St Andrews, the university and golf town on the north-east coast of Fife in Scotland, is thin ground for second-hand books, so set your expectations by the size of the place. The two addresses in town are a short walk apart: Bouquiniste, a family antiquarian shop that has traded on Market Street since 1982, and the Bell Street branch that Barnardo's runs as a book store rather than a general charity shop. Any price you meet on this trail is in pounds sterling.
The third lies some nine miles down the coast in the East Neuk: the Pop In at Pittenweem spreads antiques, collectables and books over two floors off James Street. It has no website, only a Facebook page, so fold it into a day out by the harbours rather than a dedicated book run.
More charity shops dot South Street, Bell Street and Greyfriars Garden, yet their branch pages say nothing specific about books, and the big bookshops in the centre sell new titles. Sellers have one door to knock on in town: Bouquiniste buys as well as sells.
Antiquarian and second-hand bookshopBouquiniste
31 Market St, St Andrews KY16 9NS
At the narrow end of Market Street, 210 yards north-east of the Town Hall, a family bookshop that started life as a stall beside the Market Street fountain and moved indoors in 1982, by the account on its website. Scottish and art subjects are the speciality, with paperbacks, children's books and old postcards alongside; in its bookshop guide of 1 October 2026, The Saint, the student paper, singled out sections for poetry, travel and regional Scottish history. The grid on the contact page is headed as the winter one and closes at 4pm, an hour earlier than the grid archived in July, September and December 2025, and the owners prefer a phone call on 01334 476724 to email.
Hours: Mon–Sat 11am–4pm, Sun 1pm–4pmWebsite Charity bookshop (Barnardo's)Barnardo's Books
43 Bell St, St Andrews KY16 9UR
Barnardo's classes this Bell Street branch, a short block west of the Town Hall, as a book store on its shop finder, and the branch's Facebook page pitches it as a home for pre-loved books, records and CDs. The Saint's guide of 1 October 2026 praised its literary classics, comics and academic stock, handy for students hunting down course textbooks, and on Sunday 18 October 2026 the branch posted a cloth-mounted vintage Ordnance Survey map of the Forth and Tay that it had in stock. Don't mix it up with the charity's general shop at 4 Bell Street, some 80 yards along the same street.
Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–5pm, Sun 11am–4pmWebsite Where can I find cheap used books in St Andrews?
Begin at Barnardo's Books, the charity's Bell Street book branch, where donated classics, comics and academic titles fill the shelves and the door opens seven days a week. Bouquiniste, roughly 400 yards off on Market Street, keeps paperbacks and children's books next to its scarcer antiquarian stock. If you're heading down the coast, the Pop In at Pittenweem keeps some books among its antiques and curios.
Where do I sell used books in St Andrews?
Bouquiniste buys, sourcing from house clearances, auctions and other places, and asks to be phoned or emailed before anyone carries books in; for a larger library it can arrange to come and view. Its wish list runs from Scottish subjects, art, classics and philosophy to history, science and nature, travel and exploration, children's books and fiction of every kind, paperbacks included. To know what a pile is worth before you ring, line the books up so every spine faces the camera and take one picture: BiblioScan reads each spine it recognises and returns a second-hand value for it, so you can see which titles are worth offering to the shop, which to list yourself on eBay, Amazon or Vinted, and which to drop at a charity shop.
Which day is best for book hunting in St Andrews?
Any day works in town, because Bouquiniste and Barnardo's both open daily. Weekdays and Saturday give the longest window, with Barnardo's open from 9:30am to 5pm and Bouquiniste from 11am to 4pm on its winter grid. On Sunday, Barnardo's starts at 11am and Bouquiniste at 1pm, both closing at 4pm; the Pop In promises all-week opening on Facebook without giving times.