How to Prepare A Book for Sale

Condition is very important when it comes to making top dollar for your used and new books. If you have a rare book that needs repair you should contact a specialist. If you have other books that you want to improve the condition on for yourself or for resale here are some ideas.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• filmoplast P
• soft makeup brush
• gum eraser
• gooGone
• rubbing alcohol
• soft cloth

1. Flip through the pages of a book to make sure there are no papers, bookmarks etc. inside. Take care that your hands are clean and you are gentle with the pages. If it is an older book or antique, alternate turning the front and back pages. If you start in the middle the binding could crack.

2. Look at the first few pages for markings. Penciled in prices can be gently erased with a gum eraser. Bookplates generally devalue a book but if there is a scribbling or other marks that can be covered with a bookplate, decide which is worse the scribbles or a bookplate.

3. 
    

   Small rips and tears in the dustjacket and book pages can be repaired using Filmoplast P. Use special book adhesive to repair glued bindings. Check out Talasonline.com for product information.

4. Using a soft brush like a clean powder or blush brush gently brush around the pages of the book to dust it. Keep the brush exclusively for books.

5. If the dust jacket is a slick material, gently apply a small amount of GooGone to the price sticker and other sticky sections, let it sit for a few moments and then remove.

6. Apply a little rubbing alcohol to a soft cloth and wipe down the dust jacket. Do not use this on thin paper jackets or directly on the book pages.

7. Consider covering special books with a clear Brodart dust jacket cover to preserve the dustjacket and make the book even more special.

Tips & Warnings

• If a book is water damaged flatten it under a heavy weight for a few days.
• Musty and smoky smells are hard to remove from a book. Please see resources for tips.
• For more information on book repair check out Brodart.com's book repair video.
• Do not put a bookplate on a book that is an antique, instead take it to a professional to restore. On less quality books however, sometimes a book plate is better than scribbles.

Resources

• Brodart's Guide to Book Repair and Protection
• TalasOnline.com
• How to Remove Smokey Smells from Books
• My Lil Gold Dress (Earn at Home)

[booksperson]

on 7/31/2009 Don't damage your reputation by selling musty books. Thanks for this article.

[Susanh]

on 9/20/2008 Excellent article. I love to browse through bookstores that feature used and rare books. There are treasures there!

[Veesites]

on 8/31/2008 Interesting information about making books look their best. I sell used books online, so this is great info to know.