Okay, the only remaining part of my mother’s estate is a couple boxes of books. Hardcover books from the Forties; some fiction, some ancient college engineering textbooks. How can I sell them for some reasonable price? (eBay is out; see related Pit thread)
I’d like to get top dollar for them (it’s my responsibility to, as executor). Are there other popular auction sites I could use? Or is my best bet to haul them to the local used bookstore and take it in the shorts? Any ideas would be appreciated.
The first thing you want to do is make sure you don’t have any First Editions that might be worth something. A lot of hardbacks from the 40s and 50s can be sold at used bookstores for 50 cents. But of course there are those that can fetch many thousands of dollars.
If you determine that they are just fodder, I’d just take them to a used bookstore. But not one of those (mostly) paperback swap places. Try to find an antiquarian bookseller in your community that might enjoy going through your boxes of books. You’ll probably come away with more “value” in the conversation you will have with a booklover rather than coin in your pocket, but who knows? And a reputable antiquarian bookseller will play straight with you in regards to the vaue of your books. You won’t get that from the minimum wage clerk at a book-swap place.
Oh, and if you see any published by Arkham House or Mycroft & Moran, send me an e-mail.
regards,
divemaster (collector of AH First Editions)
When you say a couple boxes, is that like 30 books? As an earlier poster said, check for first editions, then I’d just hit the local book store. There’s probably not much in the way of monetary value going on there.
Those textbooks have no cash value. Perhaps an engineering school might take them for free. After you scan the other books for those which are both “1st editions” and in very good condition with dustjackets, take the rest to a used book store, and “take it in the shorts”. If you do find any that are in good condition (with dustjackets) and 1st Eds, take them to the higher grade of used book store, those that sell 1st Eds & such. They are in the phone book.
A good place to check the value of any books is http://www.abebooks.com . This is a site used by thousands of book-sellers all over the world. Just enter the details of the book into the search section and you will see what the going rate for a particular book is. Most good sellers will give a detailed physical description of the book and details of which edition and printing it is. This way you should determine if you have any valuable books before you sell them.
One thing to remember is that book-sellers have a strange way of rating the condition of a book. If they describe it as “good” it can be in a fairly tatty condition. The best books are rated “as new” or “fine”.
It’s probably not worth your while selling books on Abe, It’s really for the professional who have to pay a monthly fee, plus commission. But you will be better informed of what the books are worth.
A book is worth precisely what someone is willing to pay you for it. No more and no less.
That said, where you sell them often determines the value. At my bookstore, anything of that era will probably bring you a buck or so if it’s fiction (collectible 1st editions excepted, of course), and if it’s nonfiction I probably won’t even take it.
On the other hand, finding a collector who specializes in what you’re selling makes all the difference. Despite DrDeth’s comment that “Those textbooks have no cash value,” they sometimes can. Personally, I collect old math and science texts (mostly from the 19th century), and I do have a modest collection of electrical engineering texts as well.
Yes, please. I’ve bought used books from the 40’s and 50’s, mostly via Amazon’s marketplace, and from abe.com, and I don’t mind paying more than a few bucks for them (even book club editions).
I paid $30 for a secondhand copy (not first edition) of The Dollmaker – a book that a store owner might give you a buck for, if you’re lucky.
So even if you don’t want to do business with us, we might be able to alert you to potential treasures.
I’ve sold a lot of books via Amazon - some old & actually sorta valuable ones too. You set your price on them, so you can’t get ripped off, you can just not sell your book. I highly recommend it.
