Good for buying, plenty of selection, but if you're selling, check somewhere else first. They don't give you a very good deal, and the guy at the desk to sell to them is kind of a jerk and doesn't really want to talk to you. It also doesn't have that cozy, small, local feel that I love in secondhand stores. It's more like a cheap Indigo. read more

Ok, This store offers great deals on books and music. You can spend hours there and will usally leave with something. So it's worth the trip to check out. However that being said, most of the staff are Wanna-be Annex Hipsters who are not very friendly. Not all of them but most of them. They know exactly who they are. Go there for yourself and enjoy just ignore the bullshit Annex hipsters. Peace read more

A Toronto institution. A purveyor of discount books. No database. Decent prices! Curmongenly staff.

First off... I am so glad this place managed to occupy that disgusting abandoned building on Bloor that existed for years. Such a prime location and I am glad they put in something useful like a book store rather than another sushi restaurant. BMV is pretty massive. I would think you would have a hard time not finding what you are looking for at this place. They also have used DVDs (and laserdiscs) and I was over-the-moon when I found out they had used vinyl and CDs down in the basement! I try to keep crate digging spots a secret but the odds of finding something good in their vinyl collection is usually rare. It borderlines the selection at Goodwill, but I have found maybe a dozen records there in my time and most of them were under priced. They do work on a system where the older the record the more expensive it seems to be, so you might just want to stick to the late 70s early 80s selections for 3-4 dollars. Staff has always been good, though one time around Christmas I had one of the most rude cashiers I've ever dealt with. It was as if I was inconveniencing him by buying from his store. read more

If you are looking for cheap books, rare books, out of print books, books to sell or trade, then BMV is the place to go. It is a used-bookstore super store, with two floors of thousands upon thousands of titles and a multitude of genres. I've been to both the Bloor Street and Yonge Street locations and I'm equally happy with both. BMV is a book lovers paradise. You will find what you are looking for...eventually. The store is HUGE and you will definitely get distracted about 300 times, if not more when searching for something. It isn't a place you can go to with a specific mission in mind; unless that mission is to become so torn with how many books to put away because you've found so many to purchase....Regardless, BMV is one of Toronto's best book stores, hands down. read more

I love BMV. Like a lot of others have said, I've lately been trying to avoid it due to my being extremely broke. I just can't go in there without a) wasting at least an hour b) buying at least a book or two They have almost any book you're looking for (including newer ones) for ridiculously low prices. A great place to add to your book collection. I also recently discovered the DVD section, and that has been yet another contributor to emptying my wallet! The only downside is they don't have any sort of electronic directory but the staff usually know if they have a certain book or not, so I think it still deserves five stars :) read more

They're a huge bookstore and though many books look new, they have a spattering of used books situated along with the new ones; so if you're looking for the cheap used books, you'll have to do a bit of digging. Most fiction books price between $4-$10 and you can even find a few for $2-3 (not on the greatest condition, but full of the 'old musty book' smell). They have a unique selection, and I usually go here when I need to find a random book that no one has heard of for a long time. The staff are not so helpful and will often tell you 'if we have it, it'll be on the first/second/third floor' which leaves you to find it yourself. I go back when I need to, but I prefer to visit the small, independent used bookstores. read more

BMV Books is a discount/used book store that really feels like a big box book store. There is no question that BMV takes advantage of its size, with 3 floors filled to the gills with books, comic books, dvds, cds and records. They do an excellent job displaying many of the discount books they receive, really earning the reputation as one of the areas most popular book stores. The downside is that the used book aspect of the shop is lost. I enjoy the feel of an old book, and in my opinion a used bookstore should emulate that feeling. BMV, while a great shop, is much more sterile of an environment. It's less of a critique, and more of a personal preference. read more

I can't go into BMV at Brunswick and Bloor and not buy something. Even when I'm just killing time or browsing, I leave with tons of books. There's a HUGE variety fit for anyone, book lover or not, of used and new books at at least half the price of Chapters/!ndigo. A few issues: The staff can be quite rude, snobby and arrogant There is no inventory system Generally the books are minimum a few years old That being said, it is my number one destination for any reading material. read more

I've gone here many times. I love how it opens until 12-ish so when I'm done having dinner I can take some time to check out books. They have a good selection for a used book store (this is my favorite of the three BMVs in Toronto). I've found decent things in the $1 carts, although digging through it is kinda musty. What I don't like is that there's no catalogue system, so when I came by to check for a copy of Godel Escher Bach I had to look in three sections (religion, science, philosophy--and still didn't find it). Another thing is they buy back your old books, but only if the books are published recently and they only pay about $1 each. It's useful, but not really worth it if you're coming all the way downtown to offload 10 hardcovers if you're only getting the bus fare back. read more

It's a hit or a miss for this bookstore. Sometimes you get what you want and sometimes you don't. It's helpful if you know what kind of genre/category you're looking for and not the exact book since there's no organization other than categories :( Bought 6 books for $35 in great conditions! I like how their novels tend to have multiple copies rather than one rare used book here and there. However, rare books tend to be only one single copy. There are three levels, with the third level dedicated for Sci-fi and Comics. Be wary that you have to leave your bag near the cashier register before browsing the comics section; it's also a bit loud on that level but I don't quite mind. It's very cheap, but I would consider some of the books to be more expensive than what I could find in other used bookstores. Regardless, they have pretty good selections per category. read more

Out of all the "BMV" locations, this one is my absolute favourite :0) It's Huge and packed with rows upon rows of shelves covered in books. You can find both new and used books here and all for cheep. The new books go for about half the original cover price, and I have picked up used classic books for as cheep as $2.99. This location reminds me more of a chapters with the way it's set up, but more friendly with no sale's people hassling you. There are three levels to the store, and they seem to have a broader selection when it comes to titles then some of the other BMV's I've been in. The bargain bins outside are also worth taking a look at, you can find some real gems in there sometimes. read more

I always find something interesting when I go. The prices can't be beat. New and used books, CD's and DVDs. read more

This is probably the best of the BMVs in the city. Not only does it house a large collection of books (of every subject) but it's also spacious so you don't bump into people as often as you would at the one near Dundas Square. Only thing that would make it better is if they had a catalogue of the books they have! read more

I'm a little worried about my recent discovery of BMV books...I used to have the same problem with buying half-price books that Rob Ford did with getting high and saying ridiculous things. This store has a good selection, and the prices are even better. I originally thought it was too expensive until I discovered that the prices are actual written in pencil on the first page inside the cover. $6.99 for a slightly used paperback is a good deal! Nice selection...lots of fiction, non-fiction, Canadian authors, etc. It's a wee bit disorganized, but at least some of it is alphabetical by author. Good for a browse when you have some extra time. Like all the bookstores of this type, you can't really come expecting to find a particular book...much better if like me you just wanted some reading material for a trip and didn't want to carry heavy library paperbacks. Overall, a very welcome find in Toronto. read more

I walk past BMV's bright lights all the time, observing the people trying to learn about the world, but just never step in there myself. The big glass windows and diverse clintele make it (almost) more fun to watch people reading than to go and read a book myself. That said, whenever I do go in, I normally don't get very far. Their tables up front tend to have a really good selection of, well, whatever I think is interesting at least, and last time I got sucked into admiring graffiti in New York and fingering the lastest David Sedaris book. I eventually migrated over to the architecture section and admired some books about Gaudí until my friend picked me up. Cruising through the bookstore, I don't think I saw many books over $12. Everything seems to be on sale, all the time, always in good condition, always a sort of curiosity. The one drawback for me is that it is big and bright and spacious and something about it makes me overwhelmed and tired. I generally don't like big spaces like Ikea and shopping malls, but BMV has this effect on me, too. As much as I enjoy the place, I can't stay there for too long. The best part about the whole store is the cashiers. Hands down. They are all super cool, indie chic, friendly, chatty, and efficient. I mentioned to the cashier working last time that I was really, really enjoying listening to her choice of Belle and Sebastian's "The Life Pursuit" and she just opened up and made buying a used book just that much more delightful. read more

If you're a true Torontonian, then you should already know about these places! BMV has a few different locations spread throughout downtown area. It's the local bookstore but the kicker is their "bargain bins" that include different mystery-finds all for 1-2$. I've found some seriously amazin books that i read to this day from these bargain books. The staff and overall vibe you get at these stores is also super chill and friendly! You have to check these stores out :) read more

This place offers wide range of books, collectibles and a level dedicated to comics ! They have both used and new books with pretty reasonable prices. However, I feel like staffs there are not truly friendly (some was chatting, some were quite bothered when I, a foreigner, struggled with my listening skill, asked them to repeat the words again. Some didn't even put a smile on their face... but the 2nd level staff is really helpful, though ). read more

BMV Books - Bookstores Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I just wanted to add an update for this BMV location (no change to rating), as I spent a little time browsing downstairs recently. There is a pretty good selection of vinyl records, mostly new or in very good condition, and priced appropriately. For example, I paid $9 for a lightly used Laura Nyro album, and $20 for a sealed early recording by Blind Willie McTell. Downstairs also has sections of cd's and dvd's and I believe there was also some clothing. read more

A trip to the BMV in the Annex is a mandatory precursor to Tafelmusik and Toronto Consort concerts. Where else can I find books I really want to read for $1? Seriously. There have been some great treasures. The regular remaindered selection is excellent, but those $1 bins put it over the edge for me - heading toward Strand territory. The used c.d. selection downstairs is crazy - usually good jazz/blues/world options in the $8 - $12 range. I've never had much luck in the dvd area, but that likely has to do with my tastes more than the offerings. Great place to pick up a book to enjoy while you're having a pre-concert soup or tea or falafel (gotta review Sarah's for sure). read more

Famous Among U of T student, the BMV book store is a haven of cheap second hand books in mint condition. Every form media is here, from books, magazines, dvd and the occasional lazer disk (remember them!). The thing that set BMV apart from another second hand book store is that you don't realise its a second hand book store. Everything looks perfect, and you would be hard pressed to find a damaged book, however the prices are exactly the same as some places with thoroughly dog-eared copies of pride and prejudices or other such 'classics' In the summer time check out the 50c book bin, for that last minute beach book read more

If I lived closer, I'd go there as much as I could. That said, I still love going to BMV. They have a great selection of books and comics. Oh, I cannot get over the comics. On their third floor, the entire floor is dedicated to comic books. There's a GREAT selection of stuff and the price is SO good. I saw one of the X-men I bought somewhere else for $30 there at $10, which is a sad/happy moment when I realized that I bought something for too much, but now there's this store that sells for a lot less. For a second-hand book store, i hardly saw any book that looked it it was second hand at all. Most of the books there were in mint condition, either really great second hand or brand-new. I wish they had a better selection on art books though (like James Jean's books, or Jo Chen's cover art collection, or Adam Hughes's Cover Run, that kind of art books), not just the fine-art collection they have. If they ever establish that section of the books better, they would be a 5-star place in my books. :D read more

I'm a fan of BMV because of the location convenience and the fact that its so heavily discounted. I always check if they have what I'm looking before I go anywhere else (that includes online) since I avoid the whole shipping cost and waiting period. Only concern is that if the book your looking for is extremely popular, chances are, they may not have it but still make the effort to come in and check. read more

Poorly run purchasing side of the business: The website is designed in the Potemkin village style to deceive potential sellers into thinking that the stores actually purchase CDs. Downtown location - unfriendly purchasing staff: "We only purchase CDs from Monday to Friday." Bloor location - "We only purchase collector's items, no contemporary music." The website should reflect the status quo. I called both stores prior to bringing my books and CDs, and was invited to bring "anything in decent shape". read more

I love this chain of bookstores! However I find the staff at this location to be very condescending, and rude. At the Queen location, they are very willing to help you find a book or talk to you about buying a book. All the staff I talked to here were neither friendly nor helpful. The guy at the red buy back table was especially rude! His attitude and blatant use of the phrase "absolutely not" made me feel unwelcome and condescended to. Would not recommend this location read more

This review is from the book selling (to them) perspective. I tend to appreciate courteous and respecful service like given at Seekers and Elliott's Used Books (I've had experience lately as I'm selling my good quality load to move out of province)... Maybe the guy at BMV was having a bad day and wanted to not acknowledge my thanks for buying my books, but let's just say in terms of customer service, I've experienced better read more

I'm not really a fan of BMV. The staff are not helpful AT ALL and I find it peculiar that they have all these books that are supposedly "used" but in fact look brand new. Remember the guy who had all the bikes for super dirt cheap and they turned out to be stolen goods? I'm just saying that when something is too good to be true, someone is paying for it. Also, they only take cash which is inconvenient. read more

Like so many other posters have already said... Wow are the staff ever rude. So rude that I actually asked to speak to a manager. I shouldn't have been surprised when the manager was even worse than the employee - condescending, defensive, and, well...rude. I asked to speak to the owner and was told good luck - the manager hadn't seen him in 6 months. The selection is hit-and-miss, better prices can be found on Amazon, selling books here is a disaster, and yet, I still shopped here to support local bricks and mortar bookstores. You would think in this day and age with the slow death of the bookstore that the staff at the Annex location could muster up enough customer service savvy to be polite to their loyal customers. read more

3.5 stars! I know that this is a beloved institution in Toronto and there are a LOT of advantages that makes me at least drop in for one or two items if I am passing by. There advantages for me can be summed up as follows: 1- Decent selection of classic fiction. 2- Usually AMAZING deals on brand new books. This almost tempted me into giving BMV the 5*. 3- Very hip front desk staff who have a decent knowledge of areas of general interest! 4- Great hours, especially on weekends. On the other hand, there are a few factors that tip the balance for me and make this a "coulda been the best" bookstore for me! Most of these things can be improved upon, and heck, even if they only improve the first two on my list, they'll rise up to 6 stars in my book! 1- Extremely biased selection: regardless of the fact that most of the books that come to BMV are publisher overstocks or older editions, I am sure they still have some choice as to what they go for and it seems to be almost always the most shocking, popular, or controversial aspect of a topic. As examples, here are things I went to look for and what I found instead: i) A while ago I was looking for a book by Katherine Babayan, a leading scholar in medieval Middle Eastern history, who is able to weave all factors from mysticism, monarchy, politics and arts into a beautiful mesh of...I'm going off track, the point is I noticed they did not have anything from her...that's fine. I looked for books by Firdowsi or Rumi, two of the greatest poets in history....nothing....after looking through the entire history, poetry, religion/mysticism, mythology, and politics collection (through several visits), I was extremely disappointed at what I found; essentially the only books regarding Mesopotamia and the Middle East, where so much of our modern world comes from, is related to wars in the middle east, religious conflicts, terrorism etc. Books from various view points are presented, but as a prestigious bookstore, you can not have hundreds of books on this topic in various categories from world history to religion and politics and not have anything else. any ways / rant ii) There is an African American history section, but then again the selection is quite biased. I was looking for a book by Alex Haley and almost everything seemed to be about Malcom X or MLK. iii) Photography: there is a large selection of books about nude and essentially pornographic photography, there are also many useless manuals about how to transfer photos from your digital camera and print them on a windows 98 OS system. On the other hand there are very few decent books or even manuals that would be useful to photographers. (I may be biased myself for this point!) 2- The video collection is organized poorly. They should just have the titles going from A-Z! 3- Catalogue. There is no catalogue whatsoever! Good luck finding the book you are looking for if you do not know what section it would fall under. This is even worse if you are looking at some subsections where the books do not seem to be sorted in any particular fashion! (I guess the catalogue part cant be helped, but book sorting is not too difficult) 4- GET RID OF THE USELESS BOOKS!!! There are tons of books in the store that no one would need....ever! "Literature" is the one section that seems to be very well maintained. I know this sounds harsh! I still love the place and sometimes will spend hours browsing the collection. I guess nobody is perfect! read more

More like a library than a bookstore, there is no salesperson hassling you. You could enjoy the book for a while.

I head straight for the cookbook section and scour it for great deals. I always leave with 2 or 3 cookbooks. The layout of the section is quite brilliantly organized into type of cooking or region with all the celebrity chefs on the outermost left hand side. This type of organization is not often found in second hand bookstores. If you like cooking and are obsessed with cookbooks, this is the place for you. There is a lot of junk but always some gems. read more

Such a large variety of books for so cheap; compared to indigo this is the bomb! I get my school books an other personal readin things to occupy my time at home or on the train. Very good location an the biggest one I believe. read more

I've been hanging around the area for the past twenty years, so it's nice to see independent bookstores still open despite the invasion of St. Louis Wings and Starbucks around the Bathurst and Bloor area. Pros Decent selection of books with reasonable prices. Cons The sales service is really dismal. I went in today and found a book without the price. I went up to the guys at the buyers desk. I politely asked whether they could price the book for me. One guy completely ignored me and the other one grabbed the book from my hand without even acknowledging me and scrawled a price down and shoved the book back in my hand and gave me a nasty look. I felt so bad I just put the book back on the shelf. I've gone in a few times before and found the same sully atitude unless your someone they find cool enough to give decent service to. Well this will be my last time buying anything here. I'm taking my business elsewhere. read more

These people are only interested if your buying books, if your selling go somewhere else. They are rude(hung-up on, 1st time, fax machine 2nd time, hung-up on again 3rd time), if they have no interest in purchasing books they should change their website and signs and stop abusing customers with their disrespectful attitude. read more

BMV is a wonderful and large bookstore. Has a significant selection of fiction (new, remainders, and used), so you might find what you need, particularly if you're not looking for the very latest. They can't and don't compete on fresh: you need to go to Book City, Indigo, etc. for the current stuff. You're coming here for classics, overstock, and used. You come here to get your C.S Lewis, Dickens, Sartre, George R. R. Martin, a cook book, used pulp fiction, etc. You come in here an walk out with great, cheap books you didn't plan to buy. The non-fiction is a bit skimpy. As an academic I come up well short of what I would need or want, but that's to be expected. The clearance tables are hugely rewarding to look over: it's almost too easy to wind up with great, discounted books in many genres. The atmosphere is well-lit and warm. It's inviting and inspiring: you feel a burning desire to read. There's almost no seating--so you'll probably need to take that inspiration elsewhere. I love the children's section, particularly for gifts. BMV carries a big selection of kids books (all ages), and has a lot of games, puzzles, mixed media that make really affordable and desirable birthday gifts. Kids also enjoy being in this section: bring 'em, especially if you're prepared to hear them beg for a few books. :) The music dept.--in the basement--is worth a visit, as is the comic dept up in the attic. Both of these areas are marginalized, spatially and in terms of volume: neither is what BMV is really offering, but each is a nice bonus. In sum, a marvelous bookstore: a real treasure. read more

BMV Books has a great selection on all genres and great prices on top of that. I like their variety and prices even more. The store is well organized (though I'm personally not a fan of their layout) and clean. I like that the staff let you browse in peace, but are helpful should you request assistance. read more

My favorite bookstore in the world. Such a large selection of comic books but then you also get a larger collection of novels and other books. You can spend $50 here and get around 4-5 items or spend $50 at indigo/chapters and get one book. You get digital things too like CD's, movies etc. read more

I've been coming to this location since I moved to the GTA 9 years ago and there's always hidden gems to find. The prices are unbeatable and selection is vast. Whether you are looking for comics, vintage books, cookbooks, CDs, DVDs, children's books.. Etc you can find it here. If you have time to browse I recommend coming here and spending time wandering around. read more

Oh my god, we are so lucky to have BMV books in our city. There is nothing that you can't find in here. They sell used books, sure. The true draw of this place is that they have an abundance of new books that other book stores don't want for some reason, and BMV sells them for dirt cheap prices. I got a band new Nabokov novel for six bucks, a brand new Chomsky book for eight, and a David Sedaris hardcover for ten when you can't even get the soft cover for that price on Amazon, all of them brand spanking new. The true gem in this place happened to be a copy of Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine. They had a bunch of brand new copies for 10 bucks. I also just happened to be on my way to a lecture by Klein that evening and she just happened to be signing books at the end, to my surprise. So I ended up being able to get my copy autographed. I just happened to come across the book on a day when I was on my way to see her speak. How's that for a little bit of serendipity? Like art books? Well look to further. One whole half of the front part of the store is dedicated to them. And they are all from the 10-30 dollar range for amazing books that you would pay 50-100 dollars for in a "regular" book store or a museum. They also sell some cool music. A damn fine place to go book hunting! read more

Better than the other BMV locations, I can safely say 50% of my book collection is from here. They have most things you are looking for and if they don't, come back next week -- they probably will. Prices are great - you can get new audiobooks for $10, for example. I also love the display tables they have out front.. I have spent hours looking at those and found lots of great options I wouldn't have found otherwise. read more