Should I sell my signed Harry Potter book?

September 11, 2007 1:02 PM

Should I sell my signed copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"? I'm proud of it, but not attatched...yet.

I won a ticket to the official 'Midnight Signing' of the new book in London. By sunrise I had met JK herself and was the pleased-as-punch owner of a signed copy of the book.

So here’s my dilemma: I’ve been offered $5000 by a well known book dealer, and I'm tempted.

Help me rationalise the situation - it's just a book, isn't it? I know I'm fortunate to have this option at all, but am I selling too soon? Will it appreciate in value? Am I going to regret it in ten years time?

posted by jonty to work & money (42 comments total)

If your motives are financial, I say sell it! as time passes, there will only be more signed copies around, not less.
posted by milestogo at 1:06 PM on September 11, 2007

Sell it, as quick as possible. J.K. Rowling isn't exactly on her way to becoming an acclaimed classic author, and the value of her signature will decrease, not increase, over time. That, and what milestogo said. As long as the author is living, signed books will multiply, not diminish.
posted by tehloki at 1:11 PM on September 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Sell it, invest the money, wait five years and buy the same book for $500.
It took 67 years for this book to hit $4400.
posted by Floydd at 1:12 PM on September 11, 2007

She isn't an obscure author who may spring to fame years from now. She is probably the most famous she'll ever be right now. I also think that over time, there will be more signed books, not fewer. Now is probably a good time to sell, assuming $5000 is a good price. (That sounds like quite a lot of money.)
posted by chunking express at 1:13 PM on September 11, 2007

You have to decide if you should sell it. I personally would. But maybe you could try eBay with a $5000 reserve price, so that you could make the higher profit the book dealer would. Or keep an eye on this sale to see what it goes for on the open market.

Selling the book doesn't rob you of your memory.
posted by procrastination at 1:13 PM on September 11, 2007

Keep in mind jonty probably has a First Edition copy, so while signed books will increase, signed first editions might not (unless people bring their FEs to be signed at events).

That said, $5000 is a lot of money. If I were in your shoes, I'd sell it.
posted by Meagan at 1:15 PM on September 11, 2007

Keep in mind jonty probably has a First Edition copy

Don't we all? The first printing was *12 million copies*.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:21 PM on September 11, 2007 [3 favorites]

I think procrastination has the way to go initially (especially if you have a photo of her signing it) and if it's a first edition/first printing (it's entirely possible that even though you bought it when it came out, it might not be a first printing). Obviously the bookseller feels they can sell it for $5000 + X, and you just might be able to make most of that yourself.
posted by drezdn at 1:22 PM on September 11, 2007

I should say... It might not be a first edition/first printing.
posted by drezdn at 1:23 PM on September 11, 2007

If you sell it, check ebay, alibris and book dealers to get the best price.
posted by theora55 at 1:23 PM on September 11, 2007

If you invested $5,000 in the stock market for 35 years, and you made an average annual return of 10%, you'd have $140,512 by the end of that time. Will the book be worth that much by then? Probably not.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:23 PM on September 11, 2007 [4 favorites]

Sell it. If the idea of "investing" in the book is what's got your fancy, invest that $5000 in the stock market and *don't touch it* for 10+ years.
posted by ellF at 1:24 PM on September 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

If anyone could definitively say whether a particular commodity would appreciate or depreciate, collecting would be a science. I'd call it easy money.
posted by nanojath at 1:25 PM on September 11, 2007

Nth-ing sell
posted by letahl at 1:27 PM on September 11, 2007

Collectible-wise, I will make a prediction counter to the wisdom offered in this thread. I'd be willing to bet that the book will go up in value roughly 50 years from now, and here's my reasoning...

When some people reach the age 55-65, they start seeking out the things that remind them of childhood, and there will be tons of people who loved Harry Potter and want collectible versions of the original books, and the price will drive up again. Granted, it might not go up enough to justify the storage costs.

As for whether or not Rowling's signature will be come more common, it really depends. On one hand, she is rich, and never needs to do an author tour or go out in public all that often. On the other hand, it's entirely possible that future books will tank and she'll be "encouraged" by her publisher to do signings or appearances.

Plus, it's possible that demand for the signed copies will outlast supply for a while, especially when young Harry Potter fans get their first great-paying jobs, and decide to invest in Harry Potter (like kids from my generation buying Star Wars a few years ago).
posted by drezdn at 1:31 PM on September 11, 2007

Sell it now. Harry Potter is a fade. Excuse me while I hide from rabid fans.
posted by banannafish at 1:35 PM on September 11, 2007

And by "fade" I meant "fad." Not only do I insult the cult that is HP, but I also mangle the English language while doing so. Go me!
posted by banannafish at 1:35 PM on September 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

It is not like this series can be considered one of the great classics of English literature, and I am sure that in 30 years they will live on mainly as period trivia.

Sell it now, and buy it back in 10 years for 1/10th the price.
posted by BobbyDigital at 1:37 PM on September 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

Sell. Put it this way. It's a little different because of the signature, but I don't think you're going to get, say 7,000 for it in a few years or something.

I see what drezdn is saying, but I don't think the signature is going to do it. Books get reprinted and are essentially copies. Those Star Wars collectibles aren't. And as she ages and doesn't put out anything else more memorable, all it takes is her doing a few booksignings at malls to make money, and poof.

If you do keep it, try to get it signed by someone else related to the series along the way - that would make it a true one of a kind and escalate the value perhaps.
posted by cashman at 1:41 PM on September 11, 2007

Are your only motives financial? If you'd like the signed copy (so you can show everyone, "Hey, look, I've got a signed copy!"), then keep it and don't worry about the money.

But if you don't care about that--or don't value it to be worth $5000--go ahead. I'm pretty sure, cool as a signed copy would be, I'd take the five grand (minus the cost of a new copy.)
posted by stevis23 at 1:53 PM on September 11, 2007

Think of it this way. If you had $5000 sitting around, would you choose to spend it all to get an autographed Harry Potter book? If not, sell it.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 2:02 PM on September 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

Stevis23 has a great point, if you like to have a piece of a really cool memory keep it. Right now, judging from this, if you sold it on your own you probably couldn't get $5000 for it.

Which tells me two things 1) if you want $5k for the book, it's worth cashing out and that 2) someone who apparently deals in collectible books thinks it's worth more than the price similar items are currently selling for.

One question I have though, do you have the regular $35 version, or the limited edition version (cost a bit more, more illustrations)? Also, is it just a signature, or is it made out to you?

If you do keep it, the two things that would add value would be to keep proof of when it was signed (say a photo of it being signed) and maybe, if you can, get the illustrator to sign it as well.

The Beanie Baby comparisons, in my opinion really aren't apt. Firstly, people have been interested in Harry Potter for nearly 10 years now. Secondly, it's in a field with a record of collecting mainly signed books. Interest may wane, but it won't be a sharp drop like Beanies.

Personally, I have a shelf full of autographed books at home not because I think they'll go up in value, but because they each have a story.
posted by drezdn at 2:07 PM on September 11, 2007

Sell it and buy some much better books.
posted by pracowity at 2:09 PM on September 11, 2007

This will give you an idea of what rare books are selling for.
I'm afraid your Harry Potter book will be more likely to follow the Beanie Baby trend than the rare book trend. It's not really a rare book, as she signed at least 1,700 books that night, and who knows how many more since.
posted by Floydd at 2:22 PM on September 11, 2007

5 thousand bucks?

For a Harry Potter book?

If you DON'T sell it, remind me to tell you about some desert investment property I would like to sell you... :D
posted by jimmyhutch at 2:36 PM on September 11, 2007

Rowling would have been able to sign only a few thousand books the day of issue, of course, and given her wealth and prestige, I wouldn't be surprised if she was unwilling to do even as much as that. It doesn't look like much fun.

As long as you hold onto your ticket (and program if possible, plus your receipt) and include them with your book, it will be one of the very, very small number which can be proved to have been signed then. I think it will appreciate considerably over the next decade, at least.

I also think that as the rather quavering and rachitic chorus of sneering, snobbish detractors begins to die down as well as off, or simply to show the signs of their dementia more flagrantly, the Harry Potter books will be recognized as enduring classics, and that such recognition will be one of the cardinal signs of the emergence of children's literature as almost a peer of literature for adults.
posted by jamjam at 2:49 PM on September 11, 2007

If your signature is dated or in some way special -- indicating that it was signed on release night -- that might make it more valuable, but if it's just a basic signature, it's not likely to appreciate much.

If it's not special somehow, sell it. They're good books, but the first printing was, as someone mentioned, 12 million copies, and getting new ones signed by JK will be very easy. They're still everywhere; go buy another one, and when you hear that she's speaking again, get that one signed too. :) You live in England so it shouldn't be TOO difficult to get it done.

$5,000 is an insanely high price, and unless your signature is more than just a signature, you should be falling all over yourself to sell it.
posted by Malor at 2:50 PM on September 11, 2007

I've a huge HP fan (think knowing portions off by heart, reading fics obsessively, crying over characters and staying up till 4 AM reading editorials beanplating the book beyond even MeFi standards), and I would definitely sell it. You can do a LOT with 5K - Hell, put it in the bank and buy a new copy of the book with the interest it'll accumulate in, oh, a few months.
posted by Phire at 3:15 PM on September 11, 2007

"Pselliarmus!"
posted by rob511 at 4:05 PM on September 11, 2007 [6 favorites]

From a financial prospective, you should sell it. Of course in the future the books value will increase, at least at the rate of inflation we would assume. So will $5000 in an index fund and you don't have to pay insurance on an index fund, nor make sure that an index fund is somewhere climate controlled and safe.

The trick to investing is also knowing when to sell. What would be your eventual sale price? What kind of appreciation are you trying to gain? $35 turning into $5000 in several months is a great investment. You won't see that rate of appreciation on that book, but you might on another investment.

I (sort of) collect rare and signed books, Pynchon being my favorite. Those manuscripts are just now reaching your price, and Pynchon is a much better and much more reclusive author than Rowling. That is not an indication of value, but those that are book collector's are generally snobby about books themselves. Rowling and other popular books are sometimes the exception, but you're taking a large risk. Will her work stand up to the test of time? Will she be the next Lord of the Rings? No one knows.

What I do know, and what everyone agrees on, is that $5000 is a great price for this book right now. Take this and don't be greedy, you won't get that price outside of private placement.

In case I'm not being clear, when looking for books, and I'm far from a professional collector, I look at their value. This includes:

- Historical price across a time series
- Long market value (as in what can I sell for it on EBay or a random bookstore)
- Quality of the author and the work

This is not a science, but you can come up with a pretty good idea of what the books value is. It is what Graham considered a rule of thumb when looking at security prices. I like to buy books at or below their book value and won't sell unless it is above their value.

Clearly, by any measure, this collector is offering you beyond what the value of this book is. There is no reason to be offering you $5000 on any measure. Keeping the book would then be pure speculation. You're not a speculator, are you?
posted by geoff. at 4:31 PM on September 11, 2007

For those present, and for those whose lamentable absence is a presence to me still, rachitic does mean "of, relating to, or affected by rickets" but because of the consequences the deformity of the ribcage severe rickets can produce, rachitic has often been used to refer to the awful, persistent, phlegmy cough people with rickets often develop, and that's how I was using it in my answer. The most recent use of this kind I could find is from the diary of Daniel Menaker, executive editor in chief of the Random House Publishing Group:

another woman a couple of rows back who had such a terribly rachitic cough that during our long period of wing-walkerlessness, the flight attendant came back and asked her if she was sure she wanted to stay on the plane.
posted by jamjam at 4:43 PM on September 11, 2007

Sell the SOB.

Accio book.
posted by Netzapper at 5:43 PM on September 11, 2007

You met The J.K.? You lucky bastard!
You should sell the book.
posted by HotPatatta at 6:39 PM on September 11, 2007

Unless you are in the business of collecting signed first editions, you should sell.
posted by BrotherCaine at 7:12 PM on September 11, 2007

You could buy a copy of the book, duplicate the signature and sell the fake. Of course, it's illigal.
posted by thebrokenmuse at 7:44 PM on September 11, 2007

unless people bring their FEs to be signed at events

Happens all the time. Hell, my better half took almost a dozen of her Carl Hiaasen 1st editions to his last appearance here in New York and he was happy to sign them for such a "devoted fan".
posted by JaredSeth at 8:59 PM on September 11, 2007

There are three copies of Midnight Signing books being offered right now on Abebooks - $7800, $5100 and $4500. (It's possible that other copies have been selling for somewhat less and these three are expensive outliers that haven't sold yet, but you'd have to search regularly for a while to get a better sense of the range being offered.) Be sure to note this in one of the listings:

As further proof of provenance, I am including all items attendees were given: orange Bloomsbury gift bag, signing invitation, line ticket (no. 38), three Harry Potter balloons, pencil, bookmark and commemorative poster.

As folks mention above, that stuff is usually *very* important if you're hoping the book will appreciate. I'd take the $5,000 myself, though. No-brainer.
posted by mediareport at 11:26 PM on September 11, 2007

There are copies going on eBay right now for around $600. I would think very hard about whether your offer is genuine or some kind of scam. Even if it is genuine, it's very hard to predict whether the book will ever be worth more than $5000. My guess is that in time you will be able to sell it for more, but not for more taking into account inflation.
posted by roofus at 5:04 AM on September 12, 2007

You could buy a copy of the book, duplicate the signature and sell the fake.

Obviously not a good idea, but what about faking a copy for yourself? Take a picture of the signature, sell the original, and paste the signature into a regular copy. That way you still have the memory, so what if it's not original, and you get to sell it for amazing profit.
posted by Meagan at 5:18 AM on September 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

Sell it now. The author's still alive, and there are plenty more first edition copies floating around; therefore, the scarcity of the item you have can only go down. Simple economics. ^_^

When I was a kid, I collected Transformers comics. At the height of the craze (nearly two decades ago), they first few issues (of which I owned multiple copies) were worth $100-$500 each. I held onto them in the silly, mistaken belief that they would only continue to appreciate ... and they ended up becoming nearly worthless.
posted by korpios at 8:19 AM on September 12, 2007

There are copies going on eBay right now for around $600.

Really? Can you point to one? I don't see any. Are you looking at books signed by the illustrator instead? Those are much cheaper.
posted by mediareport at 8:23 PM on September 12, 2007

From abebooks list of the most expensive sales on their site in the past few weeks:

6) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling - $3,600
One of 1,700 copies signed at the book’s midnight launch in July.
posted by drezdn at 8:59 AM on December 20, 2007