Thirty years young in 2018, Oldham Street mainstay Vinyl Exchange has been a must-visit for second-hand record collectors since before the Northern Quarter was a thing. But while it does still offer an overwhelming array of pre-owned vinyl and CD’s (including rarities and box sets), it also now offers new releases, as well as a huge selection of DVD’s, both in store and online. Add to this its buy-or-trade service for your unwanted items, and it’s easy to see why Vinyl Exchange is such a treasured spot on the musical map of Manchester.

On the second Sunday of every month, Stockport’s Victorian market hall becomes Vintage Village. Some 70 traders set up stall and sell everything from vintage fashions and furs to retro homewares, small antiques, collectibles, old prints and Victorian postcards.

Less than ten meters from Stockport Covered Market Hall stands 20^th Century Stores; a love note to the very best of (chiefly) 1920s through to 1980s design. Its family of specialist independent traders have been carefully selected based on the tenets of quality and authenticity. If modernist walnut coffee tables are your thing, you’ll like it here.

Manchester’s Northern Quarter may be brimming with second-hand delights, but the RSPCA Charity Shop on Oak Street is a must. Adopting a boutique-style approach, it offers a tastefully curated selection of retro clothing, jewellery, books, homeware and more. (Look out for undetected, designer-label finds!)

Opposite the unbeatable Trove Café, Levenshulme Antiques Village is a regional stalwart for unique and often rare antiques, pre-war and vintage furniture, fireplaces and collectables. Spanning several floors, with rooms dedicated to different periods, it’s easy to feel you’ve stepped into another time zone upon entering. Make sure you have at least a couple of hours spare to do this rather remarkable, Cash in the Attic style Aladdin’s Cave justice.

Paramount Books is easily Manchester’s best bookshop, stocking a massive and eclectic range of second hand titles – everything from obscure nineteenth-century tomes to last month’s science fiction. Its antiquated literary atmosphere is beautifully sound-tracked by old jazz sounds.

Got an old house to refurbish? Then InSitu architectural salvage is a dream come true – particularly if your dream involves old cinema seating and lighting, huge trough-like washing basins, church pews, school desks, restored and powder-coated freestanding radiators and more.

An ‘indie emporium of eclecticism’, Afflecks Palace is a true Manchester legend. Housed in a former department store in the heart of the Northern Quarter, expect to get well-and-truly lost in its endless warren of vintage and fashion stalls, selling everything from military garb and goth-ware to tea dresses.