books · Ontario

Where to sell books, records and media in Hamilton

3 businesses in and around Hamilton 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 Hamilton that take books

Pawn Kings (Hamilton)

Quote first Not stated — ask
BuysJewellery - rings, chains, watches, Electronics - TVs, game consoles, laptops, cameras, Power tools - drills, saws, compressors, Cellphones and car audio, Collectibles - action figures, coins, comic books, Guitars and bicycles
The dealTheir site describes a "Fast & Easy Buy-Back Process" - bring in your item, instant assessment, get cash - and tells you to "decide if your looking to sell your item or do a buy-back." That is the full extent of it. The pages on their own site do NOT state pawn-loan terms, an interest rate, fees or a redemption period. What is actually on offer has to be established in person or by phone.
Where501 Main St E, Hamilton, ON L8N 1K8
The business name contains 'Pawn' and the site offers a 'buy-back', but neither loan terms nor a redemption period is published. Before you hand anything over, establish in plain words which transaction you are doing: an outright sale, which is final, or an arrangement where you pay to get the item back, which is borrowing. If it is the second, get the rate, the total you must repay and the deadline in writing. A buy-back price is not the same as the price they paid you.
Visit their site →289-389-0757

Pritchard Auctions Inc.

Buys or lends May collect — ask
BuysAntiques and antique furniture, Estate contents, from one item to a complete estate, Collectibles, Jewellery, Coins, Commercial goods
The dealTwo routes, both stated on their site. CONSIGNMENT to auction: "Consignments are always welcome - From 1 Item to complete Estates/Collections." OUTRIGHT PURCHASE: "We will purchase your Items outright." They also offer complete estate services including inventory, pack-up, rubbish removal, delivery and storage. No commission rate is published.
WhereDescribes itself as the busiest auctioneer in the Hamilton-Wentworth region for 34 years, with province-wide on-site auction service. No street address is published on their site - contact by phone.
Auction proceeds are settled after the sale at whatever is bid on the day, less commission; an outright purchase is settled at the time. Ask for the commission percentage, the buyer's premium and any lotting, photography or hauling charges, and when payment is issued - those charges determine what you actually clear.
Visit their site →905-516-2889

Westside Stories

Store credit, not cash Not stated — ask
BuysScience fiction and fantasy, especially vintage, Philosophy, Beat authors, Spirituality and New Age, Mystery, Specific authors including Vonnegut, Pratchett and Lovecraft
Won't takeEncyclopedias, Reader's Digest condensed books, Ex-library books, Books with underlining or highlighting, Water- or smoke-damaged books, Textbooks, Magazines, Videos
The dealIMPORTANT - this is a trade, not a cash sale, and it is not consignment either. Their site states they do not pay cash in store for used books; you receive trade credit instead. Their stated terms: "75% of your purchase can be credit, 25% has to be cash." Trade credit is valid for one year from the last date on the card, is transferable to friends and family, and cannot be redeemed without the physical slip.
Where852 King St W, Hamilton, ON L8S 1K3
If your goal is money rather than books, this outlet does not meet it: you leave with store credit, not cash, the credit cannot cover a whole future purchase because 25% still has to be paid in cash, and it lapses a year after the last date on the card.
Visit their site →905-523-4345
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 Hamilton →

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