Hey guys I go to many estate sales with rooms filled with all sorts of old and new books. These rooms completely overwhelm me, so one of my questions is when you walk into one of these rooms how can you tell which are good and which aren't? I know if you don't go through each and every book you may miss something great but unless you have hours to spend this seems impossible. I just picked up a book The Complete Works of Tennyson from 1880 for $2.50 and that was a decent find. However another problem I have is I can almost never find the same copy anywhere online... what's up with that? If I can't find the same one how do I know the exact value? I do have a nice rare book collector next to my house who should know some answers to my questions but I know some of you here will know as well! Share some knowledge! I know nothing about books except if they're old they're cool lol.
Question about books! Help?
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flinthunter
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There are a number of internet book selling sites that you can look up your book on. These come to mind but there are more sites out there.... abebooks.com .... alibris.com ... BookFinder.com . Ebay has hundreds of thousands of books on their site. Type in books and and search the sold listings starting with the highest sale prices first. Skim through the pages and you will be surprised at the prices some books bring. You will see to that not all books have to be old to be valuable.
MotherOfGeeks
Full Member
I used to sell lots of books on Amazon, Alibris & Half.com, I've pretty much quit. With the spread of e-book readers and the ease of online book ordering prices have nosedived. The few exceptions i make are for signed first editions, I concentrate on science fiction, however it is what I know.
DizzyDigger
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Spartcom: Books are special...
In all honesty, unless you spend a vast amount of time to give yourself a
good education on books you'll always be taking a chance. Book buyers are
a finicky lot.
For instance, your: "The Complete Works of Tennyson from 1880".
Very few "Collections of XXXX" carry much value. Why? Because it's all
been published before in one form or another. Book collectors want to
have the true First Edition, or better yet, the First State, which
means the first form it was published in.
Condition is everything: Books are graded on the same scale regardless of
age. Are the corners bumped? Pages written on or torn? Does it have all the
proper points to be considered a true First Ed.?
Most every publisher uses a different method of differentiating 1st and later
editions, which in some cases could be a different dust jacket, etc. Just because
it might say "First Edition" doesn't mean it always is.
To sum it all up, an accomplished bookperson has a lifetime of knowledge about
their passion. Best suggestion I can give is that you pick a subject matter (SciFi,
Non-fiction, Drama, etc.) and then do the homework to find out what sells, and what
doesn't. There are times a book you'll think has little or no value turns out to be
a diamond in the rough..but if you didn't know it was a "diamond" you'd leave it sitting
on the shelf.
One thing you can do is spend time searching eBay book sales. Pick your category and
look at "Sold", then spend time to learn exactly what each book is, and then go find it.
Another option is when you see a big collection at a sale, and they aren't just
Readers Digest Condensed (worthless, btw except in a couple instances) then make
an offer for the entire LOT.
Box 'em up and take 'em home, then spend the time to look up
each and every one. Worthless ones go back in a box and get taken
to the Thrift shop, as they're still good reading, just not valuable.
My first big seller was a Kurt Vonnegut paperback called "Happy Birthday
Wanda June". Paid $1.00 and sold it for $52 a week later.
In all honesty, unless you spend a vast amount of time to give yourself a
good education on books you'll always be taking a chance. Book buyers are
a finicky lot.
For instance, your: "The Complete Works of Tennyson from 1880".
Very few "Collections of XXXX" carry much value. Why? Because it's all
been published before in one form or another. Book collectors want to
have the true First Edition, or better yet, the First State, which
means the first form it was published in.
Condition is everything: Books are graded on the same scale regardless of
age. Are the corners bumped? Pages written on or torn? Does it have all the
proper points to be considered a true First Ed.?
Most every publisher uses a different method of differentiating 1st and later
editions, which in some cases could be a different dust jacket, etc. Just because
it might say "First Edition" doesn't mean it always is.
To sum it all up, an accomplished bookperson has a lifetime of knowledge about
their passion. Best suggestion I can give is that you pick a subject matter (SciFi,
Non-fiction, Drama, etc.) and then do the homework to find out what sells, and what
doesn't. There are times a book you'll think has little or no value turns out to be
a diamond in the rough..but if you didn't know it was a "diamond" you'd leave it sitting
on the shelf.
One thing you can do is spend time searching eBay book sales. Pick your category and
look at "Sold", then spend time to learn exactly what each book is, and then go find it.
Another option is when you see a big collection at a sale, and they aren't just
Readers Digest Condensed (worthless, btw except in a couple instances) then make
an offer for the entire LOT.
Box 'em up and take 'em home, then spend the time to look up
each and every one. Worthless ones go back in a box and get taken
to the Thrift shop, as they're still good reading, just not valuable.
My first big seller was a Kurt Vonnegut paperback called "Happy Birthday
Wanda June". Paid $1.00 and sold it for $52 a week later.
Last edited:
diggingthe1
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Great advise dizzy, I just picked up a large lot of books. I picked out the ones that I liked and will take the other ones to the thrift. I like history books and old religious books. I look for condition and rarity on the interesting ones. I research the unusual ones. You can usually pick them up so cheap that the risk is minimal. I would follow dizzy advise. Hope you find some great ones.
BigWaveDave
Gold Member
I look for old coin books, the old red books are collectible (according to red book itself)....
This tells me there could be an old coin collection ready for sale
This tells me there could be an old coin collection ready for sale
GibH
Silver Member
I've got 4 of these journals:
https://www.abebooks.com/9781551565897/Rembrandt-Windmill-Paperblanks-Smythe-Sewn-1551565897/plp
Anyone have any idea why they are priced so high? It isn't just abebooks pricing either, on Amazon they are ridiculous. I know it shows some that are from $12, but that is for a smaller size and a year later.
https://www.abebooks.com/9781551565897/Rembrandt-Windmill-Paperblanks-Smythe-Sewn-1551565897/plp
Anyone have any idea why they are priced so high? It isn't just abebooks pricing either, on Amazon they are ridiculous. I know it shows some that are from $12, but that is for a smaller size and a year later.
Last edited:
Rodbuster209
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I see them all the time also but the only ones I buy are ones that I'm going to read, though a friend of mine has a scanner or bar code reader that attaches to his smart phone and he checks the newer ones out. He seems to make money every week doing it. Good luck!
Picasimus
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I tend to stick with books about stuff very specific. I bought 2 milk crates of books from a thrift store I buy in bulk from. Paid 25 for both on a whim. 1 crate was full of duck decoy books(the different types and how to carve them etc) the other was Train Books. Model trains, 1:1 trains, train companies(pacific railroad, etc.).
Just one of the duck decoy books sold for $52. Sold off more of them to a tune of $200. Most were 9.99 with free shipping. (shipped media mail with brown paperbag wrapping. Average cost of shipping them that way was $1.75ish.). took the rest back to the thrift store.
Just one of the duck decoy books sold for $52. Sold off more of them to a tune of $200. Most were 9.99 with free shipping. (shipped media mail with brown paperbag wrapping. Average cost of shipping them that way was $1.75ish.). took the rest back to the thrift store.
trdhrdr007
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I like books because they are generally cheap & always easy to ship. The problem is I don't know a lot about them. I've found that shop manuals, parts catalogs, & owners manuals can be good. I've done well with box lots of those picked up for next to nothing. I've also done well with role playing game manuals, back issues of magazines, etc. What I like about those is that I only have to look up one title to see if a lot is worth buying. I also look out for higher end books. I recently learned that Folio Society books are good sellers. Picked 300+ of those up in January for around $1500, have sold around $7000 worth, & still have almost 100 left. I don't have enough time to look up every book I see so I check for quality, unusual subject matter, condition, & age. I know I'm missing some but I can't be an expert in everything.
Oddjob
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Books, maps, folio´s, or just paper in general is very hard if you have not been into this for years and started from a passion. I have a great collection, some books only one left in existence. But I have been collecting since I was a young child, and that all started with a Superman number one.
Made many mistakes over the years and made some great finds as well.
I would suggest joining Biblio forums and talking to real collectors. Build a list of what is desired by many and go from there. The works you picked up in great shape you would be lucky to get 5 bucks for.
That is one big issue with estate sales, people often price way to high just because something is a first edition, which does not mean jack if no one wants it. I have many first editions my self and only know of one other collector into the same stuff as me, so the value of those items is exactly what we would allow it to go for in a bidding war between two people, which is not very much among small crowds.
Best thing you can if you walk into an estate sale and see a room of books, if they allow the people to handle them, then pick up the first book that sticks out and check and see what is between the pages, check every book that sticks out that way. I know a great deal about paper and my private library is insured right at 11 million, but I still check and I often find odd things tucked in the pages from very old money, stamps, really just stuff that is worth far more than that book and then that is the only book I buy.
Sure I have seen many books that sell for over 10K that people normally do not know what they have, but these are things that all real collectors already own, over time you just stop buying them because it has no reasoning behind owning several of one.
If you are not going to become a high end collector who is ready to THROW AWAY so to speak several hundred thousand dollars on their collection, then just look and see what is tucked between pages.
Books are my passion and I have no issue with spending 80 or 90K on some paper, but I can afford it, I have no plan to leave my collection to my kids when I go either, I already have a private house for them.
Not all collectors are this way either, infact if you want to see a failed or poor collector then go to something called an antique book store, business will be thriving so good that the owner will not only work there but he or she will also have a bus pass too. Because that is what happens to a person who does not know their limits in paper.
Best of luck.
Made many mistakes over the years and made some great finds as well.
I would suggest joining Biblio forums and talking to real collectors. Build a list of what is desired by many and go from there. The works you picked up in great shape you would be lucky to get 5 bucks for.
That is one big issue with estate sales, people often price way to high just because something is a first edition, which does not mean jack if no one wants it. I have many first editions my self and only know of one other collector into the same stuff as me, so the value of those items is exactly what we would allow it to go for in a bidding war between two people, which is not very much among small crowds.
Best thing you can if you walk into an estate sale and see a room of books, if they allow the people to handle them, then pick up the first book that sticks out and check and see what is between the pages, check every book that sticks out that way. I know a great deal about paper and my private library is insured right at 11 million, but I still check and I often find odd things tucked in the pages from very old money, stamps, really just stuff that is worth far more than that book and then that is the only book I buy.
Sure I have seen many books that sell for over 10K that people normally do not know what they have, but these are things that all real collectors already own, over time you just stop buying them because it has no reasoning behind owning several of one.
If you are not going to become a high end collector who is ready to THROW AWAY so to speak several hundred thousand dollars on their collection, then just look and see what is tucked between pages.
Books are my passion and I have no issue with spending 80 or 90K on some paper, but I can afford it, I have no plan to leave my collection to my kids when I go either, I already have a private house for them.
Not all collectors are this way either, infact if you want to see a failed or poor collector then go to something called an antique book store, business will be thriving so good that the owner will not only work there but he or she will also have a bus pass too. Because that is what happens to a person who does not know their limits in paper.
Best of luck.
flinthunter
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The first several years of the R. S. Yeoman Red Book coin price guide can be quite valuable. I picked up a 1948 second edition at auction a few years ago for 10 dollars. Sold it on Ebay for 541 dollars. You have to be careful, the 1948 Red Book is being reproduced.
Keith Jackson
Hero Member
My father used to collect books years ago. He wasn't a true "collector" but he bought and sold lots of books until his doctor told him that the mildew and dust from the books were causing problems with his asthma. I used to keep some of the stuff that people had put in the books as bookmarks. I had gotten lots of postcards and old news clippings over the years. One thing that my father had at one time that has since disappeared was a small bag of fashion newspapers from around the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.
dejapooh
Bronze Member
I do a full 50% or more of my sales in Books. I use the Amazon app to scan the cover or the UPC symbol, That gives me a good starting price, Figure a few dollars below that, I don't buy anything worth less than $15, unless I am getting a bunch of them, new, for a few cents per book. For example, I got a case of 24 children's books for $2. I am selling them for $7 plus shipping and I've sold about 20 of them. I generally will not pay more than 10% of the current sales price (so, a book currently selling for $35 used, I won't pay more than $3). I've had NO luck with older books, except for books on Theosophy (found a few hundred of them at an estate sale, and at the end of the sale, they said I could take as many as I could carry for $10. I've probably sold about $2000 out of that lot).
billjustbill
Bronze Member
Books seem to require a "Library of Knowledge"... pardon the pun... But, I do glance around AFTER I've gone through the garage, tool shed, kitchen, and jewelry bags...(not necessarily in that order
)
I look for just a few "Specialty" books... There is one called, "The Pictorial History of Parker County" that has my wife's family and some history. It's also hard to find and will easily bring $100 per copy in just good condition.
I also look for old local High School and a few Texas College/University yearbooks. "Somebody" will want one. I have to laugh when I think about one instance a fellow Picker told of. He and his wife are putting their daughter through college by selling on Ebay. They sell just about anything from Reeds for woodwind instruments to watches/jewelry, to dishes. He bought several older yearbooks and listed one on Ebay that had the high school picture of Jane Mansfield. I asked him how he knew.... He said his wife will go through an Internet search of movie stars' history and where they grew up and when/where they graduated high school. He keeps a short list of movie stars and what local/regional towns/high schools they were at as he does his pickings.... She graduated from (Dallas) Highland Park High School in 1950.....
http://www.biography.com/people/jayne-mansfield-9397804#synopsis
)I look for just a few "Specialty" books... There is one called, "The Pictorial History of Parker County" that has my wife's family and some history. It's also hard to find and will easily bring $100 per copy in just good condition.
I also look for old local High School and a few Texas College/University yearbooks. "Somebody" will want one. I have to laugh when I think about one instance a fellow Picker told of. He and his wife are putting their daughter through college by selling on Ebay. They sell just about anything from Reeds for woodwind instruments to watches/jewelry, to dishes. He bought several older yearbooks and listed one on Ebay that had the high school picture of Jane Mansfield. I asked him how he knew.... He said his wife will go through an Internet search of movie stars' history and where they grew up and when/where they graduated high school. He keeps a short list of movie stars and what local/regional towns/high schools they were at as he does his pickings.... She graduated from (Dallas) Highland Park High School in 1950.....
http://www.biography.com/people/jayne-mansfield-9397804#synopsis
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