Glasgow's second-hand book trade leans west. Otago Lane and Great Western Road hold two shops dating from 1972 and 1986, with Thistle Books on Otago Street between them, all within about 300 yards of one another near Kelvinbridge subway, and Ruthven Lane, off Byres Road, adds a bookshop that opened in 2025 and a back-issue comic dealer. The city centre has Oxfam's Royal Exchange Square bookshop, the antiquarian Cooper Hay on Bath Street and a charity bookshop on Trongate, while the South Side runs from Victoria Road and Allison Street in Govanhill down to Shawlands. Prices mentioned are in pounds sterling.
Beyond the city council boundary, Paisley, seven miles west in Renfrewshire, has Abbey Books on Wellmeadow Street, and Clarkston in East Renfrewshire, five miles south, has an Oxfam shop that sells books among its clothes and homewares.
Weekends bring the fairs. Books at the Botanics fills the Hopkirk Building in the Botanic Gardens on set weekends through December 2026, and JAC Fairs puts books among the stalls at its Sunday antique and collectors fair in Bellahouston. Thistle Books and Young's Interesting Books publish no opening times online, so ring before crossing the city for them.
Second-hand bookshopsVoltaire & Rousseau
12-14 Otago Ln, Glasgow G12 8PB
The shop's own site places Otago Lane in a tiny bohemian pocket of Hillhead, five minutes on foot from Kelvinbridge subway, with a record shop and a tearoom for neighbours, and bills Voltaire & Rousseau as Glasgow's oldest second-hand bookshop. The Herald reported on 3 May 2026 that the business has held its corner of the lane since 1972 and has passed to the second generation, Colin Ashbury, who started by taming the towering stacks and launched a web catalogue of thousands of titles. Sellers can email, phone or use a web form, and photos help without being required, ideally two or three bookcases per shot; the shop then collects or takes a drop-off and pays straight away.
Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–6pmWebsite Second-hand bookshopsCaledonia Books
483 Great Western Rd, Glasgow G12 8HL
A family-run shop on Great Western Road, established in 1986 by its own account, carrying out-of-print, antiquarian and collectable titles alongside everyday second-hand copies. The Glasgow Guardian's guide of 3 December 2025 called it the platonic ideal of a second-hand bookshop and placed it among the best organised in the West End group. Its book-purchasing page offers cash for anything from a single book to a complete library, textbooks, vintage maps and ephemera included.
Hours: Tue–Sat noon–6pmWebsite Monthly book fairBooks at the Botanics
Hopkirk Building, Glasgow Botanic Gardens, 730 Great Western Rd, Glasgow G12 0UE
Several dealers set out second-hand, vintage and antiquarian books in the Hopkirk Building, behind the main glasshouse range of the Botanic Gardens at the top of Byres Road. The organisers call it a monthly book fair, and their website lists stallholders covering Scottish interest, Folio Society, Observer books, natural history, transport and vintage children's books. The 2026 calendar they posted on Facebook on 14 December 2025 leaves three weekends from October onwards, and their posts during the July and September 2026 fairs gave 10am to 5pm each day; Visit Glasgow lists entry as free.
Hours: 10–11 Oct, 21–22 Nov and 12–13 Dec 2026, 10am–5pmWebsite Oxfam BookshopOxfam Bookshop Byres Road
174 Byres Rd, Glasgow G12 8SN
Oxfam's West End bookshop moved to 174 Byres Road after 25 years at its previous site, and Oxfam Scotland set the reopening for 30 October 2025 with the novelist Bernard MacLaverty, who had launched the original shop. In the Glasgow Guardian that December, Max Woodward counted it among the cheaper second-hand options near the university, with books alphabetised by author inside each section, though with a narrower selection than the independents. Oxfam's shop finder lists no opening times for it and asks you to phone.
Second-hand bookshopsAbbey Books
21 Wellmeadow St, Paisley PA1 2EF
Over in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Abbey Secondhand Books stands on Wellmeadow Street, about 0.6 miles west of Paisley Gilmour Street station by its own directions, and its website puts the stock at 40,000 books with sheet music, Folio Society and Renfrewshire titles among the sections. The Gazette reported on 20 May 2026 that the owner, Brian Hannan, had hung more than 200 pieces of film memorabilia across almost 12 walls of the shop, including unreleased stills from The Empire Strikes Back, all viewable during opening hours. The paper and the shop's own site give the same Tuesday-to-Saturday hours, with Mondays closed.
Hours: Tue–Sat 10:15am–5:15pmWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Glasgow?
Start at Chapter One on Trongate, where the local community council put the average price under a fiver in June 2026, and at Herrigan Books on Ruthven Lane, where the Glasgow Times found children's titles from 25p. Oxfam's Clarkston shop had festive mystery books for under £3 before Christmas 2025, and the Glasgow Guardian's December 2025 guide found the Byres Road Oxfam bookshop easier on the wallet than the independents. If free suits you better, GET Free Books in Buchanan Galleries lets each visitor take three a day.
Where do I sell used books in Glasgow?
Voltaire & Rousseau assesses second-hand and antiquarian books by email, phone or a visit, collects or takes drop-offs and pays on the spot; Caledonia Books offers cash for anything from one book to a library, textbooks included; the Glasgow Times notes that Herrigan Books buys as well, and City Centre Comics takes back-issue comics. Before ringing round, take one photo of the bookcase with BiblioScan: every spine it identifies on the shelf gets its own estimated resale price, and the handful worth listing yourself on Amazon.co.uk or eBay.co.uk then stand out from the bulk you'd sell over a counter.
Which day is best for book hunting in Glasgow?
Saturday. Every shop here that publishes opening times trades that day, whereas Monday shuts Caledonia Books, Abbey Books, City Centre Comics and Category Is Books. Sunday narrows the field to Oxfam's Royal Exchange Square bookshop, Chapter One, Category Is and City Centre Comics, though Sunday is when JAC holds its Bellahouston fair and when each Books at the Botanics weekend has its second day.
Are there any used book fairs in Glasgow?
Books at the Botanics, the monthly fair in the Hopkirk Building at the Botanic Gardens, has three weekends left on its 2026 calendar: 10–11 October, 21–22 November and 12–13 December, and entry is free. JAC Fairs' antique, vintage and collectors fair at Bellahouston Leisure Centre lists books among its stalls and has Sunday dates left in October, November and December 2026, starting on 11 October.