Open: 9:00 - 7:00 every day, including Sundays and all Bank Holidays (apart from Christmas Day).
All categories of books. With 350,000 books, one of the largest secondhand bookshops in Britain. 'The British Library of Secondhand Bookshops' - The New Statesman.
It really is in an old railway station and it really is BIG. Calling it a shop does not do Barter Books justice, it is more of a day out. For the dedicated collector it could easily take several hours to peruse. Alnwick is a pretty market town and Barter Books is located in its old railway station, easily found from the A1. The platforms have been filled in and the now enclosed main concourse has become the main retail area, but the various rooms and waiting areas are used as well. The main children's section for instance has it own room with soft toys and seats to sit on whilst the children peruse the titles, if they are not distracted by the toy train that runs around the tops of the bookcases in the next room. There are coffee and biscuits to be bought and consumed in the reading room or the in the comfy chairs beside the fire. The main stock ranges from collectable books in glass cases on the walls to row upon row of paperbacks, from LPs to CDs & DVDs. They have a large selection of paperback and hardback fiction but there really can be few subjects that they do not cover. On a winter's day the main concourse area can be cold and while the shop never feels full the car park is tight to manoeuvre in and out of when busy. Their pricing, oddly, rarely seems to end in a round pound or 50p but that is all part of the charm. Really not to be missed. Jeremy Briggs
Lovely shop, but grotesquely expensive, at least for anyone used to London bookshops. Which may be why one can recognise books one glanced at and put back after shuddering at the price years earlier. Geoff Hatherick 22.07.08
Twee, self-satisfied and overpriced, but wonderful if you like gimmicks and are prepared to pay prices that are clearly set to fund the extras and the large staff. I really didn't feel that it was worth the diversion off the A1 and that I would have been better off looking elsewhere. Steven Pedlar 17.11.08
This bookshop should really change its name. It claims to barter books but has twice now refused to barter books having previously agreed to do so. It doesn't do what it says on the tin! Pretentious and expensive. Not worth a detour. Stuart Tucker 02.12.08
This place makes my blood boil. They have worthless titles at inflated prices yet refuse to be told of their misrepresentations both on the internet and across the counter. As an example one £84 priced book has half its pages missing and is worth about £3. I have yet to purchase a quality title from this organisation. Chris Harte 14.04.09
What a pleasant surprise. Instead of the 'old' ways which used to annoy me, I found an organisation which had helpful, knowledgeable people; prices which reflected books' correct value and a bartering system which was being used all during my three hour visit. I purchased four expensive books and came away feeling that both sides were satisfied. The sea-change here is to be welcomed. Chris Harte 29.05.09
While I rarely review prices, since one man's bargain can be another's nightmare depending on what you are used too, I do agree that Barter Books can have some laughably high prices on their collectable titles (particularly given the condition) but there are still bargains to be had amidst the massive stock. Whatever is said here, the sheer number of people in the shop at weekends and the queues that can form at the tills shows that they are obviously doing something right. Jeremy Briggs. 29.06.09
Worth going because of its size and the terrific building itself.But most books overpriced by 30 to 40 % hgilma2374 26.07.10
Contrary to other reviews I found the prices of the science fiction books to be most reasonable. Shop is very large (certainly the largest in the North East). You can park for free and it has toilets which are handy. Shop is very spacious inside and items are stored by subject area and not scattered. Iain Baille 22.11.10
This place just makes me angry! The only time in my life that I've ever lost my temper in a shop is when despite offering 10% discount on purchaces over £30 they refused me as one of my books cost over £30! When will the owners realise that they'll sell many more books if they charge reasonable prices. The irony is that its cafe is one of the cheapest and best in the area and definitely WAD.!!! How infuriating is that! PaulP 05.11.11
Top bookshop and WWAD - indeed well worth planning a holiday around a visit. Long may they run. Steven Whitehead 13.07.12
Just paid 3rd visit and still bought nothing. Over-priced. Most of it rubbish really. Childrens section really pitiful, full of books due for pulping. Never has a shop so much flattered to deceive! Lionel 08.09.12
Interesting setting but variable stock and prices. Popular venue but overall disappointing. I've been to far better, smaller shops. SteveBrissle 26.09.13
Although worth a visit if you are in the area, this shop isn't nearly as good as it claims. The criticisms of some other commentators here are amply justified. It isn't a patch on Bookcase, on the other side of the Pennines in Carlisle. Geoffrey Warner 21.11.13
First, 3 bits of good news: (1) Barter Books has a huge, very varied, interesting and rapidly-changing stock; (2) it has an excellent (if often full) coffee shop; and (3) after more than 15 years of frequent visits I finally managed this week to make eye contact with a member of staff, albeit a French temp. Now for the bad news: (1) it's the polar opposite of your usual friendly local secondhand bookshop, vast and impersonal, usually full of people wondering what else to do in Alnwick after visiting the Alnwick Garden; (2) its music, which used to be pleasant, relaxing, and mostly classical, is now often strident and nearly drove me out of the shop last week; (3) prices are high, often absurdly so; and (4) the stock is not looked after carefully: there is so much footfall that even quite expensive books soon become dog-eared and, as like as not, dumped by some browser in the wrong section. I buy a lot of books at Barter but it's my least favourite bookshop - I suppose we should be grateful it's still there, however. Brian Cox 03.07.15
Thin pickings for book collectors but still rather heartening to see a secondhand bookshop full of book buying readers requiring two tills to manage the queue. Simon Procter 26.08.17
The chap who used to price the books here retired last year so I thought I'd check to see if the new regime meant more realistic prices...NO ... not for non-fiction. The starting price seems to be £8.60 regardless of condition etc, this jumps to £12.60 and £15.60 for newer books then £24.60 and £34 for their cheap collectibles eg tatty leather bounds or even ex library books. Then of course the real collectibles in the glass cases seemingly starting (bizarrely) at £98 .. nice to look at but who would be daft enough to buy them? These prices as someone else has said ... are laughable. On the positive side I detect some weeding out of the dross in the sections I looked at and of course the cafe is great and there are plenty of places to sit and relax while you despair at the cost of a £3 book priced at £15.60! PaulP 23.10.17
A tourist mecca during the summer which makes parking, access and browsing extremely difficult. Don't appreciate the shop's ink stamp being placed next to the price inside the cover. The huge footfall ensures that many books are manhandled and treated with disrespect. Found a few titles that were without prices: given the crazy costing structure I wasn't about to take them to the till as I figured I would be disappointed. There is a vast amount of titles within the premises though, plus the cafe is lovely. Can't help feeling that it is a complete tourist trap and priced accordingly, however. A good place to keep out of the winter chills in Alnwick - but avoid like the plague in summer! Graeme Rendall 30.08.18
Well I visited this morning expecting what these reviews and other reports suggested. And indeed I found enough examples of inexplicably high prices, often for damaged or damp-stained books. As a general rule, for say the example of a modern non-fiction paperback, what might be £3.50 in some Oxfams would be £4.90 here.
But then, the TWO books I bought (I'm the person who once went through the whole of Hay without making a single purchase). I paid £9.60 and £12.60 for two c.1950 London photograph books, both in fine condition with good dust jackets and therefore at a good price.
I think their huge size forces some odd working practices on them, which they currently seem keen to justify and to demonstrate their reasonableness (e.g. in handouts explaining what they can and can't buy), and which I understand up to a point. But I thought it odd in a shop of this size that there was a sign limiting deposit of books for valuation to ten per household per day, and suggesting the local auction house to people with more to dispose of.
On the plus side, the hundreds of thousands of books on sale virtually guarantees anyone with a large wants list a high chance of an elusive find they'll be glad to pay their price for. Adrian 07.04.22
As has been said before, there are a lot of books here but some of the pricing is, to my eyes, odd. However I was pleased to find several books within my budget and the bacon butty from the café was splendid. As I visited during the school holidays (I am a teacher so I have to live with it) the shop had rather too many bored children (or grandchildren to be pedantic) but there is room to move. Car parking is not for the faint-hearted and nervous drivers may be more comfortable using one of the town centre car parks and walking. Some of the shelving of fiction titles was somewhat arbitrary. For example, if you are looking for a Hornblower title you will need to check under 'Military Fiction', 'Historical Fiction' and perhaps even 'Classics'. There is bound to be something in there somewhere but perhaps not where you would have put it yourself. Certainly worth a visit when in the area but I would not make a long detour myself. Steven 23.04.22
The business model used in this shop is obviously working as there were plenty of customers and no room to sit in the excellent looking cafe. Others have commented on the generally high prices, but I did find a couple of unusual items to buy at what I consider reasonable prices. Wessexman 23.05.22
Barter Books is much trumpeted and I have wanted to visit for ages. The combination of an old railway station housing many thousands of books with a cafe to boot, had my mouth watering.
This being half term, many families were visiting with children and young adults, clutching handfuls of books – a sight to warm the heart of your cockles, if you had not tripped over several of the more junior representatives.
Entering the bookshop one is greeted by a wood-burner and paperback fiction. One of my bugbears with this place is that fiction is scattered all over the place.
Penetrating further into a promising realm, history is well catered for. Classic children’s literature seems oddly thin (having just looked again at the reviews - Thank you Steven - I should, perhaps, have sought WE Johns in Aviation and Arthur Ransom in Maritime…) and the odd rain like noise turned out to be be the trains running along the tops of shelves. An interesting USP but they were barely visible and I am quite tall.
Working my way through modern hardback fiction, I did find a few books but the prices were rather off putting. I concur with the previous reviewers’ observations on quality as well. They seem to do a Skoob - halve the jacket price! Or perhaps they are guided by Amazon or ABE.
I did buy several books bit would have had more, had the prices been on the right side of reasonable. I am glad I have been but I am not sure I will go again. NWAD - at least not from Cambridge. Firedrake 26.10.23
Some surprisingly luke-warm reviews about Barter books so far which is greatly unjust.
Barter Books is an Institution, and as an Institution it can be full of lunatics dragging children; (bless them), whose parents find its free entry preferable to an Alnwick Castle family ticket.
It is hugely popular with the public, it’s on the tourist circuit. Due to its winning combination of bookshop/barter system/cafe/open fires/toilets/free parking and a dry roof in bad weather.
Parking outside is however a nightmare. The long linear parking lot is often busy & takes some negotiating. Only if lucky you can get something near the entrance.
Tip-walk in from town, it’s not far - the world is changing & your car will become an unaffordable and offensive dinosaur in the next 10 years. Once inside disabled access improves with no steps, all on one floor, toilets male & female & one disabled toilet. A good wheelchair viable pathway exists up to the front door from the lower street level. Be aware once inside the selling space is large and mind enlarging.
I love the place though and get there as often as possible. The Manleys business model of book bartering with its antiquated paper index filing record gives a sense of reassuring trust. I arrive after a year's absence and get “ah yes Mr SaltaireTom your account is tuppence in credit”. The stock is huge and BB is affectionately described by a previous magazine reviewer as ‘The British Library’ of secondhand bookshops. Barter Books is welcoming, eccentric, eclectic, cavernous, quirky, and a place for bibliophiles to while away many long hours. It’s an Everyman experience that caters for casual readers, collectors, children, the curious and the die-hard deep-pocketed bibliophiles but the latter beware because book mining skills akin to the Mines of Moria for bargains are needed. Stoicism, persistence and experience count yet the huge scale of this booky enterprise ensures there is ultimately something for every general reader & collector. I won’t go deeply or describe the various book categories. It’s so large that exploration is half the fun. The stock turnover levels avoid stagnation for this occasional visitor. The glass cabinets hold the best stock though the prices can be challenging but note shop prices are designed to be cheaper than the online catalogue price.
The Station Buffet cafe is top notch and works hard and bless the staff who are busy but always polite. The overspill cafe seating area in The Waiting Room is even better than the buffet room & often has a real fire. My personal menu suggestion is the warm cheese scone which is just huge and so very.. cheesy.
Shop brand merchandising also has its place. Mugs, biscuits, posters etc. Oh, and everyone- I mean everyone just loves the little train. Just go - especially if you have saved ‘tuppence’ behind the counter. SaltaireTom 30.03.24
Went on the same day as Saltaire Tom to introduce my daughter to Barter Books on her 20th birthday. Suffice it to say both she and her Mum were entranced. We didn't spend much, but good to see the second hand book trade doing well here. The cafe was too busy for us to use, a queue for the loos and cabinet prices made me wince - but we loved the place. Spent a few groats on a couple of quirky titles, but that's the joy of the place, you never know what you will find... Anthony 01.04.24
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