books · Alberta

Where to sell books, records and media in Calgary

3 businesses in and around Calgary that buy used books from the public — what each takes, and whether you are offered a purchase, a consignment or a loan.

Verified 2026-09-24 from each organization's own website. We are not affiliated with anyone listed here, nobody pays to be included, and we receive nothing if you sell to them.

How to tell what you have got

Before you call anyone, two minutes with the object settles most of it. None of this needs an expert — it needs a flashlight and a look at the back.

  • LPs in almost any genre except classical, opera and overstocked easy listeningLook up the exact pressing's completed sales on Discogs, not its asking prices. Audiopile says it reads the median price rather than the highest, also looks at the "Wants" count to judge sellability, and warns that online prices do not necessarily reflect the local market. Pressing origin matters — it pays more for Japanese, UK and other imports — so read the catalogue and matrix numbers on the label and in the run-out groove, not just the artist.
  • Records you were about to throw out because they look roughPut the visibly damaged records in a separate box and take them along anyway rather than sorting them into the bin.
  • Antiquarian books, modern firsts, fine bindings and local historyLook for a dust jacket present and intact, a date on the title page matching the copyright page with no later printing line, and an author signature. With none of those it is probably an ordinary secondhand book — but anything pre-1900, finely bound, or local history should be seen by a dealer before you decide.
  • Books published in the last five years, and classics in new editionsCheck the copyright page. If the newest date is more than five years old and the book is nonfiction, Halifax is not the stop for it — and its cap is 20 items per household in any case.
  • Children's and teen books printed since 2000, in gift conditionIt specifically wants board and baby books, preschool titles, popular series, graphic novels, non-fiction on nature, animals and space, and books with diverse characters. Its refusal list is short and exact: textbooks, encyclopedias, workbooks, library books, self-published books and damaged books.
  • CDs with no scratches, with their original linersA disc in a wallet or binder that still has its liner meets Halifax's rule. Discs stripped of their artwork are the hard ones to place.
  • Cassettes, where they are collectible rather than commonAudiopile's distinction is between common commercial tapes and collectible ones; a tape recorded or dubbed at home is neither. Sealed or small-run commercial releases are the ones worth asking about.

Rarely worth anything

Not a rule, and not a reason to bin something without asking. These are the things people most often expect to be worth money and find are not.

  • General mass-market paperbacks
  • Reader's Digest Condensed Books and other book-club condensed editions
  • Encyclopedia sets
  • Ex-library books and library discards
  • Outdated textbooks and computer manuals
  • Travel guides
  • Magazines, including long runs of National Geographic
  • Classical and opera LPs
  • Easy-listening and middle-of-the-road LPs
  • VHS tapes and ordinary audio cassettes
  • Used DVDs and Blu-rays, as a sale
  • Anything mouldy, musty, water-damaged, yellowed or heavily highlighted
  • Self-published books and workbooks
  • Hardcovers and spiral-bound books, as a prison donation
Prison book programs take softcovers only, and screen the content Canada — correctional institutions, via Books to Prisoners BC (Vancouver)

Books to Prisoners BC says that most prisons in Canada do not accept hardcover books, so it prefers that you do not donate them; it adds that hardcovers weigh more and cost more to ship. Spiral-bound books are also on its not-accepted list, along with damaged books, pornography, anything explaining how to immobilize a person, Canadian true crime about people currently incarcerated, and books critical of Canadian police and prison systems. Do not mail books to a prisoner directly on the assumption they will arrive.

Read the rule →
Hardcover books must be taken apart before the parts go in the carts City of Calgary, Alberta

Calgary instructs residents to remove cardboard hard covers and spines and recycle them as separate items from the pages, and to put coverless and loose pages into the recycling. Leather, canvas and plastic book covers go in the black cart as garbage. Old and unusable paper books may go in the blue cart or a community recycling depot.

Read the rule →
Discs and tapes that cannot be reused are garbage; only the paper parts are recyclable City of Calgary, Alberta

Calgary directs old and broken discs and tapes — vinyl records, CDs, DVDs and video tapes — to the black cart as garbage, while paper covers, music liners and record sleeves go in the blue cart. Its first advice is to pass usable media on to family and friends, sell it, or donate it to a local charity.

Read the rule →
Tapes, CDs, DVDs and records that cannot be reused go in the garbage; cases and inserts go in recycling Peel Region (Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon), Ontario

Peel Region states that video and audio tapes, CDs, DVDs and records that cannot be re-used may be placed in the garbage for disposal, and that empty cassette or video boxes, printed paper sleeves and inserts go in the recycling cart or a clear or blue transparent plastic bag. Reusable items in good condition may be donated at some Community Recycling Centre locations, where staff have the right to refuse items on inspection.

Read the rule →
Cassettes, CDs and DVDs are not accepted in the Blue Bin City of Toronto, Ontario

Toronto's Blue Bin page names cassettes, CDs and DVDs under other plastics that do not belong in the bin. Books are not listed on either the accepted or the not-accepted side — they appear only in a photo caption of paper items — and the page tells residents to check the Waste Wizard tool when they are unsure, which is the only authoritative answer for books in Toronto.

Read the rule →

3 places in Calgary that take books

CD Trader

Buys or lends Bring it to them
BuysVinyl records and LPs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays, Video games (Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo)
The dealCash or trade-in credit, your choice. The site states "We BUY your gently used CDs, DVDs & LPs" and "We BUY your gently used Xbox, Playstation & Nintendo video games." No rates, percentages or grading policy are published, so the offer is made at the counter on the day.
Where306-3630 Brentwood Rd NW, Calgary, AB T2L 1K8 (Brentwood Village Mall)
The stated condition standard is "gently used", but no grading policy, pricing or list of what they decline is published. Bring a sample box first rather than a whole collection so you can see what they offer and what they pass on. Hours listed Mon–Sat 11–6, Sun 1–4.
Visit their site →403-220-9470

Fair's Fair Books

Buys or lends Bring it to them
BuysGently used books
Won't takeAt the Chinook store, anything other than books previously purchased from Fair's Fair
The dealYou choose store credit or cash, and the site is explicit that credit is worth more. Their published terms: trade credit covers 80% of a book's price with the remaining 20% paid by cash or card, and a book carrying a Fair's Fair sticker earns 50% of its value in store credit. Trade credit never expires and can be used at either location. Cash is available at the Inglewood store only, Friday to Sunday 10am–4pm. Store-credit trading runs Mon–Sat 10am–4pm at Inglewood and Tue–Sat 10am–4pm at Chinook. No appointment needed at Inglewood.
WhereInglewood: 907 9 Ave SE, (403) 237-8156 — the only location that pays cash. Chinook: 104 61 Ave SW, (403) 255-4011 — store credit only, and the site states "Chinook only accepts books previously purchased at Fair's Fair at this time".
If you want money rather than credit, it is Inglewood only and Friday to Sunday only. Taking boxes of general used books to Chinook will be a wasted trip under their stated policy. No quantity limit is published — call ahead if you are bringing a houseful.
Visit their site →(403) 237-8156

Pawnshop Superstore

Buys or lends Not stated — ask
BuysGold and jewellery, Designer watches, Designer handbags, Electronics including smartphones and video game consoles, Musical instruments, Power tools and compressors, Bicycles
The dealTwo different transactions, and you should know which one you are being offered. A PAWN LOAN is secured credit against your item: the site states you have "30 days to repay your loan and reclaim your item", that you "automatically get an additional 7-day grace period", that extensions are available on request, and that there are "no credit checks required". The site describes pawning as a way to "access quick cash using valuable items you already own—without selling them outright". If the loan is not repaid within the term, the item is not returned to you. An OUTRIGHT SALE is separate — they also run a "Cash for Gold" service, and in that transaction the item is gone permanently. No interest rate or fee schedule is published anywhere on the site.
WhereThree shops listed on their own site: #1, 3520 17 Avenue SE (403-248-4547); #125, 6404 Bowness Road NW (587-391-4364); and Quik Cash, 726 16 Avenue NW (403-233-7845 ext 1).
Their pawn-loan page states you need one government-issued photo ID (driver's licence, passport) plus one supporting ID such as a health card, birth certificate, or a credit or debit card in your name. Because no rate or fee is published, the cost of the loan is only knowable at the counter — ask for the dollar figure required to redeem the item and the date it is due, in writing.
Visit their site →403-248-4547
We could not verify this city’s municipal rules for second-hand dealers and pawnbrokers from an official source, so we state none. Check with the City or the province before relying on anything you read about them elsewhere.

Not sure what you have got?

Photograph it and we will tell you what it is and what it is worth — including when the honest answer is that it is worth nothing.

See what it's worth Donate it instead → Everything in Calgary →

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