Perth, WA spreads its secondhand books thinly across a long coastal plain, so plan the day by cluster rather than by suburb. The city end has three shops you can walk between, from the London Court arcade off the Hay Street Mall up to Bulwer and Lindsay streets on the Northbridge side. Fremantle, about 15 km south-west, holds the densest group, with two Elizabeth's floors and Bill Campbell's in the West End. Past those, the stock sits with the charities: ParaQuad's book bazaars at Shenton Park, Stirling and Willetton, the two Save the Children bookshops at Dianella and Parkwood, the Canning Vale Vinnies outlet, and a parish op shop in Kalamunda that gives books a room to themselves.
The map lost a landmark in early 2025. Elizabeth's shut its Hay Street branch that February after more than 30 years in the CBD and moved the stock to Fremantle, with its director telling WAtoday that foot traffic had fallen away since COVID-19 and that the firm had been proud to be the city's oldest bookshop. Prices on this page are in Australian dollars, and only a handful of counters buy outright, so read the terms in each entry before loading the car.
The big charity dates land in the back half of the year. Save the Children runs a winter sale under Winthrop Hall at UWA in August and a second one in the Cannington pavilion in late September, and ParaQuad halves its prices at Shenton Park on one Friday and Saturday each month.
Used bookstoresMainly Books
209A Bulwer St, Perth WA 6000
A general secondhand shop on Bulwer Street, on the Northbridge fringe by its own directions, a 15 to 20 minute walk up William Street from Perth station with two hours of free parking on the street outside. Mainly Books dates itself to 1988, closed in 2007 and reopened in 2009 a few doors up from the first address, and lists philosophy, poetry, plays, jazz, film, Australiana and Western Australiana beside the hardback and paperback fiction and crime. The Northbridge Common Town Team directory entry, with photos uploaded in October 2025, describes a father-and-son business run by Dennis and Greg and adds that they are always buying quality pre-loved books. The shop's own note kept it open on Good Friday 2025 and, against its usual Monday closure, on the Monday before Christmas that year.
Hours: Tue–Sun 10am–5pm; closed MonWebsite Secondhand book warehouseElizabeth's Bookshop Warehouse
23 Queen Victoria St, Fremantle WA 6160
In Fremantle, on the main road into town just over the traffic bridge, the warehouse and office of a family firm that opened its first shop in Nedlands in 1973 and puts its stock across all branches at more than 400,000 books. This is where Elizabeth's buys, and its FAQ is blunt about it: the shelves are packed to the rafters, selection is very tight, you phone the warehouse before bringing anything, nobody values books over the phone and emailed lists are not wanted. The wants list names recent bestsellers, literary fiction, military history, comics, esoterica, art books and orange, grey and black Penguins, while plain donations go in a trolley at the Quarry Street entrance. A June 2026 Destination Perth post pitched the warehouse to its followers as bigger and quieter than the shopfront.
Hours: Mon–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat–Sun 9am–5pmWebsite Secondhand & antiquarian bookshopBill Campbell Books
48 High St, Fremantle WA 6160
In the West End of Fremantle, a heritage-listed building on High Street near the Henry Street corner, with 30 minutes' free parking out front according to its ANZAAB entry. There the shop calls itself principally secondhand but with stock that runs deeper into scarce and collectable copies, and lists children's books, art, early Penguins and Western Australian history, especially Indigenous history, as strengths, backed by gardening, maritime, motoring and philosophy. ANZAAB gives 2005 as its start, and visitors were still posting it on Instagram in June 2025 and June 2026. The ANZAAB and ILAB listings and the Freotopia local-history site agree on the week: closed on Tuesdays, afternoons only at weekends.
Hours: Mon, Wed–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat–Sun noon–5pm; closed Tue
Used bookstoresGuildford Book Exchange
189 James St, Guildford WA 6055
In Guildford, 12 km or so north-east of the city centre, next door to the Guildford Milk Bar, where Perth Is OK found in February 2025 that the cheapest reads wait in boxes out the front and a few go for nothing. Since 2011 everything on the shelves has been searchable in an in-store database, and the shop will post in-store stock anywhere, a service its Facebook page advertised again in June 2026. Swaps follow strict rules: in person only, two boxes at most, one or two outside books alongside any of the shop's own, credit spent on the day before fees eat it, and real money on top worth 30 per cent of the credit you redeem, so $30 of credit needs $9 in cash.
Hours: Mon–Sun 9:30am–4pm; closed public holidaysWebsite Charity book bazaar (ParaQuad)ParaQuad Industries Book Bazaar
4-6 Orton Rd, Shenton Park WA 6008
In Shenton Park, about 5.5 km west of the CBD at ParaQuad Industries' base on Orton Road, a book operation that started in 2013 as an outlet for books donated by the State Library of WA and employs people with disabilities to stamp, sort, pack and sell the stock. Alinea, which runs ParaQuad, calls it among Perth's largest sellers of used and preloved books, and its Facebook page invites shoppers to browse over 160,000 donated books. One Friday and Saturday a month everything goes half price, with Friday opening stretched to 5pm; the September 2026 round fell on the 18th and 19th.
Hours: Mon–Fri 8:30am–4pm, Sat 9am–4:30pm; closed SunWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Perth?
Go charity first. ParaQuad's bazaar at Shenton Park cuts everything by half on a Friday and Saturday once a month, and its Stirling and Willetton op shops carry books alongside the clothes. Save the Children runs dedicated bookshops at Dianella Plaza and Riverton Forum, plus a third at 10 Orchard Avenue in Armadale under the same label, and St Barnabas in Kalamunda gives a whole room to donated books. Among the traders, Guildford Book Exchange leaves its cheapest reads in boxes outside the door, some of them free.
Where do I sell used books in Perth?
Cash buyers are few, and no two work the same way. Elizabeth's buys through its Fremantle warehouse on Queen Victoria Street and asks to be phoned before you turn up, warning that it is very selective and will not quote over the phone, and the Northbridge Common directory says Mainly Books is always looking for quality pre-loved books. For old and rare material, Muir Books is a registered valuer rather than a published buyer. The Guildford and Bassendean exchanges pay in same-day credit, and each $10 of that credit you spend has to come with $3 in cash, and Bella's hands a small credit to anyone donating three boxes or more. Ahead of any trip with a loaded box, photograph the shelf in BiblioScan: it prices each spine it recognises at resale value, so you know which few copies deserve your own listing on eBay.com.au, Amazon.com.au or Facebook Marketplace and which can go into a trade.
Which day is best for book hunting in Perth?
Saturday, since that is when every shop on this page with a published timetable opens, though Muir Books and the charity bookshops at Dianella and Parkwood close at 3pm and St Barnabas shuts at noon. Sunday trims the list to seven: Mainly Books, both Elizabeth's floors, Bill Campbell's, Bella's, Guildford and Bassendean. Monday is thin at the city end, with Mainly Books and Muir Books shut, and Bassendean stays closed until Wednesday while Bill Campbell's takes Tuesday off. For an evening browse, the South Terrace Elizabeth's is the one shop here that publishes hours past 6pm.
When is the big book sale in Perth?
There are two, both run by Save the Children. The Cannington sale in the Canning Agricultural Pavilion was set for 26 to 29 September in 2026, from 9am to 5pm each day, after 27 to 30 September in 2025. The UWA sale in the Winthrop Hall Undercroft ran from 14 to 19 August 2026 and is described by the charity as annual. Between them, ParaQuad's monthly half-price days at Shenton Park fell on 21 and 22 August and on 18 and 19 September 2026.
Which op shops have books in Perth?
Check branch by branch, since a chain name alone promises nothing. The ones on this page have a source for books at that address: ParaQuad at Stirling and Willetton, both singled out by the Book Bazaar itself; Save the Children's labelled bookshops at Dianella, Parkwood and Armadale; the Vinnies outlet in Canning Vale; and St Barnabas at Kalamunda with its fifty-odd metres of shelving. WOW Perth also saw books at the Save the Children warehouse store on Victoria Road in Malaga in July 2025. For the other Salvos, Good Sammy and Red Cross branches, Perth press roundups talk about clothes and homewares, so ring before driving out for books.