Best Second Hand Textbook Shops In Vancouver Near Me

4worldlovers: WE ENCOURAGE OUR CUSTOMERS TO BRING REUSABLE BAGS AND CARRY REUSABLE FABRIC BAGS FOR PURCHASES


In 1985, Ron Fryer first opened the doors of Kestrel Books to the Vancouver public. At the time there were many bookstores around the city (far more than there are today) but reading and book collecting had always been a passion for Ron. For years he had been dutifully packing his tiny townhouse with stacks of books in preparation to open his own shop. As he so eloquently put it, “My wife was patient but I know that she wanted our kitchen table back; every time you turned around, books were everywhere… piled to the ceiling.”

When the original shop on Broadway was damaged by a fire, the business relocated to Cambie street at 16th. Construction of the Canada Line on the Cambie Street corridor in 2006 forced another move across the city to where Kestrel Books currently stands at 3642 West 4th Ave, happily nestled among the tree-lined streets of Kitsilano. The shop is located just west of Banyen Books near Alma Street and Jericho Beach.


Kestrel Books were proudly awarded the Silver Award for ‘Best Used Bookstore in Vancouver’ in the 2010 Westender Newspaper’s ‘Best of the City” awards.

Now well into our third decade as a knowledgeable & reliable dealer of vintage books, we carry rare, fine, out of print & antiquarian books, as well as general inventory. Follow us on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK to get first glimpses of new & exceptional additions to our ever-growing library.

4worldlovers: On Saturday, unbeknownst to us, an Irish pop star named Dermot Kennedy hid a handwritten poem in the shop and then announced on Instagram that the person who claimed it would win a backstage pass for his show at Rogers Arena that night. What then came to pass could be described as an unlikely intersection of the plotlines of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Bye Bye Birdie (but with Irish accents), as the hyperventilating fangirls of the Celtic diaspora descended on our quiet patch of West Pender Street. According to Rod it was great fun, “like Bloomsday came early!” and in that spirit it seems worth reminding you that even though Dermot’s poem was claimed almost immediately, we still have some rare and desirable literary works from another famous Dubliner in stock.

We will officially open our secret on-site art gallery, Gallery Hound, for an exhibit of rare and beautiful poetry broadsides. The first 35 attendees will receive a postcard of Basil Bunting’s advice to student poets (pictured above) plus a commemorative rubber stamp. Where the heck have we been hiding this gallery? The answer will delight our fans and irritate our detractors. Actually it might irritate our fans too. Running an independent bookstore is not about pleasing everybody!

You can enter to win a bag of stuff that communicates “I AM A LOVER OF BOOKS” while paradoxically not containing a single book. Intrigued? As per tradition, former Canadian swimming champion Murray White will do the draw at 6pm.

If you bring a wire clotheshanger, we will fold it into a unique custom bookstand for you. This is also per tradition, which is to say we did it last year and we’ll probably do it again next year unless we can think of a better gimmick.

Rod and Kim will both be in the shop working at the same time, hopefully putting to rest the paranoid theory that Rod is Kim wearing a “Rod mask and wig” and standing on a small riser, or that Kim is Rod wearing a “Kim mask and wig” and crouching slightly. Kim will be wearing her vintage Kiki Suarez “BookWoman” t-shirt and Rod will be periodically consulting F.C. Avis’ The Bookman’s Concise Dictionary. Kim is NOT allowed to consult this dictionary, nor is Rod allowed to don the BookWoman t-shirt. Of course we dream of a day when we are truly liberated from these binary strictures, but Canadian Independent Bookstore Day is not that day. We hope you will join us! And be sure to check out our friends at Banyen Books, White Dwarf Books, Pulpfiction, Kidsbooks, Hager Books, Book Warehouse, Massy Books, Lucky’s Books and Comics, The People’s Co-op Bookstore, and Iron Dog Books to see what they have planned!

Trying to direct local security patrol Honk and Hiss over to our besties Iron Dog Books at 2671 East Hastings who had their float stolen in a break-in this morning. But these two are awfully stubborn and frankly pretty scary and seem unwilling to make the trek, so perhaps we can encourage you - a lover of independent bookstores and defender of virtue, and significantly not a goose - to go there instead. Sure, you might not be able to fearlessly and aggressively guard their premises from vandals and thieves, but you can buy a book or two and show your support for the friendliest neighbourhood bookshop in this city! (At the time of this post, Hiss is defiantly challenging a Range Rover’s passage down the street while Honk watches unimpressed from the curb, occasionally turning to harrass pedestrians. We feel protected but in that uneasy sort of way where your protectors are a pair of sociopathic gangsters.)

A bright lamp aids the reader, and the ecstatic pink flames of a magnolia manage to illuminate the bookstore in a similar way. Maybe it just brightens the bookseller’s mood. Aren’t we fortunate to be magnolia-adjacent here in the 300 block of West Pender!

4worldlovers: Our store is home to over 60,000 books and we are also online with our inventory. You can browse through all the different categories before you come to the store, or you can have the books shipped to your home.

As always, we are interested in your good condition, previously loved books. Come to us to sell or trade your books, before you have your Garage Sale or Fundraiser.

We carry a number of new books in store in addition to our used selection. If we don’t have on hand what you are looking for we can order new books in store for you, usually delivered in less than a week and we even mail them you.

The shop is small but the stock is carefully selected. There’s a mix of new releases and old, as well as fresh books and slightly used. We carry a large selection of current paperback best sellers in all major categories.

If you would like to sell your books in good condition, we will have a look at them. We are interested in hardcovers and paperbacks in exemplary condition. Check our Trade Policies for details.

We are also interested in trading books. Bring some – take some. We will offer up to 50% of our retail price in store credit, based on our assessment of how quickly we think your books will sell.

In the future we plan to come out with our Mobile Book Store to bring a selection of our books to fairs, trade shows and events. Let us know of any venue you would like us to visit with our Book Truck.

If you are offering an estate collection or a large personal library for sale, please contact us to arrange an appointment. A Companion Book Buyer will make house calls for particularly large collections.

Our Team would like to welcome you to our unique bookstore.

We are grateful for all the Google reviews of our valued customers who collectively giving us this fabulous star rating:

"Favourite bookstore in town. The used books are priced fairly and always in great condition. The staff are also super knowledgable and friendly. I have walked out with many great books that have been recommended to me. They will also special order you anything that they don’t currently have in stock."

“The staff at this little gem of a bookstore are really friendly and helpful. The used books are in great shape – most of them look like new. All are shelved according to subject and author so they are easy to find. If you want real customer service, shop here!”

“Love the place. Has so many books for anyone abd everyone who loves reading. The books are arranged in sections. James in the store is awesome and always ready to suggest fabulous books. Once you have read a book you can return it and get store credit. If you have books to get rid of, give it to them in return for store credit. A lovely place to go to and browse, buy and enjoy yourself. There is a fabulous cafe next door, where you can have coffee and read your new book. Enjoy!”

“This is my favorite used book store in the lower mainland. Great selection of paperbacks, hardcovers, new releases, and incredibly rare & hard to find collectors items. The staff are incredibly knowledgeable about all things literature, and given that everyone that works there is friendly as can be, it's always a real treat visiting the store. I'd recommend everyone visit Companion Books, whether you're an avid reader or looking for something to hold you over through quarantine, this is the best book store you'll find around."

“I absolutely love going to this bookstore! The customer service is great, the people are friendly and helpful, and their cat Buddha is so adorable that he’s one of the reasons why I visit this place frequently. “

“Fantastic little bookshop in Burnaby Heights. The staff are friendly engaging and go out of their way to help you. If you’re looking for s book, they don’t hesitate to try and locate a copy for you. New titles and older books. Really good selection and the store is clean and well maintained.“

“Wonderful well sorted bookstore! Lots and lots of books to choose from!! Friendly knowledgeable staff – great big cat that likes petting plus easy parking! The owner and staff is well read and can always help with special orders as well. I’m coming back!”

4worldlovers: From rare books to best sellers, we have what you love to read!

An excellent and changing selection of used books of • literature • non-fiction • sci-fi • mysteries • kids • cookbooks • art books • new age • Buddhist text

I've known Carson Books for years. Never failed to find good deals there.

4worldlovers: Established in June 2000, we're one of Western Canada's largest and busiest bookstores, with more than 80,000 new and used titles in three neighborhood locations.

While our corporate competitors "diversify" away from print into bath towels, bottled water, chocolates & electronics, we're sticking with what we do best: an unrivalled selection of new, used, & out-of-print books chosen by readers, not algorithms.

Our new releases represent the best of what's available in current fiction and nonfiction, with an emphasis on books that will still be read in five, ten, or even twenty years.

Most new books are sold at a discount to Canadian cover price.

Our regular customers say that our Main Street shop has more turnover than any bookstore they've ever been in. Every day sees hundreds of new and out-of-print books added to the shelves.

Regular book sellers know we pay more for used books & bring in "the good stuff" ...the ones they'd rather not sell.

Whether you're seeking a recent Hilary Mantel, an out-of-print Clark Ashton Smith, or that little blue book about a pony you had when you were a kid, we'll either have it on our shelves, or can help you find it.

If we don't have what you want, we order new books at a discount of up to 40% off cover price. We can source almost any book published in North America, even those supplied by US publishers and wholesalers whose titles aren't normally available in Canada.

We also order graphic novels, but not single issue comic books, at discounts of up to 40% off Canadian cover price.

Our special order service is faster and cheaper than ordering online from Indigo and Amazon.ca. Unlike them, we never charge for shipping. And if you order $50 or more of books from us, we'll deliver anywhere in the Lower Mainland at no additional charge.