Safety & trust
Designed for exchanges between real readers.
Most exchanges are simple. Dogear is built so the few that are not still have a clear path — and so that private information stays private throughout.
Reader profiles and exchange history
Reader profiles and exchange history help you understand who you are exchanging with before you accept.
Private coordination
Messages exist only inside a request or an active exchange. There is no public inbox and no unsolicited direct messaging.
Addresses are not displayed
A street address is collected only to produce a shipping label for a specific exchange. It never appears on a profile, in a listing, or in a message.
Contact details are protected in messages
Phone numbers, personal email addresses, street addresses and off-platform handles cannot be sent through ordinary exchange messages. Dogear explains what needs to be removed and returns the message for editing.
Clear exchange states and confirmations
Requested, accepted, sent, received, complete. Both readers see the same state at the same time, so nobody is guessing.
Problem reporting and support review
Report a problem from inside the exchange so Dogear support can review the exchange record and follow up.
Permanent exchange records
Completed exchanges stay on record. That is what makes a member's history meaningful and a dispute answerable.
Meeting someone locally
Choose somewhere public and busy — a café, a library entrance, a station concourse.
Arrange the time inside Dogear so there is a record of what was agreed.
Bring the book as described, and confirm the exchange in the app while you are both there.
If you would rather not meet, mail the books instead. Nobody has to explain why.
What Dogear does not do
Dogear does not run criminal background checks on members.
Dogear cannot guarantee the outcome of any individual exchange.
Dogear does not inspect or grade books before they are sent.
Being clear about this is part of the design. A service that promises certainty it cannot deliver is not trustworthy.
Have a question about how an exchange is handled?
The FAQ answers most of them, and support will answer the rest.