Downtown Book Exchange — Dunedin Central
A secondhand bookshop in Dunedin Central, Dunedin. Part of the Dunedin & Port Chalmers secondhand bookshops directory — see also our NZ used-book price guide.
No rights-cleared photo yet — our own photos coming soon. Open the map pin for the street location.
About
Downtown Book Exchange is Dunedin’s central-city reading-copy shop: a Princes Street exchange where you can buy a paperback outright or bring it back afterwards for credit. It is the antidote to the hushed antiquarian shop — practical, fast-moving and stocked for people who read a book or two a week.
The Spinoff grouped it with South Dunedin’s Zodiac exchange as “the bookstores of true readers”, noting a lean toward romance novels and jigsaw puzzles alongside plenty of genre fiction. If you are after a stack of holiday reading rather than a first edition, this is the efficient stop.
It sits just along Princes Street from Dead Souls, so the two make a neat contrast on the same block. The Salvation Army Dunedin City Family Store is a little further south at 557 Princes Street.
Price tip: Spinoff example: around $5 for an Agatha Christie, or trade books back in for a small credit.
What you’ll find
Mass-market fiction — romance, medical romance, crime, cosy mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, westerns — plus jigsaw puzzles. Exchange credit for books you return.
Practical info
- Address
- 426 Princes Street, Dunedin Central, Dunedin 9016
- Hours
- Weekdays from about 10:30am to 5pm; Saturday until mid-afternoon — directories differ, call ahead
- Phone
- 03 477 8780
Online directories list slightly different weekday and Saturday hours; phone before a special trip.
Visitor notes & reviews
“In a way, these are the bookstores of true readers.”
2024-05 · The Spinoff