Second-hand books in St Johns typically sells for C$4 to C$945 (about $3 to $675). Edition and condition decide the value, and for most books condition decides it almost alone. A first printing in poor shape is usually worth less than a later one that is clean.
Buying books in St Johns
St John’s is the oldest European-founded city in North America, built on steep streets above a narrow harbour, and its economy has run on fishing and then on offshore oil. The weather here is genuinely severe — fog, wind and rain in quantities that shape how everything is stored.
Condition language means different things to different sellers, and a description of good covers everything from crisp to barely holding together. Handling a copy resolves that in seconds and is why serious buyers here prefer to come and look.
What to check in person
Smell a box before you take it, because books stored in a garage carry mould that will move to your own shelves. Confirm nothing is missing from the middle, and on study texts check whether an access code or disc was supposed to come with it.
Collecting it in St Johns
It fits in a bag, so most people meet on the way to something else. A station or a high street works, and neither side needs a car.
The downtown streets are steep and narrow and parking on them is limited, so for anything large agree access before the day. Weather closes roads here more often than in most of the country, so agree a fallback.
Selling your books in St Johns free
Offshore rotations move households on fixed cycles and the oil sector’s ups and downs move the whole market at once. The row-house stock downtown turns over with genuinely old contents attached.
Photograph the spine and the title page, and say plainly whether there is any writing, highlighting or a name inside. For a box of books, list a few titles and price the lot rather than trying to sell them one at a time. Textbooks move around the start of term; everything else is steady with a winter lift.
Interac e-Transfer is the norm and is instant and traceable, which suits a private sale well. It is what most buyers will suggest before anything else.
Books worth listing in St Johns
Elsewhere in Canada
If nothing in St Johns suits, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary each have their own books page, and a seller will often meet part of the way for something worth the trip.
More in St Johns: everything second hand in St Johns, or Books across Canada.
Prices converted from sterling at the 2 August 2026 rate; sellers set their own price.