Collections are only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for them. The people who used to be interested in many items have since passed on, or are no longer interested in adding to their collections. Younger people don’t have the same interest in these pieces, so the bottom dropped out of the market. Sad, but true.
After helping my parents downsize, I came home and cleaned out my house so my children will not have to go through the same thing. I was guilty of saving things because “they will be worth something some day”, but I don’t believe that adage is true any more.
First, just want to say that selling on Amazon is an extraordinary experience for a novice interested in business. Unlike, say, selling that one odd piece on Craigslist, there are market issues to consider, protocols to follow, expectations on service, and records to keep. I recommend it for any kid who may be interested in business.
We’re selling a huge number of books on Amazon and it’s more work than I think OP wants. Ours are specialty books that scholars may be interested in. It’s not so much about “maybe” you have a first edition in there, signed copies, or something obscure with high value. When you have that many to get rid of, it’s about market demand and the competition. They have to want it, at your price, for you to sell it. Or else they sit. You’d have to see what price that ISBN is already listed for, for your book’s condition, pick your price, post it, wait, then package and get to the PO. In 3 months, we’ve sold 25% of those actually posted. Some days, we ship one book, other times, a handful. Many days, nothing. We have the time to wait this out.
Sometimes, you just have to opt for “opportunity,” i.e., the opportunity to be rid of them. Many brick and mortar booksellers are buying lots and reselling them online. They know what’s ordinary and what might be worth a little exploration. Let them hire the hs kid who boxes and carries. If you have an idea which books he bought for 100, or if you want to spot check some that seem like they may be valuable, by all means check those, yourself. Just plug the ISBN in online. Try it with the dashes and without.
But for a job that big, think about the “opportunity”…to just be rid of them. Good luck.
Some of us siblings (ME) are ready to PAY for these books to be hauled out of the house. Others are still thinking there is value. The problem is, all of us that live close enough to participate in this house project are each also dealing with major issues in our own immediate families, plus we still have mom in assisted living having dementia issues and needing a good bit of attention.
My bottom line is trying to be rid of this house altogether, to get the house sold so we don’t continue with the risk of vandalism/theft/fire, etc. in an unsafe neighborhood. We aren’t going to get much money out of the house in the current market, plus we are having to pay for renovations before we can get it on the market.
^^Then the delay in going through the books may not be worth it.
I think in cleaning out my parents house (when that day comes) I may be worrying about the “Antiques Roadshow” mistake. You know the person who gets some item appraised for a lot of money and when asked “Where did you find it”, they say, “I found it in the trash! Someone had thrown this out!” or “I got it at an estate sale for $5.” I don’t want to be the person who threw out or virtually gave away something that was worth real money. Of course, this is unusual otherwise it wouldn’t make for good television.
I’m going through the same thing with items other than just books. The amount of work it takes to extract money from most used things is a lot. MOre time, research money put it, more money you get, unless you hit it lucky and something obviously valuable stands out.
I live in an area where there are a number of second hand , antique dealers and they haul away junk from homes regularly at an offered price, and revel if a hidden gem is in the mix. That’s their payoff for hauling away books that they sell for a dollar a grocery bag full to get rid of them.
Books have become this century beany babies. My parents bought and kept every schoolbook through the years, and often in duplicate. Since nobody had a use for such older books, they “tasked” me to sell them. Although current versions sell for three digits, the older versions are not worth the time and effort. In the end, after wasting much time, they ended up at the recycling center. The worst part is that they SHOULD have been useful to many students, but the racket of new editions preclude this by design.
Next on the block, thousands of magazines from AD to The Economist. The only version we will keep is the one with my sister’s or my birthday. If we can find it!
I had to get rid of 3000 books quickly, and, after calling around to a few used book dealers and libraries, I finally just called1-800-got-junk and paid them a couple of hundred dollars to haul them away. They were there within a couple of hours. There were no valuable books but there were a lot of Taschen art and decorating books that I probably could have sold. Still, it was a big relief to have everything carted away all at once.
There is a fine and antique bookstore on Brighton Way here in BH. I would look them up and see what is on their site. I haven’t gone in there (hence no name). I imagine that if there is a website you might get an idea of what is sellable and/or valuable.
Paperbacks can definitely have value. But it depends what the book is. When we get down to the last books, Penguin editions, we may just give those to some bookstore near a college for just enough to go to lunch. On Amazon, a $3 sale nets you about $1, after comm and shipping. Not worth the effort for someone with low volume.
But it is interesting to look up ISBNs. Just know that values ebb and flow.
Agree textbooks are a racket, but they’re not making much money either.
Just helped my mom move from large 3br house to small 1br apartment. She wanted nothing to do w the junk in the basement that she had forgotten about. I found a first edition Life of Santa Claus by L Frank Baum in rug condition that’s likely worth $200. If pristine ti would be worth $1200.
My mom runs her woman’s club book sale every year and says they make an extra $500-1000/year from the cash stuck in books. They don’t know who the donors were, so they just keep the cash.
Bottom line, spend a day going through the piles to see if you have first editions or any cash between the pages. I like the idea of enlisted the grandkids. We let S1 keep some treasures that were destined for the dumpster in exchange for his help during the move. If not, box them up and call a charity. Mom’s woman’s club has a guy that pays them $1.50/box for rejects. She’s not sure what he does with them.
I just want to find my 1975 copy of The Two Towers. The cover had some of Tolkien’s renderings. I have Fellowship and Return of the King. I suspect it is in a bin of S1’s books in the basement, but have not been able to pull the box down from the top shelf by myself and always forget to ask one of the guys when they are here.
It’s funny, I love reading, but have very few books around. Once I’m done with a book, I typically want it gone. I give it away to someone and don’t want it back!
Our old paperback Ballantine addition of The Hobbit is falling apart. You know the one - it warns you not to buy the unauthorized version. At some point though we sprung for hardcovers of the rest of the LOTR.
I’m the opposite - I love books and I have WAY too many books around. I no longer buy books in the quantities that I used to, and I routinely cull the ones I have to donate to the library - but I still have over 700? 800? books (probably even more if I include the boxes of children’s books I have).
I do re-read them and loan them out (I *do * want them back, though). As I said, I don’t buy that many books any more, but there are certain authors whose books I buy and collect. I guess I’d better figure out an ultimate home for my collection so that they don’t become a burden to my heirs.