Questions, answered honestly

A book subscription for pre-loved books. Every month (or every other month) we match books from our rescued stock to your taste, wrap each one as a surprise and post them to you. Three books cost $25 a box with US shipping included.

From your Sniff Test answers: genres you love and never want, moods, pace, length, hard nos, your wildness setting and the books you’ve already read. Our matcher proposes a Match, a Stretch and a Wildcard, and a human curator checks every box before it ships. Every rating you give sharpens the next match.

Not individually, because the surprise is the point. You steer with your taste profile, and clue cards appear in your account once your box is matched if you want a hint.

Yes. Add up to four readers, each with their own Sniff Test, and choose how many books each person gets per box. Sharing works on plans with two or more books.

Yes: picture books, early readers, middle grade, and young adult for teens. A child’s reader profile only receives books from those shelves. The account holder must be 18 or over, and we never collect information directly from children.

Any time, from your account. Changes made before your renewal date apply to that box.

Every copy passes our Sniff Test: no smells, no damage, no highlighter. We send Like New or Very Good copies unless you opt in to well-loved (Good) copies for more variety. The grade of each book is on the quality slip in your box.

Add your reading history to your profile (type titles, scan barcodes or import a Goodreads or StoryGraph export) and we’ll skip anything on it. We also never send you the same book twice. If one slips through, report it from your account and we’ll make it right, or trade it in for credit.

Our content tags come from reader reports and our curators, and every match is checked against your hard nos. We’re careful, but no tagging is perfect. If something you asked to avoid slips through, rate it one wag and tell us, and the Bad Match Guarantee applies.

Rate any book one tail-wag within 30 days of delivery and we add $3 credit to your account, once per box. Your feedback also goes straight to your curator.

Yes. Choose large print in your taste profile. Large print copies are rarer, so boxes may lean on classics and bestsellers, and we’ll tell you if we’re short.

An add-on for plans with two or more books: for $12 more a box, one of your books is a brand-new release, never read, matched to you like the rest.

Clue cards (three hints per book, no titles) appear in your account once your box is matched. Once it ships you can unwrap the titles online too, if you really can’t wait.

Report it from your account within 30 days, with a photo if you can. We’ll send a replacement or add credit, and you don’t need to send the damaged book back.

Anywhere USPS delivers in the United States: all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, US territories, APO/FPO/DPO addresses and PO boxes.

Your box ships within three business days of your renewal date, usually the next day. USPS Media Mail then takes 2 to 8 business days. We email a tracking number when it ships.

It’s the post office’s books-only service, and it’s how we keep three books and shipping at $25. It’s slower than Priority Mail, so we pack every box to survive the trip.

Not yet. Media Mail is domestic only and international postage would double the price. Sign up for The Stray Times to hear first when that changes.

Update it in your account before your renewal date and that box goes to the new address. If a box has already shipped, contact us straight away and we’ll help.

Check with neighbours or your mailroom and give it two days, as USPS sometimes marks parcels early. Still missing? Report it from your account and we’ll send a replacement.

On the day you join, then on the same date every month or every other month. If you join on the 31st, short months renew on their last day. We email you three days before each renewal.

All online from your account, no phone calls. Skip any upcoming box, pause for up to three months, or cancel in two clicks. Boxes you’ve already paid for still ship.

If a box you’ve paid for hasn’t been matched yet, ask and we’ll refund it. If your first box isn’t for you, write to us within 30 days of delivery and we’ll make it right. Shipped boxes aren’t refundable after that, but the Bad Match Guarantee still applies.

Yes, where books are taxable. Tax is calculated from your shipping address at payment and shown on every receipt.

You earn credit from trade-ins, referrals and the Bad Match Guarantee. It comes off your next renewal automatically, never expires while your account is open, and has no cash value.

Share your link from your account. Your friend gets $10 off their first box, and you get $6 credit, enough for a bonus stray, once their first box is paid.

Major credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, through our payment processor. We never see or store your full card number.

Choose 3, 6 or 12 months and one or three books a box. We email a gift card with a code on the date you pick (or to you, to print). They redeem it, take the Sniff Test and add their address, and their first box ships within three business days.

Never. When the last box ships, the gift ends. We’ll ask if they’d like to continue on their own, and that’s entirely up to them.

The purchaser’s receipt email has a copy of the code. Otherwise, contact us with the purchaser’s email address and we’ll resend it. Codes stay valid for at least five years.

A sticker inside each book with a code. Look it up to see where the book has travelled, read short notes from earlier readers, and stamp it when you pass it on.

Only your city and state, and you can switch to state only in your privacy settings. Names appear as first name and initial, and a person reads every note before it appears.

List the books you’re done with on the Trade-in page. We pay $0.50 to $1.50 credit per accepted book, plus 25¢ for hardcovers, and send a free shipping label for ten or more books. Credit lands within five business days of your parcel arriving.

We donate them to prison libraries and literacy programs. Only books that are truly beyond saving are recycled.

No. We use only essential cookies that keep you logged in and protect forms. We count page views as anonymous daily totals with no identifiers, and send nothing at all if your browser signals Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track.

No, and we never share it for advertising. You can download or delete your data any time from your account settings.

Passwords are stored with a slow, salted hash. You can turn on two-step verification, see every logged-in device and sign them out, and we never store card numbers.

We design to WCAG 2.2 AA: everything works with a keyboard and screen readers, and the Reading comfort panel lets you change text size, contrast, motion and fonts. Something not working for you? Tell us, or read our accessibility statement.