Sell My Books // Donate My Books

Retiring? Moving? Shelves full-to-bursting? We pay CASH or TRADE for your books! We have successfully rehomed hundreds of thousands of books in Ann Arbor and across the globe. For over 45 years, our loyal customers (townies, organizations, institutions) have looked to us first as a trusted vendor when selling and buying their most beloved books.

WHAT WE BUY

Books published between 1440 and 2024. We do not accept books that are moldy, bug or rodent eaten, or otherwise extensively damaged. Listed at the bottom of this page are subject areas that we are specifically seeking out (in paperback or hardcover). However, don’t let this list limit you!

**Our cash, check or trade offer is based on the condition, popularity and our pre-existing stock of any given book. For this reason, we cannot make any offers without seeing the books in person, first. We pay more for books in good-to-fine condition that do not have highlighting, underlining, or marginalia.**

SELLING BOOKS IN-STORE

WALK-INS: We accept walk-ins during our open hours 11-8p Monday-Saturday, 11-6pm Sunday. We strongly discourage customers from selling books to us on Friday and Saturday as there is no parking and these are our busiest days. We do not limit how many books a customer can bring at any one time, however, if bringing more than 5 boxes, we do appreciate a call ahead so that we can prepare.

IDEALLY, CALL AHEAD: You call (734-995-1008) and tell us how many books or boxes of books you are looking to rehome. We ask a few questions, then tell you when is the best day/time to bring them by– in most cases, it’s same day.

RECEIVING AN OFFER: Turn around time from drop-off to receiving an offer can often take as little as 15 minutes, but can sometimes take up to 24 hours, depending on the number of books. We cannot validate parking, but encourage folks to aim for 11am-4pm Monday-Thursday, when parking in front of the shop is most available. We supply a handcart and often have staff on hand who can help unload.

These are our baseline expectations/requests– if your situation doesn’t quite fit, just call! We’ll figure it out.

HOUSE VISITS

If you’re looking to sell more than ~10 boxes of books or a “lot” all at once, please call us at 734-995-1008 for more details and/or snap a few photos of your bookcases and email to dawntreaderbooks@gmail.com and we will respond promptly. We typically travel within a 50-mile radius of Ann Arbor, MI, but have travelled as far as the UP, Indiana, and beyond, when the books were right for us! When we visit, we quickly box and load the books ourselves, leaving you with a check that same day.

APPRAISALS

Contact the shop to schedule an appointment for our owner to appraise your book(s). We are not able to appraise entire collections for free, but can appraise 1-5 rare books at a time as a courtesy to our customers at no charge. Think “Antiques Roadshow”– that’s how we deliver our appraisal. “This is what it is, this is what it’s worth,” and any suggestions for care/maintenance should the customer elect to hold onto the book, delivered in written format for the customer’s records.

WE ARE SEEKING

Modern and Contemporary Fiction
Ancient and Modern Philosophy
Classical Studies
Ancient Near East/Byzantium
Horror
Science-Fiction/Fantasy (especially vintage mass market paperbacks)
Occult/Magik
Spirituality/Tarot
Eastern Wisdom/Philosophy
U.S. History/Politics/Cultural Studies
Sociology
European History
Western Civilization
Russian History
French History
Asian Studies
Medicine (Clinical/Diagnostic/Reference and Historical)
Military History
Anime/Manga
Graphic Novels