New book prices in Sri Lanka have climbed steeply, but the secondhand market has never been better stocked. Here's an honest comparison of where to look — including where we fit in.
Colombo's pavement book stalls and used bookshops are a treasure hunt: prices are excellent and haggling is expected, but stock is random — you find what's there that day, not the title you came for. Great for browsing, unreliable for a specific book.
Book-selling Facebook groups move a lot of books, but there's no search worth the name, no condition standard, and listings vanish into the scroll within days. General classifieds sites treat a novel the same as a used fridge.
SecondBook is free classifieds for secondhand books specifically: every listing has a condition grade, photos, price, and the seller's contact — and you can search by title, author, ISBN, category, language, and price. You deal directly with the seller; we don't take a cut.
Wherever you buy: ask for photos of the actual copy, agree on price and handover before travelling, prefer meeting in public places or paying on delivery, and check the edition if it's a textbook. A genuine seller never minds these questions.