More advice?

[cyrano]

I know I have some bibliophiles on this list. I have about half a dozen old books. (Old meaning over 100 years.) They're not in great condition--given what I read on the web, I would say 'Good' at best. Recgnizable authors in some cases--Dumas, Scott, a collection of Greek mythology by Nathaniel Hawthorne--and I don't know if I should bother shopping them or just put them in the bin with everything else.

Comments

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Check abebooks, see if anything similar for sale, and at what price.

Personally, I check all my hardbacks against half.com before hauling them to half-price or whatever. Hardbacks are often short runs, and while 95 percent of them end up selling for 75 cents, that other 5 percent can sell for substantial amounts. Even check the ones you think are in crappy condition -- my biggest prize was a ex-library copy of Solaris that turned out to be the first American edition. I was able to consign it to Other Change of Hobbit and they sold it for $300 bucks. But several others went for $50-ish.

[scarywhitegirl.livejournal.com]

Seconded. Even if they're paperbacks (which the books you mention are most definitely not), check places like Amazon and such. cochese had some crazy weird new age-y books that he asked me to see if I could sell, and one of them sold for over $100 (used! and paperback!) on Amazon.

[tavella.livejournal.com]

I got some crazy amounts for some of my old anthro books, too, some 20 years later. All small academic press stuff, and I guess hard to get these days.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

How much effort is involved? I've got a significant pile of books, and my main goal is to make moving easier and less full of stuff. Although I like money.

[scarywhitegirl.livejournal.com]

Guessing that these books don't have ISBNs... it's going to require a lot more work than more recent books. :(

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Alas, no ISBN. A few of them don't even have edition dates. But for a handful of potentially lucrative volumes, I can probably deal with extra work. The Compleat Gilbert And Sullivan with programs is going to be tricky, I think.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

How much work is this? Part of my concern is that (a) this is part of a moving process with a lot of work and (b) this is part of a moving process the object of which is to clear space.

[tavella.livejournal.com]

If they have isbn numbers, a snap -- type the number straight into the search box at half.com, it will take you right to the page with items for sale so you can see the prices. Easy to do while watching TV.

Older books you have to check on abebooks -- normally for collector's items the store selling them will have a fairly extensive description so you can place if yours is spendy or or a later, cheaper version.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Oh and also, I get the impression that BookBuyers isn't really big on the collectibility of books, or at least doesn't shell out for them. Do you have any experience there?

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Bookbuyers *loves* paperback sf and mystery. Other stuff, especially hardbacks, not so much, far better to sell on half.com if they have any worth at all.

But I purged a third of my collection, got something close to a thousand in credit, which I either used or sold off to friends for half-price, and $100+ in cash. Granted, this was several years back -- don't know how much they are buying in the recession. I think out of something like 20 boxes of paperbacks I hauled in, I only had to take back about 2 boxes worth (they went to the library.)

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Thirding the "check around" advice, and not purely because I have an insane, gut-wrenching horror at the idea of chucking old books. ;)

At the very least, the collection of Greek mythology by Hawthorne sounds lovely!

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Nothing gets chucked. We have Friends of the Library and other exciting options. I have lots of lovely things, I just can't keep hauling them around with me especially if I don't take enjoyment from them.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhhh, that's okay then. I totally understand about the hauling, too. I need to do a little more of the culling of things. Moving last time was fairly painful, with all the junk I've collected. ;)

[jakejr.livejournal.com]

FYI, my former employer allegedly buys long-distance these days. Not sure how their logistics work. (Powell's)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

The shipping would frighten me. A plane ticket is only $150, and now I know I can take the Red Line nearly to their doorstep. (:

[schquee.livejournal.com]

Easiest thing to do is check Amazon to see if they're on sale there. If they are, see what the prices are for the editions or publication years you have, if not just name your price. You can check eBay and see how much they're selling for. The beauty of Amazon is you can start with a high price and lower it if the book's not selling yet. You can search for it and make sure yours is the lowest price for its condition.