How to Buy and Sell Used Books

In the real-estate game, the mantra is location, location, location. In the book trade, it's condition, condition, condition. Even the dust jacket figures into a book's value.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Buying

1. Determine what kind of collector you are. Will you collect by author? Subject? First editions only? Answering these questions will set your course.

2. Do your homework. Yes, there are books about books. They tell you who published the book first and when, as well as how to approximate a book's value.

3. Surf for pricing information on the Internet. Be aware that some of the listings are asking prices, not actual selling prices.

4. Visit a few used bookstores and introduce yourself to the owners. Let them know what kinds of materials interest you. Bookstore owners frequent many more auctions and shows than you will.

5. Buy only the best. Once you've established what you're looking for, get the best example you can find.

6. Keep your books in good condition by storing them upright on bookshelves. If you must pack them away in boxes, lay them one on top of another, keep weight evenly distributed, and pack them tightly so they don't rub against one another. Don't put any weight on top of the books that might cause the binding to bend or the top to wear.

Selling

1. Lower your expectations--most sellers tend to place a value on books far above what they are really worth. Finding a rare gem among a pile of books you inherited is highly unlikely. Invite a local book dealer to see what you've got and ask for an off-the-cuff appraisal.

2. Sort paperbacks in one pile, hardcovers in another. Only in rare cases do paperbacks possess more than just word value. Sell them at a garage sale or trade them in at a used bookstore.

3. Find out what you can about any hardcover books you have in good condition. Check the library for reference books and search the Internet for used-book sales venues.

4. Sell your rare examples on an Internet auction site or at an auction house. If you're selling online, set a reserve (a price that must be met for a sale to take place) so you will get what you expect. See How to Buy at Auction and How to Use Online Auction Sites.

Tips & Warnings

• First editions are to book collectors what rookie cards are to sports-card collectors. Look for the words first edition and first printing in the front of the book (often just after the title page) on a page that also lists copyright date, publisher, printing location and reference numbers.

• Not all first editions are marked as such. You may have to determine age by points of issue, such as spelling corrections or changes in illustrations made between printings.

• Books made especially for a book-club distributor have little worth, except for folks who collect only book-club editions. To identify a bookclub edition, look for a small circle, square, maple leaf, dot or star blind-stamped at the bottom right of the outside back cover. (A blind stamp is a slight indentation in the cover.)