books · British Columbia

Where to sell books, records and media in Vancouver

3 businesses in and around Vancouver 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 Vancouver that take books

A-1 Trade & Loan Ltd.

Buys or lends Not stated — ask
Buysgold and natural diamond jewellery, watches, electronics, musical instruments, cameras, video games, Native art
Won't taketools, bicycles
The dealA Commercial Drive fixture. They make pawn loans — their site invites you to "borrow against jewellery you own" — and they also buy outright and resell, and take trade-ins on used electronics. Their site states plainly "No Tools & Bikes", so do not haul a toolbox down there. No interest rate, loan term or redemption period is published anywhere on the site; they direct you to call or come in.
Where2641 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5N 4C3
Because no rate or term is published, ask for both in writing before you pawn. A pawn loan is credit secured on your item: miss the redemption date and the item is forfeited. Their posted hours are short (10am-4pm), and the Vancouver by-law bars any dealer from taking your item in after 6 p.m. in any case.
Visit their site →604-875-8005

Audiopile Records

Buys outright May collect — ask
Buysvinyl LPs and singles across all genres, CDs, selectively, cassettes
Won't takeclassical vinyl, opera vinyl
The dealCash on the spot, or store credit worth more. They state they pay "anywhere from 1/3 and up to 1/2 of the value of a record" in cash, with the better end going to records that are more valuable or easier to sell, and they add 30% to the cash figure if you take store credit — so $100 cash becomes $130 in credit. Common CDs are typically $1-2 each, 50 cents to $1 if lightly marked; common cassettes around $1, more if collectible. They are "open to all styles and genres except classical and opera."
Where2016 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC
They will not quote from a list over the phone or by email — the records have to be seen. For a large collection they do house calls "just about anywhere in the Greater Vancouver area (and beyond for more sought after collections)", but they prefer to discuss what is in the collection first. Classical and opera are refused outright, which rules out a great many inherited collections.
Visit their site →604-253-7453

The Paper Hound Bookshop

Quote first Not stated — ask
Buysused books, from single volumes to entire libraries
The dealTheir own words: "We are always buying books, from individual volumes to huge libraries." They ask that you "call first to arrange an appointment if you are hoping to bring in more than one box of books." The payout basis is not published, and no payment methods are stated on their site.
Where344 West Pender St., Vancouver, BC V6B 1T1
No percentage or price guide is published, so there is no way to know in advance what a box is worth. Call before you load the car if you have more than one box. They note their social media is only sporadically monitored and prefer email (thepaperhound@gmail.com).
Visit their site →604-428-1344
MUNICIPAL RULES ARE WHAT ACTUALLY AFFECT YOU. I could not verify the claim that British Columbia has no pawnbroker statute in force, so that claim has been removed rather than published. What is confirmed is Vancouver's Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbrokers By-law No. 2807, consolidated for convenience to 16 September 2025 (amended to include By-law No. 14443), read directly from the City's own consolidated text at https://bylaws.vancouver.ca/2807c.pdf. BRING PHOTO ID OR YOU WILL BE TURNED AWAY. Both secondhand dealers (buying outright) and pawnbrokers (lending) must confirm your identity by "picture identification" and record a complete description of it and the name of the authority that issued it (ss. 2.2(b), 3.2(b)). The by-law defines picture identification (s. 1.2) as one of the following, bearing a photograph of the holder: a valid driver's licence issued by a Canadian province or territory; a BC Services Card or other photo identity card issued by the Province of British Columbia; a passport issued by a legitimate government; a certificate of Indian status; a certificate of Canadian citizenship; a conditional release card issued by Correctional Services Canada; or a valid Canadian permanent resident card. A credit card, a bus pass or an expired licence does not qualify. The dealer must also record your name, residence or street address and birth date; a complete description of the property including make, model and serial number; the price paid or the amount advanced; the precise date and hour; and any identifying marks (ss. 2.2, 3.2). Other confirmed by-law facts: - You must be at least 18. A dealer must not purchase from, and a pawnbroker must not take a pawn from, anyone under 18 (ss. 2.15, 3.15). - No evening deals. A dealer must not purchase property, and a pawnbroker must not take property in pawn, between 6 p.m. of one calendar day and 6 a.m. of the next (ss. 2.13, 3.13). A shop may be open, but it cannot take your item in. - Anything whose serial number or other identifying marking has been wholly or partially tampered with or removed will be refused outright (ss. 2.14, 3.14). - Police reporting is daily. Shops on electronic registers transmit entries to the Chief Constable electronically (ss. 2.11, 3.11); shops on handwritten registers must hand-deliver a photocopy to the Chief Constable at the Vancouver Police Department, 3585 Graveley Street, between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on each business day (ss. 2.10, 3.10). Registers are kept within BC for seven years after the last entry (ss. 2.9(b), 3.9(b)). Selling second-hand goods in Vancouver is a recorded transaction, not an anonymous one. - Holding period. A shop cannot repair, alter, dispose of or remove an item for the longer of 35 business days (electronic register), 49 business days (handwritten register), or the number of business days the police direct, not exceeding 90 days (ss. 2.19, 3.20). If you pawned rather than sold, s. 3.19 preserves your right to reclaim the item inside that window by paying the debt and interest owing. - A shop licensed as both must physically separate purchased goods from pawned goods and individually tag each item to show the date and whether it was purchased or taken in pawn (s. 2.21) — a useful sign of a properly licensed operator. - In the Downtown Eastside, both secondhand dealers and pawnbrokers may only remain open from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. (ss. 2.23, 3.21). Burnaby, Surrey and Richmond license under their own bylaws, so holding periods and reporting hours differ there; I did not read those bylaws, so call ahead if your shop is outside the City of Vancouver. SCRAP YARDS ASK FOR ID TOO. Richmond Steel Recycling states all material suppliers must provide valid government-issued photo ID to sell scrap metal. ABC Recycling requires a valid driver's licence or other government-issued ID and that you drive in with a four-wheel vehicle — bicycles, motorcycles and taxis are not allowed.

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.

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