Where do you buy (cheap) books for children?

[Lolingokay]

I don't know where to get kids' books except for the typical places like Waterstones, Foyles or Amazon. But that can get expensive if you want to buy books regularly/for multiple children. My local charity shop has very limited options. Any advice?

The library is an option to borrow books. My dd loved going there (and still does)

We got most of my dc's books from charity shops. If you find one good charity shop that sells lots of books, you can get most of popular books there as well as hidden treasures.

Or look for a charity shop that only does books. There are a few in some towns not far from me - fairly well-to-do towns
There will be other shops in the towns and things to do, so you could probably justify a trip out of your local area

Online - there are plenty of booksellers on line who sell used boos cheaply

I used eBay almost exclusively. Most books are available for 2 to 3 pounds, cheaper if you're buying a set of books as most of the sellers cost is postage.
If you sort by nearest first, you can often collect.
Actually Facebook marketplace is good as well.

The Works, they are brilliant for kids books

Before covid my local library was busy. Lots of mums with kids.borrowing books

eBay can sell books in a like new condition pretty cheap too

Charity bookshops are great for this and some communities have book exchanges in old phone boxes or similar which are worth looking out for.

Saying that though, sometimes paying for new can work out decent. I bought dd the entire works of Roald Dahl for £30 brand new as a box set. Each book on its own was around £5

With the charity shops, take your used ones in as donations regularly. It's easier to drop off if you don't have many. If you wait until you have a boxful, it's hard work

I am baffled by the comments about The Works only having cheap and poor quality books by not very good authors !!
They sell LOADS of popular books at exactly the same editions as Waterstones etc.
There's box sets of Classic Puffins, Wimpy Kid, Anthony Horowitz, Goosebumps, Narnia, David Walliams (ok - he is a bit naff), Jacqueline Wilson, Enid Blyton etc etc.
You can get box sets or individual ones of Mr Men and Little Miss, Topsy and Tim, Beatrix Potter, even Biff and Bloody Chip if you want to be mean to your children .
They have loads of popular books and writers. Horrid Henry, Rainbow Fairies and similar, Dick King Smith, Shirley Hughes, Meg and Mog, Mog the Cat, even The Gruffalo (and the others) sometimes, Peppa Pig, Thomas the Boring Tank, Disney books....
I could go on and on....
Plenty of good quality decent children's books for good bargain prices.
PS... I don't work for The Works. They are just one of my favourite retailers

The works can be hit and miss depending on your location I think.

My local one is not very good for branded children’s books. They have loads of their 10 for £10 which are their own stuff but none of what you mentioned

Our local The Works isn't very good for selections, but their online is often great.

DD (2) has a box of the Little Miss books for Christmas as she is obsessed with the Mr Men set she was given last year. I got that online, I think it was £26 for the whole set.

I love a secondhand book though, and find ebay is very good for that.

I get the majority of mine from eBay or world of books (now called WOB, weirdly). Prime can be the cheapest for certain books, depends which one but they’re typically cheapest for new books.

We don't- we use our local little free library to rotate our books regularly

@Soubriquet

The works can be hit and miss depending on your location I think.

My local one is not very good for branded children’s books. They have loads of their 10 for £10 which are their own stuff but none of what you mentioned

They have it all online and think delivery is free to store so you could click and collect

Wow I didn't expect so many responses, thank you very much for letting me know about these!
It seems some of these are good for books for adults too. The works looks good, not much online now but that may be because they've sold a lot before Christmas - perhaps a good idea to check in the new year.

The Works

Abe books

But you do need to be selective.

I second the suggestion of TKMaxx/Home Sense, it can be great for finding random but really nice children's books.

I do think good quality children's books are expensive for what they are. Promoting literacy in children is really important and having books at home is key to this.

I tried to look online and see if children's books were exempt from VAT but could not see.

What I'd really is somewhere to bulk order a selection of good quality books online for a discount, perhaps a book subscription service.

My toddler is not yet 3 and already has about 50 books, when I add up the cost it makes me wince!

We are heavy users of our local library, but the quality is hit and miss - too much drivel about princesses, unicorns and fairies for my liking.

I buy second hand through world of books and similar, I look for excellent or very good quality. I've bought series of hardback books, all the same edition so they match, for less than £3 each delivered.

1concernedmummy all books in the UK are VAT free.

I recently discovered that our local Morrisons has a childrens book swap section on the way out. They always add brand new books that are coming off the shelves. I’ve managed to get loads for my 7yo and I just pop them back when he’s done.