This is part of my series on Building Your Chinese Library. Check out my previous, related post on All About Buying Books in Taiwan.
Updated July 2021 with new bookstores I found this year and took out old bookstores that I no longer buy from.
This post is by no end an exhaustive list of all the places where to buy books in Taiwan, nor a list of the cheapest bookstores. But rather some of my favorite places for books in Taiwan.
You can always be looking for that cheaper bookstore. As I mentioned in my overview post, a super good deal is 65% of list price. The cheapest option is easy to find online if you can pay by Cash/ATM Transfer, then carry the books back yourself. This option is only available for people with relatives in Taiwan or people who go back often. For me, I try to find stores that accept US credit cards and is wiling to ship to me in the US.
Since it’s the end of the year and my Dramabeans kdrama year-end reviews are fresh on my mind, I’m going to do something similar, give each bookstore a little verdict.
Note: In Taiwan, prices are talked about as a % of list price, rather than % off. So 70% list is really 30% off.
Here’s a handy dandy map of all the bookstore in Taipei. I know the post says bookstores in Taiwan. But there aren’t that many big chains in the other cities. For those you always just look for Mollie or Eslite or just google bookstores.
New Books
In general, your big bookstores will sell at 80-90% of list price and your discount bookstores will sell at 75% of list price. So there is no reason to be super excited when you see a big local bookstore in a train station. The discount is the same, and often inventory the same.
If you keep an eye out and sign up to mailing lists, many of these big bookstores will run promotions, often monthly. Notice the discount still gets you just 75% of list price.
So here’s the TL;DR version. For an afternoon of browsing, I send people to Eslite or Tsutaya. For serious book buying, go to Bookstar. To buy online overseas, use books.com.tw, use Momo for Taiwanese credit card local purchase.
1. Eslite 誠品 & Tsutaya 蔦屋
http://www.eslite.com & http://www.tsutaya.com.tw
Eslite (pronounced elite) is your Star*** of books. Lovely layout, great for browsing, good for sending beginning Chinese book purchasers and those people who ask “I only have 3 hours/3days/2 weeks in Taiwan, where do I buy books?”
The elementary school section is mostly the same across any bookstores. You have your Chinese literature, tons of translated works (fun reads), section on 成語 or composition, and non-fiction comic books.
Eslite is a good place check out your newest and most popular books. It’s the only reason I go to Eslite now adays. I seldom buy books there anymore. Cost-wise, Eslite is one of the more expensive bookstores.
Another place I like to go and browse books for an afternoon is the Tsutaya bookstore right in the Nangang 南港 Citylink mall, reachable by MRT. You get good delicious food in the mall when you’re tired of looking at books.
Verdict: Go to compile your book purchase list or if you’ve only got 2 weeks.
2. Books.com.tw 博客來
Books.com.tw is my go to place for a quick book buy when I don’t care too much about getting a discount. It’s your Amazon of Taiwan.
Sometimes they have these great deals, like my purchase at 50% list price of Little Tim. Though I’ve never managed to find these deals clicking on their promotion pages!
Their inventory info is usually very accurate and shipping is almost always next day or 2 days for Taipei. Price-wise, it runs from 80-90%, about the same as Kingstone, unless it has a promotion, in which case it can be way cheaper than your discount bookstores. You can purchase with an American credit card, and they ship to the US.
For reliable, no fuss overseas purchase from big chain stores, this would be my choice.
Verdict: Great place to buy when you’re in a hurry.
3. Kingstone.com 金石堂
Kingstone is another online bookstore. Sometimes, their prices are just a tad lower than books.com.tw, though often they’re the same. I often price compare between these two stores and buy from whichever has lowest, especially if I’m not in a hurry.
Their inventory isn’t always accurate but they will cancel your order automatically if they can’t get the books for your in 14 days. Because of inventory inaccuracy, I tend to feel they’re slower in the shipping department. Though they do have a 3 hour delivery service in Taipei, at the same price, for some of their books.
Cost-wise, they also run your 80-90%, with some deals. You can purchased with an American credit card, and they ship to the US.
Verdict: An alternative to books.com.tw, don’t bother unless you can’t find your book elsewhere.
4. Bookstar 彩繪
http://www.bookstar.com.tw
台北市南昌路一段59巷7號 （中正紀念堂 CKS MRT, Exit 2)
02-23410650
No book purchase trip in Taiwan is complete without a trip to Bookstar.
Bookstar turned into my favorite go to place for books. Their bookstore is a tiny store front off of CKS MRT stop. But it’s crammed to the max with interesting books I don’t typically see at Eslite. Plus they have board games and textbooks 參考書!
They’re super responsive, fast, and very willing to work with my requests, like shipping out whatever books they had in stock and checking in with me to see if I received the boxes. I found their Line account and the sales lady would return my texts at 8-9pm at night. In fact, I conducted most of my transactions via Line.
We bought so much at this bookstore, our Miyazaki chapter book sets was the cheapest here, Catan and other board games, custom ordered back issues of magazines, and other random books. Inventory info online may not be accurate.
The only sad thing is that they only take cash or ATM transfers. No US credit cards. However, they are willing to ship books to the US and they pack their boxes extremely well, second only to Mr. & Mrs. Books.
Cost-wise it’s around 75%, which is your typical rate for discount bookstores. But for the customer service and selection, it’s a great value!
Verdict: The place I send all my serious book buying friends to. And I don’t think anyone has been disappointed.
5. Nanmen 南門
http://www.nanmenbookstore.com.tw
中正區羅斯福路一段94號 （中正紀念堂 CKS MRT, Exit 2)
02-23223488
FB: https://www.facebook.com/nanmenbookstore/
Right around the corner and several blocks down from Bookstar is Nanmen. Their store front has a small selection of your typical picture books and chapter books and tons of old set books in boxes. This bookstore’s strengths is their online Facebook store and selling out of print or soon to be out of print set books.
It seems that often publishers ask them to sell books that have been published awhile (10+ years ago) and they need to get rid of inventory. This is where I found super duper cheap 星期八 magazines. Fleur got talked into a $400 NTD set of very 15 fairy tale books, published a long long time ago. Another friend bought 3 sets of books (32 books total) for only around $3000. They’re the only place that sells the new version of 華一’s 華一兒童通俗文學.
Cost-wise, their new books are around 70%-75% but because the selection of new books in store is tiny, I didn’t bother going there to compare prices once I discovered Bookstar.
As I mentioned, they have an online FB store. Apparently, what doesn’t get sold in FB gets shipped to the physical store. So it’s worth a visit if there is that set you want from their FB feed and they said it’s sold out.
After this many years, Nanmen is not really my go to place for books. Usually they carry books that look like other big sets in History or Literature, but since I totally judge a book by its cover, they never appeal to me. I would much rather get the other sets by 小魯 or what not.
So it’s my last resort if I’m looking for something specific or the store comes across my feed.
Verdict: Go to place for close out inventory of hard to find old books
6. 168books.com.tw 幼福童書網 & 世一文化
http://www.168books.com.tw & https://www.acmebooks.com.tw/
I seldom buy from these two publishers because they sell books I don’t tend to buy. But, the website will come up when I google search particular books. This is where I buy, for friends, the I Love Martin books at $1990 for 60 books.
幼福 & 世一 are good places to buy super colorful looking illustrated books for up to 2nd grade. They’re great because there’s always zhuyin.
Check them out if you’re looking for non-fiction books for young kids.
Verdict: Go to place for your 0-7 years old colorful, cheap, zhuyin books.
7. Ansonbooks 元生文化
Ansonbooks is one of a variety of distributor-looking websites out there.
These distributors often have very old out of print book sets. I love using Anson Books’ website when I research book sets. The interface is very clean and I look through big sets sorted by publisher. Plus they often have 1-2 image of the inside of these books.
The only books I bought from them this time was the Caterpillar series. Their prices aren’t the cheapest now adays because so many of us are looking at these old series.
You can probably order and have them ship to the US, but most likely they will only take ATM transfers.
Verdict: Use for research or as last resort for big sets.
8. Momo
Momo is my newest find in 2021. Selection-wise it doesn’t beat books.com.tw. But if you have a Taiwanese credit card and a Taiwan address, this is a good place to buy. They regularly have “sales” where “buy over $xx and get 88% of!”
Those discounts will knock your prices down to 66% or 69% of list price.
Verdict: Find books at books.com.tw and buy it here with Taiwanese CC.
9. Carrefour, RT-Mart, Costco
There is always a book section at big box stores like Carrefour, RT-Mart, and Costco. RT-Mart and Carrefour tend to sell the cheap 幼福-type books, similar to 168books.com.tw. I like to go browse and buy a few of these whenever I visit.
There are 4 Costcos in Taipei, each one carrying slightly different inventory of books and DVDs. This is where we bought a lot of our DVDs and their books are at great value, around 72% or so. Costco online sells different inventory than what’s in store. You can buy Magic Treehouse online, with free shipping, and it’s one of the lowest prices all around. In store, they’ve got tons of non-fiction manga, and other books, like Disney stories, that I don’t tend to see in bookstores. I bought my Winnie the Pooh book here.
Verdict: All three worth a browse, especially Costco.
10. Campus Bookstore 校園書房
Spent an afternoon browsing this bookstore. I loved the location (a few minutes from Gongguan MRT), and the newly remodeled lovely bookstore feel.
I didn’t buy any books there, but they seemed to have a really good collection of Christian related books, including children’s books. There’s also a little area with stationery and eco friendly products.
Used Books
There are tons of used bookstores, we only managed to visit 4 in Taipei. One thing to keep in mind about buying used books in Taiwan is that it’s a humid country. Most old books have yellow spots on them, if not green or white mold you can’t quite see. I’ve encountered books that made me itchy.
This is probably why, by the end, I just stuck with Mollie and Yabooks. You’re likely to encounter super finds elsewhere, but I’m not sure about the quality of the books.
1. Mollie 茉莉
http://www.mollie.com.tw
台大：台北市中正區羅斯福路四段40巷2號一樓 (公館 Gongguan MRT, exit 4)
師大：台北市和平東路一段222號B1 (bus or 台電大樓 Taipower MRT)
台中：台中市公益路161號B1 (taxi or bus)
We went to 3 Mollies when we were here, Taida 台大, Shida 師大, Taichung 台中. For me, Mollie is the king of used bookstores. Most of their books are in fairly good condition, with your typical yellow spots.
For that reason, their prices run high. Sometimes it is more than new books! And Mollie 台中 was very very expensive. Typically books run at around 40-60% of original list price. It is a very good deal if you can get books around 40%.
At each of these bookstores, there is almost always a $40 section or 3 for $99 section.
The 台大 store is bigger and easiest to get to. The 師大 one has a better selection but remember it’s at B1 so look up for their sign or you’ll miss it. 台中 has one of the highest prices but has great set collections.
If you go, you have to go multiple times because they keep putting new books out when shelf space opens up. We kept finding another set of Children Can Read World History every time we visited, even though we’d just bought a set a few days ago. So if you have a set you’re specifically looking for, ask them about it. They could have it in the backroom.
Since I’ve found out how some of their prices isn’t the cheapest, I look at all great steals with a grain of salt now. By the end of our trip, I tended to buy only if the book is in an almost new condition or if it’s something I’ve been looking for for awhile.
Remember, cash only. Though they will take ATM transfers if you are calling in for specific sets you see online. Mollie will ship to your house at $70 per box. Each box is a standard size provided by Mollie. If you have specific dates or times you want them to deliver, remember to specify on the form you fill out. It is how we always shopped because very visit was at least 1 box!
Verdict: Must visit used bookstore while you’re in Taipei
2. Yabook 雅博客
http://www.yabooks.com.tw
台大：台北市大安區新生南路三段76巷9號 (公館 Gongguan MRT, exit 4)
永安: 新北市中和區中和路350巷8弄12號 （永安市場) closed as of June 2021
Yabooks is actually my favorite used bookstore. They have 2 locations, 永安 and 台大. One is a few blocks from Mollie 台大.
At Yabooks, we found a bigger variety of used books, whereas Mollie tends toward your best sellers. Yabooks 永安 was amazing! Though their selection was much much smaller, most of their books are in almost brand new condition. We found the Magic Science picture books (魔法科學範), in very good condition, here at a great price.
Yabook will ship to your home for free if you purchase over $2000, not hard to do when it’s two people shopping.
Cash only.
Verdict: My favorite used bookstore
3. Love Read Books 愛閱二手書坊
Updated Nov 2017: They moved to a new place.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovereadbook/
Across the street from 師大 Shida Mollie is Love Rad Books. They say 90% of their books are at 25% (of list price?).
It’s a dusty old books bookstore. Come here if you want to dig, and I mean really DIG through piles of books, for treasures.
But hold off on buying all of them because they’re dusty which means they can be moldy, mildewy, full of yellow spots, which means you can be allergic to the mold. I got kid of itchy going through some of the books in this bookstore.
So bring a suitcase if you are going here as they offer no shipping!
Verdict: A place to go to dig for treasures.
4. Moungar Traces of Books (莽葛拾遺)
台北市萬華區廣州街152巷4號 （龍山寺 Long Shan Temple MRT Exit 1)
FB：https://www.facebook.com/moungarbook/
Down the street from Long Shan Temple and right next to 85 Degrees Bakery is a very pretty old style building with books, old photographs and tea sets. Moungar was my first used bookstore and always has a special place in my heart.
There are only about 2 bookshelves worth of books here and you can probably find the same selection at Mollie. There are no price tags and cost is whatever the lady at the counter says it is. I managed to find a set of books I saw at Mollie here and actually came back for it because at $10 more per book it was much better quality. Fleur found this super great book on history of Chinese Art for children (with zhuyin?).
As usual, cash only.
Verdict: Go for the ambiance and see the storefront
5. Whose Books (胡思二手書店)
公館店 – 台北市中正區羅斯福路三段308-1號
士林店 － 台北市士林區中正路235巷44號
Love the name. Have never been to this used bookstore, but since a friend who is in Taiwan keeps mentioning it, I’m putting it on the list for the next time I visit. Just a quick google search shows a really lovely bookstore so I’m salivating from afar.
Verdict: I must go check it out during my next trip!
6. 華欣書店
師大 － 106台灣台北市大安區師大路125號B1
I stumbled across the 師大 store one day. In general, it is a good bookstore if you just want to browse and dig for treasures. The books are mostly in very good condition, even better than Mollie’s.
But, there wasn’t a good selection for children. Unless you really like sorting through books that aren’t put in any order.
Verdict: Skip unless you like to browse shop for the sake of it.
7. Online – Yahoo Auction, Rakuten, Taaze etc
A really good way to buy used books, if you know exactly what you’re looking for and can trust what people say about quality, is online. You can almost always find whatever book you’re looking for in Yahoo auction. Many used bookstores actually have a Yahoo store front.
Yahoo auction sells both new and used books, but inventory information is not necessarily accurate for the new books. Sometimes I end up buying through Yahoo when I Google a book and it comes up as an option. I don’t use it partly because there are just so many storefronts and it takes me way too long to wade through them to find the “best” deal, only to find out they don’t have this new book in inventory. Buying used books have been fine, inventory wise, but again, tons of wading….
Since these are auctions, price runs all over the place. But it is comparable or cheaper in general than other used bookstores, except you have to pay for shipping. I bought several sets of used books for people though haven’t done it for myself because often it’s hard to see quality of the books and I don’t want too many yellow spots in mine.
Payment is usually via ATM transfers and they ship only to Taiwan.
Verdict: For that one specific book you couldn’t find in Mollie.
Is it possible for you to share the Line contact of bookstar? I tired to email them last week, but didn’t gor a response. (Also tried faceFace messenger, seems they haven’t checked the message either). Thanks lin
Yes, please find me on Guavarama on Facebook and I can connect you.