Doncaster, the South Yorkshire city on the River Don, spreads its secondhand book trade thinly. Most of it sits in the city centre: a family bookstall in the covered market, a militaria dealer with shelves of regimental histories on Bowers Fold, and charity shops on St Sepulchre Gate, in the Frenchgate Centre and on Bennetthorpe that put books out with the clothes and bric-a-brac. Prices throughout are in pounds sterling.
Three outings take you further: a secondhand warehouse shop on a Carcroft business park, a new independent bookshop in Bawtry that keeps some used stock, and on Sunday mornings the car park of the Eco-Power Stadium at Lakeside, which fills with car boot sellers, winter included. When The Sunday Times went looking for Britain's reading slump in November 2025, its reporters began at a bookstall in Doncaster Market whose takings had shrunk to a fraction of what they once were.
Listings such as Yorkshire.com still describe Re-Read, the book-recycling charity on Cherry Lane in Marshgate, as a bookshop. The Doncaster Free Press reported on 4 November 2024 that the charity had been forced to close after 12 years and would be wound up, so don't make the trip.
Market bookstallBlanshards for Books
Goose Hill, Doncaster Market, Market Place, Doncaster
Tucked into the back corner of the Goose Hill hall at Doncaster Market, under the same roof as the fish market, this family stall deals in second-hand novels and puzzle books; the market's Facebook page said on Tuesday 31 March 2026 that it opens on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The Sunday Times dated the business to 1946 in its report of 8 November 2025, noting that it once traded from eight market stalls and ran mobile libraries, and that puzzle books had overtaken novels as its bestsellers. Those three days are also the market's main trading days, which the council's markets page, as archived in September 2025, gives as 9am to 4:30pm.
Secondhand warehouse shopOakTree Bookshop
Unit 24, Hutton Business Park, Bentley Moor Ln, Carcroft, Doncaster DN6 7BD
Out at Carcroft, a village within the City of Doncaster some 4.1 miles out on the north-north-western side, OakTree fills a business-park unit with fiction and non-fiction for children and grown-ups, plus toys, homeware and clothes, and its posts promise fresh stock added daily. A Facebook post on Saturday 18 April 2026 announced Saturday opening until 5pm and a 6pm close on Fridays. Its August 2025 post had given a 3pm finish from Friday to Sunday, so older listings may still show the shorter week. The shop was already advertising this unit in August 2018, when it described itself as being on the same road as the tip.
Hours: Mon–Thu 10am–4:30pm, Fri 10am–6pm, Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 10am–3pmWebsite Car boot saleClub Doncaster Car Boot & Sunday Market
Eco-Power Stadium, Stadium Way, Doncaster DN4 5JW
At Lakeside, 1.2 miles to the south-east, the stadium's car park turns into a car boot and Sunday market, which a September 2025 Wayback copy of the council's market listings puts on every Sunday from 6:30am to 12:30pm. The organisers' Facebook page shows it trading through the winter, closing on 4 January 2026 and reopening a week later, while their May 2026 notice ruled out the 10th and 17th because of stadium events, and a late-August post invited buyers for the Sunday and for the bank holiday on Monday 31 August 2026, when it traded on hard standing. The organisers ask buyers to arrive from 6:30am and charge £2 for parking; their notices say nothing about books, so any boxes of paperbacks are down to whichever sellers turn up.
Hours: Sun 6:30am–12:30pmWebsite Charity shop (Mind)Mind Shop Doncaster
107 Beckett Rd, Wheatley, Doncaster DN2 4AD
In Wheatley, on Beckett Road 0.8 miles out to the north-east, the Mind shop told its Facebook followers on Tuesday 4 August 2026 that it had a wide range of books out, with more in the back that a volunteer could fetch on request. On 22 September 2026 it was again steering browsers to its books and jigsaws for the darker evenings. Donations help: that summer the shop appealed for bric-a-brac, kitchen items and men's clothing.
Hours: Mon–Sat 8:30am–4:30pmWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Doncaster?
Start with the charity shops. The Partially Sighted Society gave away a second book with every one bought throughout April 2025, while Mind in Wheatley, Phoenix and the Frenchgate YMCA shelve books among their clothes and homeware. For quantity, OakTree at Carcroft advertises low prices on a warehouse of stock, and Blanshards' market stall mixes used fiction with puzzle books.
Where do I sell used books in Doncaster?
Most resellers here sell online: single titles on eBay.co.uk, popular fiction on Vinted, Amazon.co.uk for anything with steady demand, and the World of Books selling service for a box of everyday paperbacks. Shoot the whole shelf in BiblioScan before choosing: a single photo puts a resale figure on each spine, so you can see at a glance which copies earn their postage and which go straight into a carrier bag for Phoenix or Mind.
Which day is best for book hunting in Doncaster?
Saturday, when Blanshards is on Goose Hill, OakTree stays open until 5pm, Eclipse in Bawtry until 6pm, and Cultman, Mind and the YMCA are all trading. Tuesday and Friday also suit a market visit, but avoid Thursday for Cultman and Monday for Eclipse. Sunday is car boot morning at the Eco-Power Stadium, OakTree and the YMCA open at 10am, and Eclipse follows at 11am.
Which charity shops have books in Doncaster?
Four have named books on their own websites or Facebook pages since 2025: the Partially Sighted Society on Bennetthorpe, Mind on Beckett Road, Phoenix WoMen's Aid near the Frenchgate Centre and the YMCA inside it. Further out, the RSPCA's six shops in the outlying towns welcome donated books, though none of them is singled out for its shelves.