look Listen selling books, CDs and DVDs, without saying whether the stock is new or secondhand.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find cheap used books in Brighton?

Start with the £1 boxes outside Books for Amnesty on Sydney Street, which The Badger pointed out in May 2026, then cross town to Shabitat off Lewes Road, where the books, CDs and DVDs are all pay-what-you-want. For children's titles, the BHF branch in George Street, Hove, sold more than ten thousand of them in a single year, according to The Argus in April 2025. On a Sunday, the boot sales on the Racecourse and down at the Marina are the gamble: neither organiser mentions books, but entry costs 80p at the first and nothing at the second.

Where do I sell used books in Brighton?

Pick a route before you pick a shop, because most of the counters here take donations rather than buy. A car pitch at the Racecourse boot sale costs £10 and a bay at the Marina £12, Snoopers Paradise forwards your photos and prices to its stallholders through its contact form, and anything better than boot-sale stock can go on eBay.co.uk or Vinted. Sort the pile first: BiblioScan takes one picture of a shelf and prices the spines it identifies at what they would resell for, so the copies worth listing get pulled aside before the boot is loaded or the bags go to Amnesty.

Which day is best for book hunting in Brighton?

Sunday, if you want the boot sales: the Marina runs from 6am to 2pm and the Racecourse admits buyers from 10:30am, or 8:30am with an early pass. Books for Amnesty, Dave's Books, the Sussex Beacon shop in Kemptown, the Martlets branches on London Road and Western Road and, out in Shoreham, the St Barnabas hospice shop all publish Sunday hours too. Save Saturday for the ones that give no Sunday opening, namely Emmaus in Portslade, Books Alive in Hove, Martlets in Woodingdean, the antiquarian shop on Lewes High Street and the Worthing record-and-book dealer. Monday rules out Emmaus and Train of Thought, as both trade Tuesday to Saturday only.

Which charity shops have books in Brighton?

Two Oxfam bookshops, one on Kensington Gardens and one on Blatchington Road in Hove, plus the Amnesty bookshop in North Laine, are specialist book shops. Among the general charity shops, the Sussex Beacon on St James's Street, three Martlets hospice branches (London Road, Western Road and Woodingdean), the BHF on George Street in Hove, the Sussex Emmaus superstore in Portslade and St Barnabas House on Shoreham High Street have books named on their own branch pages or in press reports about that branch. The Hove Oxfam is the one that took in Nick Cave's books in July 2025 and Raymond Briggs's library in July 2026.

Are there any used book fairs in Brighton?

Not from the PBFA in 2026. The Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association did run a Brighton Book Fair at the Racecourse on Saturday 25 October 2025, but its 2026 list, from York in January to Market Harborough in December, has no Brighton date; the nearest was Tunbridge Wells on 14 February. Event aggregators that repeat the Racecourse fair for October 2026 do not match that list, which puts its 24 October fair in Dorchester. Until a date appears, the traders at Snoopers Paradise, the rare shelf at Goldsboro Books and the antiquarian stock at Bow Windows in Lewes are three places to see dealers' books in person.

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