advice on best venue for selling the rare and odd

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advice on best venue for selling the rare and odd

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1rosinalippi
mayo 28, 2010, 11:36 am

We are trying to downsize our household, which means being realistic about the 3,000+ books on our shelves. I have been taking piles of books to contribute to the annual library sale, and giving some away to friends.

However. I have quite a few books that are potentially of interest to collectors. I have a lot of first edition, first printing signed novels (The Help, Stockett, American Gods, Gaiman, The English Patient (Canadian 1st/1st), etc). I have all of Dennis Lehane's Gennaro/McKenzie series, hardcover, first edition, first printing, signed. I also have quite a few non-fiction books that fall into the 'rare' category. Some examples:

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Thacher, 1810 (reading copy) The American new dispensatory: containing general principles of pharmaceutic chemistry, pharmaceutic operations, chemical analysis of the articles of materia medica, including several new and valuable articles, the production of the United States, preparations and compositions ...

Morgagni, (three volume facsimile of the 1769 original) The seats sand causes of diseases investigated by anatomy.

A large number of children's books, 1st/1st, signed by author and/or illustrator, including hard to find authors like Lisbeth Zwerger.

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So I'm wondering about the options for selling. As far as I can tell, the choices are to sell to a used bookseller near home, to sell on Amazon, to set up a bookstore on Abebooks (or similar) and then there's eBay. I suppose I could also just put up a list on my website, but I doubt many people would find that.

Those of you who are professionals, do you have any advice, suggestions? Any help much appreciated.

2ironjaw
mayo 28, 2010, 1:33 pm

I would bet that for the first printing, first editions you should check the prices on abebooks and thereafter put them up on ebay either by buy it now or an auction with a lower price. You should sell them individually and not in lots as that would maximize the price. It will take some time to sell all of them but that's what it takes if you need to sell them for the right price.

3rudel519
mayo 29, 2010, 5:34 pm

I agree with ironjaw. I sell on abebooks on the side and it gets pricey with the listing fee, the selling fee and their credit card processing fee. And you have to be willing to ship books out of the country. Unfortunately, the last three books that I bought or sold overseas that were valued at $100 each have disappeared in the mail. I haven't sold on Amazon for a while, but you were able to limit where you sold the book. eBay is good, as you can limit where it is sold and the auction or buy it now format, where the book is only for sale for a limited number of days, can encourage sales. Used book stores will pay a fraction of what the books are worth but will double that in credit. So, if you're in a hurry or don't have the time to sell the books on your own, and there is a good used book store in your area, trade them in there. I did that once and used the credit to buy Brodarts for all of my books with dust jackets - which would not defeat your downsizing effort. If you have the time and desire, then start off slow and list a few books on eBay or Amazon or both and see which one works best - due to the age and scarcity of your books, I'd imagine that eBay listings with pictures would be better. And then if you enjoy selling online, list the rest of them; and if you don't enjoy it, you can still take them to the local used book store.

4varielle
mayo 31, 2010, 5:59 pm

This is an interesting topic in that a few months back I was asked for advice and wasn't much help to a friend. Her father was a multi-lingual, theology professor for more than 60 years and had a vast library devoted to the subject in a multitude of languages. I couldn't help but think, based on the rarity and value of some of his books, that it might be of the most interest to a university or seminary. I finally suggested that she contact some book dealers in NYC who might point her to a specialist. I haven't heard what her final decision was, but if anyone has further suggestions I can pass them along.