Secondhand books around Coffs Harbour, on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, come through one big Rotary sale each March, two op shops whose own posts mention books, and two small bookshops that sit outside the city itself. The Legacy op shop on Scarba Street sits closest to the city centre, with the Showground under a kilometre beyond it to the north-east; Lifeline's Toormina store is roughly 5 km south, Magpie Books is up in Woolgoolga some 23 km north, and the Bellinger Book Nook is over in Bellingen, around 26 km south-west, all straight-line distances from the city centre. Prices below are Australian dollars.
Plenty of other names turn up when you search locally, and most are left out on purpose. Vinnies, Salvos Stores, LifeHouse Care and two further Lifeline shops all trade across the Coffs Coast, but no dated post from any of those branches shows books at that particular shop, so they appear in the tips instead. The Book Warehouse sells new books, and Alternatives Bookshop in Bellingen curates new titles on nature and ideas without describing any of its stock as secondhand.
Secondhand bookshopThe Bellinger Book Nook
Shop 4, 25 Hyde St, Bellingen NSW 2454
In Bellingen, a separate town roughly 26 km south-west of central Coffs Harbour in a straight line, this arcade unit on Hyde Street faces the Waterfall Way Visitor Information Centre, and the Arts Mid North Coast listing says it has been selling affordable secondhand books for over a quarter of a century. The shop's Facebook page announced on 6 September 2025 that it would reopen the following week with longer hours under a new keeper, the person who runs the Mid North Coast Arts Guide, and the same listing names the Nook as the guide's head office. Vinyl sits among the books too, going by an Instagram reel from the shop on 8 July 2026 that invited people in for cheap reads and records. The hours have moved between posts: a reel shared on 8 October 2025 gave weekdays 10am to 3pm and Saturdays 10am to 2pm, while the July 2026 one kept 10am to 3pm right through Monday to Saturday, and the shop's Instagram profile in September 2026 still listed Saturdays as 10am to 2pm.
Rotary book fairRotary Club of Coffs Harbour BookFest
Norm Jordan Pavilion, Coffs Harbour Showground, Coffs Harbour NSW 2450
A week-long sale in the Norm Jordan Pavilion at the Showground, which the Rotary Club of Coffs Harbour describes on its own project page as an annual event held in March, selling good-quality second-hand books, DVDs and CDs. The 2026 edition ran from Saturday 14 March to Saturday 21 March, with more than 60,000 books promised in the club's announcement that Lifeline North Coast, its main beneficiary that year, shared on 19 February 2026. Coffs Coast News Of The Area reported on 29 March 2026 that around 70,000 books, games, DVDs and CDs had sold over the eight days, among them a rare 1880 edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and traced the sale back to 2000. The club's wrap-up on Instagram promised a return the following year, though its project page still gave no 2027 date in September 2026.
Hours: Last documented: 14–21 March 2026, daily 9am–5pmWebsite Op shop (Legacy)Coffs Coast Legacy Op Shop
4 Scarba St, Coffs Harbour NSW 2450
The shop's website and Instagram announce a move to 16 Harbour Drive, Coffs Harbour, opening on Saturday 10 October 2026.
On Scarba Street, some 500 m north-east of the centre of town, the op shop Coffs Coast Legacy runs to raise money that its website says stays on the Coffs Coast for the charity's beneficiaries, with free local pick-up offered for donated goods. Its Instagram post of 26 August 2026 counted books among the favourites shoppers will still find, next to clothing, furniture, homewares and bric-a-brac, once the shop moves to 16 Harbour Drive beside Pushkar in Coffs Central. The new premises open with a launch on Saturday 10 October 2026 between 9am and 11am, and its Instagram was advertising a moving sale on the Scarba Street floor ahead of the switch.
Hours: Mon–Thu 9am–4pm, Fri 9am–3pm, Sat 9am–11:30amWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Coffs Harbour?
Wait for March if you can: the Rotary BookFest at the Showground set out upwards of 60,000 books in 2026, and News Of The Area counted around 70,000 items sold over the eight days. Outside March, the Toormina Lifeline store pitched books as Father's Day presents costing no more than $10 in August 2026, and the Legacy op shop listed books among its regular stock ahead of its October 2026 move. For a proper shelf browse, the Bellinger Book Nook in Bellingen sells cheap secondhand reading, and Magpie Books keeps a small secondhand stock in Woolgoolga.
Where do I sell used books in Coffs Harbour?
No stop on this page advertises a buying counter for books, so on the Coffs Coast you do the selling yourself: Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace when a buyer can collect, while a copy worth mailing can go up on Amazon.com.au, with eBay.com.au as the fallback. Stand the stack spines out and let BiblioScan take one picture of it: it pairs every spine it can identify with a resale value, so within a minute you know which copies merit the effort. Whatever is left can be offered to the BookFest coordinators, who take enquiries by email through the Rotary club, or dropped at the Legacy op shop.
When is the big book sale in Coffs Harbour?
It's BookFest, run by the town's Rotary club, which bills it as a yearly March fixture at the Showground. The 2026 run filled the Norm Jordan Pavilion for eight days from Saturday 14 March, with Lifeline North Coast as the main beneficiary. The club's BookFest page still showed no 2027 dates in late September 2026, so watch its website and Instagram well before March.
Which op shops have books in Coffs Harbour?
Two have shown books at their own shop: the Coffs Coast Legacy Op Shop, which named books in an August 2026 post about its move from Scarba Street to Harbour Drive, and the Lifeline store on Hi-Tech Drive in Toormina, which listed books in posts in July and August 2026. Lifeline's other two stores in town sit under a network promise of books in every Lifeline North Coast shop, without a post of their own to show it. The Salvos, Vinnies and LifeHouse Care branch pages leave books out altogether, so any shelf there is a matter of luck.
Which day is best for book hunting in Coffs Harbour?
A weekday between 10am and 3pm is the safest window: the Legacy op shop, the Lifeline store in Toormina and the Bellinger Book Nook are all open then, whichever of the Book Nook's posted schedules is current. Saturday works too if you start early, because Legacy shuts at 11:30am, Lifeline in Toormina at 2pm and the Book Nook at 2pm or 3pm depending on which post you trust. Magpie Books in Woolgoolga has no published hours, so message it first whatever the day.