Most of the books we buy come from whole libraries: a parent’s house, a professor’s study, a collector who is downsizing. If you are standing in a room full of shelves wondering where to start, this is for you.
1. Don’t throw anything out yet
The books that look least promising are sometimes the ones that matter: a worn local history, a self-published memoir, a cookbook from a Michigan church, a stack of old maps or pamphlets. Keep the collection together until someone has looked at all of it.
2. Check inside the books
People tuck things into books. Before anything leaves the house, flip through for letters, photographs, cash, recipes and family records. Old family Bibles often hold births, marriages and deaths written on the front pages, which may matter more to your family than to any buyer.
3. Notice the signs of value, but don’t sort for us
- Signed or inscribed copies, especially to a named person you can identify.
- Dust jackets on hardcovers. On modern first editions the jacket can be most of the value.
- First editions, limited editions and fine bindings (Easton Press, Folio Society, Franklin Library).
- Michigan and Great Lakes history, art and photography books, and older children’s illustrated books.
- Ephemera: maps, postcards, programs, catalogs and letters.
Age alone doesn’t make a book valuable, and plenty of valuable books are fairly recent. That’s why it helps to have one person look at the whole lot rather than pulling “the good ones” first.
4. Take a few photos
Wide shots of each shelf or box are enough for us to give you a sense of the collection. Videos are great too. If you can’t take photos, just call or message us; we can come and look.
5. Get a fair offer, and let someone else do the hauling
We buy collections of every size and pick them up for free within about 30 minutes of Ann Arbor. For homes more than 15 minutes away, we ask for at least five boxes. We take nearly everything except magazines, so you don’t have to sort first. We make a fair cash offer, and if you say yes, we pack and carry it all out ourselves.
Tell us about your books and we’ll get back to you right away.