Used bookstoresAsphalt Books
Nicholas Building, Level 4, Room 23, 37 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Room 23 on level four of the Nicholas Building on Swanston Street, a curated secondhand room whose founder, Armani Hollindale, was introduced at 21 by the building's own documentary account in June 2023. Its Instagram profile describes buying, selling and consigning, and a 13 September 2026 post described a rearrangement to make space for a growing run of vintage pulp paperbacks, movie tie-ins, stardom studies and crime fiction. It trades three afternoons a week, so a Wednesday visit finds the door shut.
Hours: Thu–Sat noon–6pmWebsite Radical bookshop, new and secondhandNew International Bookshop
Trades Hall, 54 Victoria St, Carlton VIC 3053
In Carlton, inside Trades Hall on Victoria Street, a left-wing bookshop that sells radical literature new and secondhand and keeps the used shelves offline: only new stock is on its web shop. On Saturday 18 July 2026 it ran the Big Red Book Fair in the same building, promising thousands of secondhand books at low prices and ten per cent off new titles, according to its Facebook announcement. It keeps weekday hours only, which makes it a lunchtime stop for anyone working near the CBD.
Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–6pmWebsite Used bookstoresThrough the Looking Glass Bookstore (Fitzroy)
341 Brunswick St, Fitzroy VIC 3065
Fitzroy, on Brunswick Street, the city outpost of a secondhand bookshop from the Dandenong Ranges whose other rooms are in Belgrave and Sassafras. Its website gives this branch a Friday and Saturday grid worded exactly like the Belgrave shop's, so take it as a guide rather than a promise and check Facebook before a special trip. On its Facebook page the business ran a birthday bazaar across all three shops in late July 2026 and then took 20 per cent off everything from Friday 7 to Sunday 9 August.
Hours: Fri–Sat 10am–4pmWebsite Used bookstoresAlready Read Bookshop
98 Scotchmer St, Fitzroy North VIC 3068
Fitzroy North, in the Scotchmer Street village around the corner from Piedimonte's supermarket, a shop that says it has spent more than 20 years curating secondhand contemporary literary fiction and serious non-fiction. It opens Friday to Sunday only, and The Urban List's bookshop guide of June 2026 repeated those days along with the promise of new stock each week. To sell, pile the books with the spines facing out, photograph the stack and email it; the owners warn that they are selective.
Hours: Fri–Sun 10am–5pmWebsite Used bookstoresSeddon Book Alley
107 Victoria St, Seddon VIC 3011
Seddon, in the inner west, where local resident Robert Ford turned a pop-up squeezed into an alley between two Charles Street shops into a proper storefront on Victoria Street after 18 months. A banner on its site, current in late September 2026, limits trading to Friday and Saturday for September and October only, while the contact page still gives the usual week as Friday to Sunday from 10am, so check before a Sunday trip. Its Facebook and Instagram were posting fresh arrivals on 24 September 2026, and the web shop sells brown bags of books at $20, $40 and $60 next to a repair service that assesses each volume before any work starts.
Hours: Fri–Sat 10am–5pmWebsite Natural history booksellerAndrew Isles Natural History Books
12-14 Glass Place (rear of 115 Greville St), Prahran VIC 3181
Prahran, down Glass Place behind 115 Greville Street, a natural-history specialist that sells new, secondhand and antiquarian books along with artwork. It buys quality titles in its field from single copies to whole libraries, is keen on good antiquarian material and says it will travel when a collection is valuable enough. Its site warns that hours can vary and announced a closure on 25 and 26 September 2026 for the Grand Final holiday, so ring before crossing town for the short Saturday session.
Hours: Tue–Fri 10am–4:30pm, Sat 9am–12:30pmWebsite Antiquarian booksellerPeter Arnold – Antiquarian Booksellers
606 High St, Prahran VIC 3181
Prahran, on High Street, an antiquarian firm founded in 1969 and a member of ANZAAB as well as the British ABA. Beside the shop it runs timed sales on Invaluable: a 144-lot map auction opened on Monday 3 August 2026 and closed on 12 August, and the site also lists a sale of the John Alexander collection of English and American literature. Doors open on weekdays only, and Douglas Stewart is roughly 350 metres further east along the same street.
Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–5:30pmWebsite Rare books and manuscriptsDouglas Stewart Fine Books
720 High St, Armadale VIC 3143
Armadale, on the High Street antiques strip, a rare-book showroom whose founder began dealing in 1995 while still at school and has long sat on the ANZAAB board, according to the firm's About page. The strengths are travel and exploration, especially of Australia and the Pacific, plus Australian art, manuscripts, photographs and maps, so budgets run accordingly. The website carried a New Acquisitions catalogue for September 2026 and a 29-item selection prepared for Rare Books Berlin 2026, and the firm buys stock ranging from one important item to a whole library.
Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–6pm, Sat 11am–4pmWebsite Rare book auction houseAustralian Book Auctions
885-889 High St, Armadale VIC 3143
Armadale, in the High Street building of Gibson's Auctions, which announced that the rare-book auctioneer, established in 1999, would be based in its rooms each Monday. Its catalogue for Tuesday 29 September 2026 listed books and maps from the collection of the late Penelope Horn and other vendors, with viewing the day before; later sales go up on the auctions page. Consignments and appraisals are by appointment on Mondays, useful when a deceased estate turns up something beyond a shop's buying budget.
Hours: Mon 10am–3pm, consignments and appraisals by appointmentWebsite Used bookstoresSainsburys Books
534 Riversdale Rd, Camberwell VIC 3124
Camberwell, on Riversdale Road about 200 metres south of the Sunday market, a shop that counts more than 35 years in trade and concentrates on art, architecture, photography, literature, history and philosophy. It buys collections and deceased estates, prefers emailed pictures before any visit, and is an approved valuer for the federal Cultural Gifts Program. Its homepage in September 2026 announced the purchase of the library of the late New Zealand poet and letterpress printer Alan Loney, and its contact page warns that not every listed book sits in the Camberwell shop, so ask before travelling for one title.
Hours: Wed–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun noon–4pmWebsite Used bookstoresYarra Cottage Books
189 Yarra St, Warrandyte VIC 3113
Warrandyte, on the river about 24 km east-north-east of the CBD, in a cottage made from two goldfields mine inspectors' huts that served as the Warrandyte Bakery's shopfront from 1929 to 1951. Five rooms hold pre-loved books and curios, and the owner, Steve, says tracking down out-of-print and hard-to-find titles is his speciality. A Facebook post of 1 September 2026 pointed to fresh listings under the shop's AbeBooks storefront, a handy way to check stock before the drive.
Hours: Daily 10am–4pmWebsite Used bookstoresThrough the Looking Glass Bookstore (Sassafras)
3/383 Mount Dandenong Tourist Rd, Sassafras VIC 3787
Sassafras, high in the Dandenong Ranges roughly 35 km out, the seven-day branch of a secondhand business that also sells literary gifts, antiques and ephemera. Its owners, Sam, Jess and Lyra, live in Belgrave, whose shop at 1669 Burwood Highway opens on Fridays and Saturdays only. The shop's Facebook page reported on 14 July 2026 that Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Project, stopped by and signed every copy of his books on the shelves.
Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–4pm, Sat–Sun 10am–5pmWebsite