How do I sell possibly valuable books?
March 6, 2022 2:28 PM Subscribe
I have a set of books that are possibly valuable. How do I sell them? what's the best way to balance give-me-all-the-money with not wanting to go to a tonne of work to sell them. Toronto Canada. They would be quite heavy and I do not want to have to cart them around town. If I were to ship them...well how do I avoid getting scammed and make buyer pay shipping without them just giving me a lower price to compensate.
I think the books may be valuable because they kind of seem like the kind of books that might be valuable and because when I got them, I looked them up and found a set that sold for a few hundred dollars (which is what I was thinking of, not like tens of thousands or something). The other set was newer (i.e. more recent printing of the same books -- i.e. same series, publisher etc.), but in better condition than my set. I have no idea how those two things balance out.
I think the books may be valuable because they kind of seem like the kind of books that might be valuable and because when I got them, I looked them up and found a set that sold for a few hundred dollars (which is what I was thinking of, not like tens of thousands or something). The other set was newer (i.e. more recent printing of the same books -- i.e. same series, publisher etc.), but in better condition than my set. I have no idea how those two things balance out.
I would take clear photos of them that accurately show the condition and then visit my reputable local used bookstores. Ask for the owner or buyer, show them your photos. They will likely be happy to buy them or consign them for you if there is actually a market for the books and should be able to give you an idea of how valuable the books are even if they aren't interested in them.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 3:02 PM on March 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 3:02 PM on March 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
Excellent suggestion. Check for any mildew or musty odors which can be a problem with old paper.
posted by antiquated at 3:19 PM on March 6, 2022
posted by antiquated at 3:19 PM on March 6, 2022
Best answer: I agree with the above advice to take lots of pictures in good light and try sending them to rare book buyers in your area. However, people who deal in valuables of this sort are used to people coming in with items that are not in great shape or valuable at all, and used to brushing them off. (Not in a mean way, necessarily. But imagine you're a coin dealer and five people a day walk into your shop and demand $100 for their grandfather's treasured silver dollar collection, which you know is worth maybe $20.) To prove that you're a serious seller with a potentially valuable item, you're going to want to do homework beforehand. Luckily, this should involve no schlepping!
Used books have value for three main reasons: 1) Rare, important edition (like the above mentioned Shakespeare's folios; doesn't have to be that rare, but generally), 2) Provenance relating to the author (signed, personalized inscriptions and the like, more important for older authors, rather than someone modern who did book signings on the regular) and 3) provenance relating to another important person who owned the specific physical book you are selling (i.e., recent story that the Philadelphia Free Library's Shakespeare folio may have been owned by John Milton). Of course there's also the inherent value of the text itself, especially if it's out of print or hard to find, but unless it's famous and widely sought after the rarity of the text sadly doesn't affect price as much as you'd think.
You don't mention signatures or provenance, so I'll assume value here is based on the edition. In this case, you'll want to document as much as possible and find examples of to show potential buyers. Take pictures of all identifying info (publishers info, dates, ISBN if it's new enough to have that, artist's info if there are pictures, etc). You could try entering all the information on the books that you have on an app of the kind professional book resellers tend to use: Biblio (https://www.biblio.com/) is legit in that it links to actual examples of those books for sale in other places. Value is HIGHLY contingent on condition, so try and find examples of your specific edition and compare to see if yours is in comparable, better or worse condition. Comparing to a different printing of the same text is not as helpful unless you know what the differences are between the two printings. Are there illustrations? How brittle are the pages? Is there dust? Every bit of information counts.
The book market can also be highly regional: I have a first edition James Whitcomb Riley, inscribed with a long letter to his publisher, with scrupulous documentation that said publisher was a great great relative of my husband's. In Indiana, this could sell for hundreds. In Texas, I don't know that I could sell it. If you find your book might be of regional interest elsewhere than Toronto, it could be worth your time to identify that region and reach out to booksellers there. If the book is truly valuable, they'll work with you on shipping.
This is all to say...old books do not have as much inherent value as we book lovers would wish, but there's no harm in trying. An evening's research and tempered expectations are your best friends. Good luck!
posted by theweasel at 3:33 PM on March 6, 2022 [12 favorites]
Used books have value for three main reasons: 1) Rare, important edition (like the above mentioned Shakespeare's folios; doesn't have to be that rare, but generally), 2) Provenance relating to the author (signed, personalized inscriptions and the like, more important for older authors, rather than someone modern who did book signings on the regular) and 3) provenance relating to another important person who owned the specific physical book you are selling (i.e., recent story that the Philadelphia Free Library's Shakespeare folio may have been owned by John Milton). Of course there's also the inherent value of the text itself, especially if it's out of print or hard to find, but unless it's famous and widely sought after the rarity of the text sadly doesn't affect price as much as you'd think.
You don't mention signatures or provenance, so I'll assume value here is based on the edition. In this case, you'll want to document as much as possible and find examples of to show potential buyers. Take pictures of all identifying info (publishers info, dates, ISBN if it's new enough to have that, artist's info if there are pictures, etc). You could try entering all the information on the books that you have on an app of the kind professional book resellers tend to use: Biblio (https://www.biblio.com/) is legit in that it links to actual examples of those books for sale in other places. Value is HIGHLY contingent on condition, so try and find examples of your specific edition and compare to see if yours is in comparable, better or worse condition. Comparing to a different printing of the same text is not as helpful unless you know what the differences are between the two printings. Are there illustrations? How brittle are the pages? Is there dust? Every bit of information counts.
The book market can also be highly regional: I have a first edition James Whitcomb Riley, inscribed with a long letter to his publisher, with scrupulous documentation that said publisher was a great great relative of my husband's. In Indiana, this could sell for hundreds. In Texas, I don't know that I could sell it. If you find your book might be of regional interest elsewhere than Toronto, it could be worth your time to identify that region and reach out to booksellers there. If the book is truly valuable, they'll work with you on shipping.
This is all to say...old books do not have as much inherent value as we book lovers would wish, but there's no harm in trying. An evening's research and tempered expectations are your best friends. Good luck!
posted by theweasel at 3:33 PM on March 6, 2022 [12 favorites]
Best answer: I think you are going to be disappointed.
Start by looking for the book from on-line used book seller and see what they are selling for. Check out the shipping cost associated with sale too. Note that unless there is something really special about them as collector's items, earlier printing might not make much difference. In any case, quality can and does make a big difference.
Weigh the books and find out how much it will cost to ship them. Buyers are generally paying attention to total costs so you should definitely expect to get paid less if you expect buyer to pay the shipping costs. This gives you idea of the maximum you might get - better if you can find a local buyer, less if the books will need shipping.
Recognize that the prices you see (selling price plus shipping) is the maximum you are going to get and only if you are willing to keep the books around until you find a willing buyer. If you are going to sell to a used book seller, expect to get half or less since they need to pay for their own costs of inventory, marketing and shipping.
posted by metahawk at 3:37 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Start by looking for the book from on-line used book seller and see what they are selling for. Check out the shipping cost associated with sale too. Note that unless there is something really special about them as collector's items, earlier printing might not make much difference. In any case, quality can and does make a big difference.
Weigh the books and find out how much it will cost to ship them. Buyers are generally paying attention to total costs so you should definitely expect to get paid less if you expect buyer to pay the shipping costs. This gives you idea of the maximum you might get - better if you can find a local buyer, less if the books will need shipping.
Recognize that the prices you see (selling price plus shipping) is the maximum you are going to get and only if you are willing to keep the books around until you find a willing buyer. If you are going to sell to a used book seller, expect to get half or less since they need to pay for their own costs of inventory, marketing and shipping.
posted by metahawk at 3:37 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
In my reference to Shakespeare, I was thinking of a late 19th/early 20th mass market edition, not one of the 17th century ones.
posted by jb at 3:43 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jb at 3:43 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Have you considered contacting an auction house that might have a book auction? You may be able to have them do an appraisal, and if they think they have value they might be willing to include them in an auction. I think you can probably do this investigation by email and phone, including good photographs.
posted by citygirl at 3:56 PM on March 6, 2022
posted by citygirl at 3:56 PM on March 6, 2022
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. Through biblio.com I was able to find an aniquarian seller in Toronto selling the same books, same edition but lower number (they're numbered limited edition), slightly (i think, but hard to say) better condition for about seven times what I was hoping to get. Hopefully they'd like another set and would be willing to give me a chunk of their expected selling price.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:49 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:49 PM on March 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: And yes,I recognize the possibility that if they already have one (lower number, better condition) set taking up room on their shelves, they might not want a second.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:58 PM on March 6, 2022
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:58 PM on March 6, 2022
I'm in Toronto and buy and sell used things (records, books, magazines, etc.).
You're welcome to MeMail me info or connect to my site and send me a regular email with more information. I may be interested in buying outright or selling on consignment, depending on what they are.
posted by dobbs at 6:00 PM on March 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
You're welcome to MeMail me info or connect to my site and send me a regular email with more information. I may be interested in buying outright or selling on consignment, depending on what they are.
posted by dobbs at 6:00 PM on March 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
I have sold a few books valued $X00 through ebay, and gotten better prices than I was quoted by bookstores. If you sell to a buyer in the US, and are willing to cross the border to ship it, you can use media mail, which is an extremely low cost shipping method. What I did was list it as buy it now at a price 10% below the best price on abebooks, then lowered the price if it expired.
posted by hermanubis at 7:23 PM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by hermanubis at 7:23 PM on March 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
I sell used books on ebay sometimes, and have sold them a book or set of books for more than $100. If you don't mind it taking a while to sell and getting the non-top price, this is a very easy way to do it. See if anyone else has ever bought what you're selling on ebay.
Old books tend to either sell instantly (because someone is waiting for what you have and has an alert set up) or very slowly (they sit for months till someone in the market does a search and your listing pops up). I can give you more info if you want, or there are lots of resources for ebay selling.
posted by gideonfrog at 12:56 PM on March 7, 2022
Old books tend to either sell instantly (because someone is waiting for what you have and has an alert set up) or very slowly (they sit for months till someone in the market does a search and your listing pops up). I can give you more info if you want, or there are lots of resources for ebay selling.
posted by gideonfrog at 12:56 PM on March 7, 2022
You probably need to do the work of looking up whether any of them are valuable yourself.
Toronto does have some great used book stores where the staff might be able to give you advice on specific texts. Seekers books on Bloor near Bathurst is one to try, and A Good Read on Roncesvalles.
posted by sindark at 4:04 PM on March 7, 2022
Toronto does have some great used book stores where the staff might be able to give you advice on specific texts. Seekers books on Bloor near Bathurst is one to try, and A Good Read on Roncesvalles.
posted by sindark at 4:04 PM on March 7, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jb at 2:46 PM on March 6, 2022 [1 favorite]