This page covers Saint John, New Brunswick, the port city at the mouth of the Saint John River on the Bay of Fundy, not St. John's in Newfoundland, and every price on it is in Canadian dollars. Of the five stops, four sit uptown, close enough to cover on foot: Scheherazade on Prince William Street, Loyalist City and Heroes' Beacon roughly 30 metres apart on Charlotte Street, and TD Station on Station Street, which filled with donated books over one long weekend in late August 2026. The fifth is out in Quispamsis, in the Kennebecasis Valley, a drive rather than a stroll.
A few names that searches throw up are left out on purpose. Dave Shoots, Bookseller gave up its storefront at 40 Coburg Street, which CBC News reported in March 2023 would close that December, with the stock moving to online sales. Fablefern Bookshop is an online secondhand shop with local pickup, and The Write Cup in Market Square sells new Atlantic Canadian titles. The big thrift chains on McAllister Drive and Lansdowne Avenue are missing too, because none of the sources checked for this page names a book section at either store.
Used bookstore & recordsScheherazade Books & Music
97 Prince William St, Saint John, NB E2L 2B2
An uptown shop on Prince William Street that the Atlantic Books Today guide to New Brunswick independents, published August 5, 2025, describes as selling gently used literary fiction and nonfiction alongside used CDs and LPs, behind a storefront painted a vivid blue. The same guide notes that you can bring in your old books and trade them for in-store credit. Its Bookmanager website calls itself a work in progress and warns that not every listed item is actually on the shelves, so message the shop before a special trip and it will put the copy aside. Its own hours page opens Tuesday to Saturday and stays shut Sunday and Monday, and the Infobel directory lists the same week.
Hours: Tue–Sat 10am–5pm; closed Sun–MonWebsite Comic shop with back issuesHeroes' Beacon Comics & Games
25 Charlotte St, Saint John, NB E2L 2H3
About 30 metres from Loyalist City on Charlotte Street, a comic and hobby store whose online shop says it has been in business since 2013 and keeps a larger range on the floor than on the web. The part that matters for secondhand hunting is the back-issue boxes: an Instagram reel posted August 19, 2026 said the shop had been buying lots of comics that week and that tons of new material was going into those boxes. Its own tagline adds board games, trading card games, Gundam kits and action figures to the comics, and the site lists a gaming lounge and an events calendar.
Hours: Mon–Wed 10am–9pm, Thu–Fri 10am–10pm, Sat 10am–9pm, Sun 10am–4pmWebsite Charity book saleBig Book Sale (Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saint John)
TD Station, 99 Station St, Saint John, NB E2L 4X4
The arena on Station Street hosts the mentoring charity's Annual Big Book Sale, which CTV News Atlantic, reporting on August 29, 2026, called the largest used book sale in Atlantic Canada and counted at 70,000 to 80,000 donated books around the perimeter, sorted into genres from Canadiana to cookbooks. The organizer ran the 2026 edition from Thursday, August 27, an early bird evening requiring a ticket, through Sunday, August 30, billed as Fill a Box Day, taking cash, debit or credit. CTV put it at its 21st year and second at TD Station, with the previous year's sale raising roughly $54,000, and the City of Saint John calendar had listed the 20th for August 21 to 24, 2025. No 2027 date was published by September 28, 2026.
Hours: Last documented: Thu August 27, 2026, 4pm–8pm; Fri August 28, 10am–8pm; Sat August 29, 10am–6pm; Sun August 30, 10am–1pmWebsite Thrift store with a book nookOut'Fits KV
26 Pettingill Rd, Quispamsis, NB E2E 3R6
Out in Quispamsis, about 17 km north-northeast of uptown, the Kennebecasis Valley branch of a New Brunswick thrift chain that mostly posts about clothing, vintage and a kids' room. Books have a corner of their own here: a Facebook post of September 15, 2026 announced a book nook refresh with lots of new goodies added. The chain runs four stores, in Saint John, the Valley, Fredericton and Moncton, and all four took half off everything from noon on the September 7, 2026 holiday Monday, but the book nook is documented for this branch alone. Its Facebook and Instagram profiles both publish the same week, with late closing every day but Sunday.
Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–9pm, Sun 10am–6pmWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in Saint John?
Watch for the Big Book Sale at TD Station in late August: in 2026 CTV counted up to 80,000 donated copies ringing the arena floor, and its last morning, Sunday, August 30, was run as a fill-a-box session. Between sales, the book nook at Out'Fits KV in Quispamsis got a refresh on September 15, 2026, and the four-store chain took half off everything for the afternoon of Labour Day that month. Scheherazade uptown trades credit for the books you bring in, so a bag of finished paperbacks can pay for part of the next armful.
Where do I sell used books in Saint John?
Scheherazade gives in-store credit for books brought back, according to the Atlantic Books Today guide of August 2025, which makes it a trade rather than a cash sale. Heroes' Beacon buys comics, having said on August 19, 2026 that a week of purchases was filling its back-issue boxes, and Loyalist City Coins, Books & Collectables tells Facebook visitors that it deals in collectibles, coins and books, buying as well as selling. For money, list them yourself on Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace locally, or on Amazon.ca and AbeBooks for a wider audience. Before choosing, set the stack out spine-out and take a single BiblioScan photo: the app tags every recognized spine on that shelf with a going resale price, so you know which copies deserve a listing and which can go to Scheherazade for credit.
When is the big book sale in Saint John?
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saint John holds it at TD Station, 99 Station Street, and calls it annual. The 2026 edition opened with a ticketed early bird evening on Thursday, August 27, then ran Friday to Sunday, August 28 to 30; the 20th edition in 2025 had likewise run from a Thursday to a Sunday in August. By September 28, 2026 the charity had yet to announce a 2027 weekend, so check its event page from early summer; in 2026 its first collection day was Saturday, July 4.
Which day is best for book hunting in Saint John?
A Saturday gets you the most: Scheherazade, Heroes' Beacon and Out'Fits KV are all open, and Loyalist City is a phone call away. Sunday and Monday take Scheherazade out of play, although Heroes' Beacon and Out'Fits KV both open those days. For an evening run, Heroes' Beacon stays open until 10 on Thursdays and Fridays and Out'Fits KV until 9 from Monday to Saturday. In August, look up the Big Book Sale before anything else, since in 2026 it filled the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of August 28 to 30 at TD Station.