Where to buy used books in Liverpool

Updated 01/10/2026

Liverpool, England, clusters its second-hand bookshops in a tight knot around the city centre. Henry Bohn Books on London Road and Reid of Liverpool on Mount Pleasant stand less than 0.5 miles from each other, while the Bluecoat on School Lane, home to Aldous Books and a booksellers' market held two days a month, lies about the same distance west of Reid. Oxfam's Bold Street branch is just east of the Bluecoat, and Red Brick Market in the Baltic Triangle has a used-book stall. Every price mentioned is in pounds sterling (£).

South Liverpool strings the rest along its main roads. Still Out-of-Print and the Open Door charity shop sit in the Penny Lane ward, less than half a mile apart, Second Chance trades on Aigburth Road, and the Lark Lane flea market takes over the old police station once a month. Further out, Speke Retail Park has a Cancer Research UK superstore, Calderstones School runs a monthly car boot sale, and the borough of Knowsley adds a British Heart Foundation outlet in Huyton.

South of the centre, ring ahead: Still Out-of-Print and Open Door each have two versions of their opening days in circulation, while the three city-centre bookshops publish fixed grids.

Spot map

The best spots

Second-hand books and classical records

Henry Bohn Books

12 London Rd, Liverpool L3 5NF

Two floors of second-hand books beside the Empire Theatre on London Road, with classical CDs and vinyl sharing the shelves. The Liverpool Echo's round-up of 21 February 2026 picked out rare volumes going back centuries next to deep runs of history, art and philosophy. In an Echo piece published on 13 July 2026, owner Michael McCabe said the business has moved between several Liverpool addresses over nearly 40 years and is run by just him and his wife.

Hours: Mon–Sat 11am–6pmWebsite

Antiquarian and second-hand bookshop

Reid of Liverpool

105 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L3 5TB

Reid of Liverpool trades from a Mount Pleasant building that its own website dates to around 1785 and calls the city's only surviving purpose-built Georgian shop with living quarters. The Guide Liverpool, writing in February 2025, put the stock at over 40,000 books, from academic texts and classic literature to science fiction and first editions, and mentioned a resident shop cat.

Hours: Mon–Sat 10:30am–5:15pmWebsite

Antiquarian and second-hand bookshop

Aldous Books

The Bluecoat, School Ln, Liverpool L1 3BX

Antiquarian and second-hand stock fills this small shop inside the Bluecoat, which the Liverpool Echo describes as the oldest surviving building in central Liverpool; Steve and Gina Aldous took it over from Kernaghan Books in April 2024. On a visit published in November 2025, the Echo found leather-bound books, Folio Society editions and 1930s Penguins near a table of Merseyside authors, and reported that a 1750s Paradise Lost valued at around £4,000 had been through the shop. Gina Aldous told the paper in February 2026 that new stock arrives through donations, purchases and schools clearing out their libraries. Aldous's own contact page starts the day at 10:30am, while the Bluecoat's listing for the shop says 10am.

Hours: Tue–Sat 10:30am–5:30pm, Sun 11am–4pmWebsite

Antiquarian and second-hand bookshop

Still Out-of-Print

282 Smithdown Rd, Liverpool L15 5AJ

Naomi Frisch took on this Smithdown Road unit, opposite the Wavertree park locals call the Mystery, in early 2022 so her partner's stored books could go back on sale. Writing up Merseyside's independents on 21 February 2026, the Liverpool Echo reported that most stock is second-hand and under £10, topped up with new titles by Black writers, feminist authors and local names. In an Echo profile the next day she gave weekday hours of noon until six, admitting she is not very punctual, while the shop's Instagram bio adds Saturday and Sunday opening, so check before a weekend trip.

Website

Booksellers market

Liverpool Book Market

Garden Room, the Bluecoat, School Ln, Liverpool L1 3BX

Still Out-of-Print organises this market in the Bluecoat's Garden Room, where 10 to 12 local booksellers set out stock on two days a month and entry is free. Its events page dates the next three for 16–17 October, 20–21 November and a Friday-to-Sunday run on 11–13 December 2026, matching the Bluecoat's own listing. Aldous Books is in the same building, so one trip covers both.

Hours: 16–17 Oct, 20–21 Nov and 11–13 Dec 2026, 11am–5pmWebsite

All spots by type

Second-hand bookshops

Used-book stall

Baltic Bookstore

Red Brick Market, Stanhope St, Liverpool L8 5RE

A used-book stall inside Red Brick Market in the Cains Brewery Village, in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle. Liverpool Noise, in a bookshop guide published on 11 May 2026, described an eclectic mix of used books, magazines and comics across all sorts of genres. The guide lists it as open every day from 10am until 6pm, though Red Brick Market's own Instagram bio gives an 11am start on Sundays; the stall's bio says it trades alongside Retro Girl Vintage.

Website

Charity shops

Charity shop (Oxfam)

Oxfam Original Liverpool

35-37 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4DN

Oxfam's Bold Street branch, listed by the charity as Oxfam Original Liverpool, shut for a refit early in September 2025 and reopened on Saturday 13 September with a bigger focus on vintage and high-street clothing. Reporting on the relaunch on 17 September 2025, the Liverpool Echo found a dedicated area for literature and comic books at the back beside the records, and noted that this branch also brings in stock from vintage and vinyl suppliers. Oxfam's page for the shop promises a great range of books and music but gives no opening times, asking you to contact the shop instead.

Website

Charity superstore (Cancer Research UK)

Cancer Research UK Liverpool Speke Superstore

Unit 4, Speke Retail Park, Penketh Dr, Liverpool L24 2WZ

Cancer Research UK opened this 6,755 sq ft superstore at Speke Retail Park on 18 November 2025, and the Liverpool Echo reckoned it at over double a standard branch's floor space. In a report published that December, the Echo found books among the toys, games, small electricals and bric-a-brac, with nearly everything outside the new goods and the gold-label rail priced at £5 or less. There is a bus stop right outside and a Morrisons a short walk away, according to the same report.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9am–7pm, Sun 10:30am–4:30pmWebsite

Social enterprise shop

Second Chance Gifts & Recycling

110 Aigburth Rd, Liverpool L17 7BP

A green-painted corner unit on Aigburth Road, run as a social enterprise that raises money for two charities and, by its Facebook description, welcomes donations of books, clothes and gifts. On a £10 tour of the road's second-hand shops published in May 2026, the Liverpool Echo found it stocked with clothing, toys, puzzles and books, with every handbag outside at £1 and a retro shirt for £2.

Website

Charity shop (The Whitechapel Centre)

Open Door by The Whitechapel Centre

28 Allerton Rd, Liverpool L18 1LN

The Whitechapel Centre, a Liverpool homelessness and housing charity, runs this boutique-style shop on Allerton Road, and its website explains that donated clothing, accessories and books unsuitable for its clients are sold here. The charity's site gives Monday to Saturday opening from 10am to 5pm, while a post on The Whitechapel Centre's Facebook page in late June 2026 announced a trial of Sunday opening in both shops, 11am to 4pm, from 5 July. The second branch is on South Road in Waterloo, up the coast in Sefton.

Website

Charity shop (British Heart Foundation)

British Heart Foundation Huyton Value Outlet

37 Derby Rd, Huyton, Liverpool L36 9UQ

Over in Huyton, part of Knowsley, the British Heart Foundation runs a value outlet on Derby Road. On 4 May 2026 the shop appealed on Facebook for paperbacks, hardbacks and classics because its shelves were looking a little bare, and offered free Friday collections for donations, so stock levels vary.

Website

Car boot sales & markets

Monthly flea market

Lark Lane Fleamarket

The Old Police Station, 80 Lark Ln, Liverpool L17 8UU

Once a month, on its final Sunday, the old police station on Lark Lane fills with more than 40 stalls of pre-loved goods, entered from Sefton Grove for £1, with children free. The organisers' Facebook posts ahead of the August and September 2026 markets listed books alongside records, bric-a-brac, silver and vintage clothing, and asked visitors to bring cash because the stallholders aren't professional sellers. A pop-up café sells homemade cakes.

Hours: Last Sun of the month 10am–4pmWebsite

Car boot sale

Caldies Car Boot

Calderstones School, Harthill Rd, Liverpool L18 3HS

Calderstones School, beside Calderstones Park in Allerton, holds the Caldies Car Boot on the second Sunday of every month and promises to open come rain or shine, with buyers paying £1 at the staff car park entrance on Harthill Road and under-12s free. The Liverpool Echo listed the sale in June 2025, with monthly dates starting on 14 September 2025, and on that pattern the next one falls on 11 October 2026. The school describes the pitches as second-hand household items, from vintage clothes and toys to antique furniture and original art, and makes no mention of books.

Hours: Second Sun of the month 9am–12:30pmWebsite

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.

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Local sourcing tips

Oxfam's Smithdown Road branch, further along the same road from Still Out-of-Print, is mainly a furniture shop over three floors; its Instagram bio counts books among the stock, while Oxfam's own page calls it a furniture specialist and mentions books only in passing, so look in only if you're already on Smithdown Road anyway.
In Kirkby, in the borough of Knowsley, the Barnardo's on St Chad's Drive struck the Liverpool Echo in September 2025 as much bigger than most charity shops, with kidswear, toys and books on the floor and designer pieces behind glass.
For a free swap, the Little Book Stop set up outside the Museum of Liverpool in September 2025 as part of Penguin's 90th-birthday campaign with Little Free Library works on a give-a-book, take-a-book basis, according to The Guide Liverpool.
North of the city in Sefton, Pritchards Bookshop in Crosby carries mostly new stock but also sources second-hand titles, the Liverpool Echo reported in February 2026. Broadhurst's in Southport closed in August 2024, and Liverpool Business News reported in March 2026 on plans to turn the building into an eight-bedroom HMO.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find cheap used books in Liverpool?

Start in Speke: the Liverpool Echo's December 2025 look round the Cancer Research UK superstore turned up a 50p basket and tops from £2, and Henry Bohn's owner told the paper in July 2026 that a second-hand Animal Farm costs roughly a third of a new copy. Out in Knowsley, the Huyton BHF outlet takes book donations and keeps a shelf of them.

Where do I sell used books in Liverpool?

Reid of Liverpool's homepage invites sellers with books on most subjects and offers valuations without obligation, and Aldous Books buys in stock as well as taking donations. The Bluecoat's page for Aldous adds an open invitation to anyone with old books sitting in the loft. Before you box anything up, photograph the shelf it came from: BiblioScan sets a resale price beside each title whose spine shows up clearly in the frame, and the two or three standouts are the copies to hold back for eBay.co.uk or Vinted while the remainder go across a Liverpool counter.

Which day is best for book hunting in Liverpool?

Saturday. Henry Bohn, Reid and Aldous all trade that day in the city centre, and on the Saturday of a Liverpool Book Market weekend the Bluecoat has both the market and Aldous under one roof. Sunday is thinner in town: Reid says it closes on Sundays and Henry Bohn publishes Monday-to-Saturday hours, so Aldous's Sunday hours and the Speke superstore carry the day, with the Lark Lane flea market on the month's final Sunday and Calderstones School's car boot sale on the second. Aldous's own page lists Monday as closed, although the Bluecoat notes that the shop opens on bank holiday Mondays.

Are there any used book fairs in Liverpool?

Yes: the Liverpool Book Market fills the Bluecoat's Garden Room on a Friday and Saturday each month through November 2026, then over a three-day weekend in mid-December, and costs nothing to get in. The Bluecoat's listing names Still Out-of-Print, the organiser, among the sellers. Lark Lane's monthly flea market is not a book fair, but its organisers' late-summer 2026 announcements named books as part of the mix.

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Nearby cities

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