Sell books, buy books: the neverending cycle

August 7, 2006 11:15 AM

Any recommendations for good used book shops in London?

I need to sell some of my political science tomes, plus some novels. I also need to find a good place to buy really cheap used paperback novels that I can take with me on a long trip through Europe -- I'd like to be able to leave them behind as I finish them without feeling bad about how much money I'm tossing. (I'm into what I guess you'd call general "literary fiction"/classics.) I'm thinking the book sale under Waterloo Bridge is a good first place to look in terms of buying -- other suggestions for where to buy, and where to sell? Thanks!

posted by hazelshade to Shopping (10 answers total)

Well, for buying books, I love Books for Amnesty, 139b King Street, Hammersmith W6. (Nearest tubes are Hammersmith and Ravenscourt Park.) It's brilliant for fiction paperbacks and overstock, around £2 or £3 a pop.

As for the booksale under Waterloo Bridge, erm, you didn't mean this guy, did you?
posted by randomination at 11:23 AM on August 7, 2006

Oxfam has a dedicated bookshop on Marylebone High Street where you can find cheap and interesting paperbacks, many of them proof copies of books that I've never seen in Waterstones.
posted by essexjan at 11:28 AM on August 7, 2006

Walk down Charing Cross Road need Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden and Leicester Square... there are tons of them!
posted by k8t at 11:45 AM on August 7, 2006

Avoid the overpriced books under Waterloo Bridge, go charity shops. You'll usually find something of worth in the smallest of shops, but essexjan is right, the Oxfam bookshops are the best. My fave is the one on Strutton Ground, near Victoria Station.
posted by einekleine at 11:56 AM on August 7, 2006

http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper/uk-lond.htm
posted by TheRaven at 1:14 PM on August 7, 2006

Gloucester Road Bookshop. Come out of Gloucester Road tube station, turn right (like you're heading to Chelsea), go across the crossroads, and it's on the left-hand side of the road about 2 minutes walk from the station. Small, but you can't miss it, because it looks just like a second-hand bookshop should look.

There's a great pub next door, too: The Hereford Arms.
posted by veedubya at 1:48 PM on August 7, 2006

Skoob is the best
posted by gravelshoes at 2:09 PM on August 7, 2006

k8t is right -- wander from trafalgar to covent garden via charing cross and you'll see lots of great used bookshops.
posted by leemajors at 2:31 PM on August 7, 2006

BookMooch was just profiled on BoingBoing this week. Seems cool, though I've not tried it.
posted by ivarley at 5:54 PM on August 7, 2006

You might get a better deal selling your books on ebay. Buying used, I'd say Oxfam is your best bet, though this is only a Yank's experience.
posted by brujita at 9:36 PM on August 7, 2006