Where to buy used books in Kelowna

Updated 9/27/2026

This guide treats Kelowna, British Columbia as the whole Central Okanagan metro, so West Kelowna and Lake Country count, and any entry outside the City of Kelowna names its municipality in its opening line; prices throughout are in Canadian dollars. Kelowna's used-book scene is modest and scattered. Downtown holds just one stop on this page, the antiquarian rooms behind Pulp Fiction Coffee House on Pandosy Street, which has announced a move to Bernard Avenue in the new year, and the rest sit along a line running east and south of it: Ted's near Capri Mall, Pandosy Books in a Springfield Road plaza, The Book Bin down on Groves Avenue, a Gospel Mission thrift in Rutland. Crossing the bridge puts you at the Mad Hatter in Westbank, and the museum sale is a drive north up the lake.

Be careful with the local bookshop lists. When Castanet covered the second Kelowna Bookshop Hop in April 2026, the five passport stores included Mosaic Books and Once Upon a Bookstore, both of which sell new stock, so only three of those five belong on a page about used books. The main event is the Great Okanagan Book Sale, a fall fixture of the local library Friends group, set for four days in October 2026. And the Mad Hatter, which Castanet reported as up for sale in September 2024, was still posting new arrivals on Instagram through the summer of 2026.

Spot map

The best spots

Used books and comics

Ted's Paperback & Comics

1329 Sutherland Ave, Kelowna, BC V1Y 5Y2

Near Capri Mall, about 2 km east-southeast of downtown, in what the shop's own site calls a former spa and fitness centre: walk through the blue bead curtain into the old sauna room and you are in the metaphysical and spiritual section. The store claims more than 200,000 used books and 100,000 comics over 3,500 square feet, with manga, graphic novels and collector issues next to Canadiana and westerns, and the contemporary fiction arranged alphabetically. Castanet named it among the five Bookshop Hop stores in April 2026, and on June 13, 2026 the shop's Facebook page was advertising a part-time job that included Thursday shifts.

Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–5pmWebsite
Used books and records

Pandosy Books

138-1889 Springfield Rd, Kelowna, BC V1Y 5V5

Unit 138 in a Springfield Road plaza, a little over 3 km east-southeast of downtown, trading in secondhand books alongside records, CDs, DVDs and collectibles. The shop's blog, untouched since 2012, maps the rooms: non-fiction at the back from BC and Canadian history through First Nations studies to cars and railways, fiction and music at the front, and a side room for children's, teen and foreign-language titles. Castanet listed it at 1889 Springfield Road among the Bookshop Hop passport stops on April 20, 2026. The shop publishes no opening grid, so the one here is where Yelp and YellowPages agree.

Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–5pmWebsite
Café and antiquarian bookshop

Pulp Fiction Coffee House & Robbie Rare Books

1598 Pandosy St, Kelowna, BC V1Y 1P4

Downtown on the corner of Pandosy and Lawrence, a coffee counter at the front of a maze of rooms where Robbie Rare Books shares the walls with Britannia Antiques, old clocks and shelves of bronze and copper bookends. A sponsored Downtown Discoveries feature that Castanet ran in April 2025 measured the space at 3,600 square feet, said the three businesses had lived under one roof for 14 years, and quoted the owner saying "we're antiquarian, so our stuff is pre-1960." The shop's own page promises poetry volumes, faded magazines and forgotten tomes down narrow aisles, so come for older material rather than cheap reading copies. Castanet reported on September 26, 2026 that the café and Robbie Rare Books will relocate in the new year to a larger space at the corner of Bernard Avenue and Ellis Street, with the Pandosy Street shop staying open until the new one is running.

Hours: Daily 8am–5pmWebsite
Used bookstores

Mad Hatter Book Store

5-2483 Main St, West Kelowna, BC V4T 2E8

Across the lake in West Kelowna, in Plaza 97 South at 2483 Main Street in Westbank, some 11.6 km southwest of downtown Kelowna; the store's website dates it to 1983. Castanet reported in September 2024 that the owners had listed the business for sale with 20,000 books on the floor and more in storage, and that rarities had gone to UBC archives and a Sotheby's auction; the shop also sells online through AbeBooks and Biblio. It has carried on trading, with an Instagram post on April 24, 2026 advertising two books for the price of one and another on July 23, 2026 announcing a fresh batch of children's books. The early part of the week is short, closing at three from Monday to Wednesday by the grid on its website.

Hours: Mon–Wed 10am–3pm, Thu 10am–5pm, Fri 10am–6pm, Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 10am–4pmWebsite
Friends of the Library sale

Great Okanagan Book Sale

Immaculate Conception Parish Hall, 839 Sutherland Ave, Kelowna, BC V1Y 5X4

The fall fundraiser of the Kelowna Friends of the Library, a volunteer group formed in 1988 to support the Okanagan Regional Library, held in the parish hall on Sutherland Avenue roughly 1.2 km southeast of downtown and reaching its 36th edition in October 2026. The library's announcement of September 22, 2026 expects more than 25,000 items, with a $2 tag on most adult and young-adult books and $1 on children's, and promises new stock on the tables throughout the four days. Both cash and cards are taken. Parking at the church is one-way: in through the west alley beside the church, out through the east alley by the hall.

Hours: Wed October 14, 2026 2pm–8pm; Thu–Fri October 15–16, 2026 9:30am–8pm; Sat October 17, 2026 9:30am–2pmWebsite

All spots by type

Used bookstores

Used bookstores

The Book Bin

500 Groves Ave, Kelowna, BC V1Y 4Y7

On Groves Avenue in the Pandosy neighbourhood, about 2.7 km south of downtown, a shop that YellowPages files under rare and used books and that has no website. Castanet put it at 500 Groves Ave in its April 20, 2026 roundup of the Kelowna Bookshop Hop, where it was one of the stamping stops. Yelp and YellowPages publish matching hours that close at four, earlier than Ted's or Pandosy Books, so plan it as the first stop rather than the last and call 250-763-7748 if you are driving in for something specific.

Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–4pm

Thrift stores & charity shops

Gospel Mission thrift store

KGM Community Thrift

125 Roxby Rd, Kelowna, BC V1X 8A4

In Rutland, on Roxby Road about 7.6 km east of downtown, the thrift store of Kelowna's Gospel Mission, which puts the revenue toward its programs for people experiencing homelessness. Its store page mentions books in a single line, infant-to-teen titles listed with toys, games and puzzles, which makes it a children's and young-adult stop rather than one for adult fiction. The shop's Instagram account was still active on August 6, 2026, announcing a restock of frozen meals prepared by the mission's kitchen staff and volunteers.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–4pmWebsite

Book fairs

Museum fundraiser sale

Lake Country Museum & Archives Book and Vintage Sale

11255 Okanagan Centre Rd W, Lake Country, BC V4V 2J7

Out in Lake Country, at the museum in Okanagan Centre about 18 km north of downtown Kelowna, a fundraiser whose takings go to the museum's programs, events and archive. Castanet set the spring 2026 edition on Saturday, May 16, with an estimated 2,000 books spanning every genre and age group, most between $1 and $5, beside vintage furniture, tools and a few antique typewriters. The museum, which called its Vintage & Book Sale annual in an August 16, 2023 Facebook post, then added a summer book and vintage sale on Saturday, August 22, 2026, saying visitors to the spring sale had asked for one, so look up the next date on its events page instead of guessing the month.

Hours: Last documented: August 22, 2026, 10am–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

  • None of the used shops on this page publishes buying terms, so ring ahead before carting boxes anywhere. If a pile is headed for donation instead, the library Friends accept books, games and puzzles year-round: larger loads go to their sorting base at #114–2476 Westlake Road in West Kelowna on Friday mornings, the same unit that hosted the group's summer sale on June 13 and 14, 2026, and small bags fit the drop bins at the Okanagan Regional Library admin centre on K.L.O. Road and in the Parkinson Recreation Centre parking lot. Read their criteria first, because the group pays a commercial service to recycle whatever it cannot sell.
  • Four stops fall along one walkable line of roughly 3 km. Pulp Fiction sits downtown on Pandosy Street until its announced move, the parish hall that hosts the October sale is about 1 km southeast along Sutherland Avenue, Ted's is another kilometre east on the same street, and Pandosy Books lies a kilometre or so beyond it on Springfield Road. The Book Bin is a short drive south, while the Mad Hatter means crossing Okanagan Lake to Westbank and the Lake Country museum sits about 18 km north, off Highway 97.
  • Several thrift stores stayed off the list for want of a 2025 or 2026 source showing books at that particular store. MCC Thrift on Rutland Road South mentioned children's books in a 2021 Facebook post, the Salvation Army's Okanagan Central unit names books among the donations its Rutland and Westbank stores accept, and the Kelowna Women's Shelter sold books at $1 in its June 2025 clearance before reopening across Ellis Street by September 2025. Any of them is worth a look in passing.
  • Two names from the Bookshop Hop passport are new-book stores: Mosaic Books on Bernard Avenue, whose discount shelves hold marked-down new titles rather than used ones, and Once Upon a Bookstore on Tutt Street, which curates for babies, children and teens. On the UBC Okanagan campus, the students' union consignment bookshop in UNC 103 has been renamed paper & supply co. and deals mainly in used textbooks.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find cheap used books in Kelowna?

Wait for the Great Okanagan Book Sale if you can: most adult titles there cost $2 and children's titles a dollar, and the 2026 sale runs October 14 to 17 at Immaculate Conception Parish Hall. The Lake Country museum ran two sales in 2026, on May 16 and August 22, and the spring one had most of its roughly 2,000 books between $1 and $5. For children's books between sales, KGM Community Thrift in Rutland stocks infant-to-teen titles, and the Mad Hatter across the lake advertised a two-for-one deal in April 2026.

Where do I sell used books in Kelowna?

Phone first: the websites of Ted's, Pandosy Books, Pulp Fiction and the Mad Hatter say nothing about buying stock, and The Book Bin has no site at all. Titles with real value tend to do better listed yourself on AbeBooks, Amazon.ca or eBay.ca, or sold locally through Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace. To pick those out quickly, photograph the shelf with BiblioScan: it identifies each spine it recognizes in the photo and gives every one a resale value, which leaves a short list worth listing and a stack for the Friends of the Library donation bins.

When is the big library book sale in Kelowna?

In 2026, mid-October. Every fall the library's volunteer Friends group stages the Great Okanagan Book Sale, and the 36th edition opens Wednesday, October 14, 2026 from 2pm to 8pm at Immaculate Conception Parish Hall, 839 Sutherland Avenue, then runs Thursday and Friday until 8pm and closes early on Saturday, October 17, at 2pm. The group says donations for it are collected until early October, and that after its 2025 sales it handed $18,000 to the regional library for system-wide projects, on top of grants to individual branches.

Which day is best for book hunting in Kelowna?

Saturday: all six shops listed here trade that day. On Sunday only two remain open, Pulp Fiction downtown and the Mad Hatter in Westbank, since Ted's, Pandosy Books, The Book Bin and KGM all stay shut. If you head across to Westbank early in the week, remember the Mad Hatter closes mid-afternoon from Monday to Wednesday, while Friday gives it the longest day of the week.

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