Nanasturtles
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posted on February 9, 2002 10:04:58 PM new
My community library is having their annual used book sale on Monday. I don't usually deal in books but will be going to see what I can find....any advice on what I should look for......other than some old AA books! I've noticed that they seem to sell really well....Not trying to step on any toes.....Just looking for any advice others can give or are willing to share. Thanks much in advance.....
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goldpanner3
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posted on February 9, 2002 10:14:37 PM new
I've done well with Newer travel guides. Also anykind of user manuals almost.
I just went to one last week, during the last hour they had $1.00 for all you can fit in a grocery bag sale.
Looking back, I should have really loaded up since bought one bag and have already made that back, and have got some good reading to boot.
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spyked
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posted on February 9, 2002 10:16:09 PM new
Yeah, my advice is to look out for the book dealers who go to these book sales at the libraries and snatch/grab at the books - shove you out of the way, ect. (see the thread: BOOK DEALERS - A COMPLAINT - which I posted today - explaining my experiences at the library booksale I went today!)
Get there early, and be on the lookout for people carry empty boxes and big bags - those are the book dealers!
I found Jesus! - He was behind the sofa the whole time!
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nycyn
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posted on February 9, 2002 11:19:56 PM new
Books on collectibles--dolls; timepieces; jewelry; pottery; etc. if possible. 1st ed. military or art are a bet, and 1st ed in gen'l. Fine art books do good. Go to ebay, do a search on completed items "book" and look at highest prices first.
Your pal.
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denisv
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posted on February 10, 2002 02:56:56 AM new
I have also had good luck with travel books, both recent and antique (i.e. more than 30 years old). Also "coffee table" books seem to do OK when listed in the appropriate Collectibles category - be careful not to overprice them, however. And use Media Mail for shipping as they can be heavy! Here's a request: if the sale is being sponsored by the Friends of the Library (or other similar organization) be sure to join. In many localities public libraries are far down the list to receive funding, and these groups do a lot for local library users. And if you are a member, you can often get to view and buy at the "members only" preview.
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bidsbids
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posted on February 10, 2002 06:26:09 AM new
Our library has about four book sales a year. Each sale lasts three days with a Fri, Sat, & Sun setup. On Friday nite for three hours there is a 'members only' sale. To be a member you must pony up $5, once a year. The books are priced at 75 cents/inch. On Saturday it's anyone that wants to come and the same 75 cents per inch for books. On Sunday it's $3 per normal size brown paper shopping bag ( was only $2 last year ). They let you fill up as many bags as you want and many people fill up 5 to 10 bags. I went last Sunday ( I now only go on Sundays ) and got about 30 books in the bag so it was only a dime a book. Most went up on Half.com or the new Yahoo Warehouse but there were about 5 "finds" went went up on eBay. I have found several signed books at the library sale and will often look for a signature. I found Julie Nixon signed book about her mother and got $38 for it on eBay a year ago. Stay away from the mass produced popular best sellers as they have almost no value. At least half of the buyers at the library sales are going to resale the items. It's well worth a little time and small outlay of cash to 'treasure hunt' at a library sale. 
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Nanasturtles
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posted on February 10, 2002 07:09:20 AM new
THANKS for lots of great advice.......I have made my notes and will be looking for what you have suggested.....I will be doing my research also today on completed sales.
Also, "spyked", I did read your other thread and you painted a very familiar picture as our Library sales can be that way also. People get very "territorial" at these sales...."Don't look at those, those are within my arm length range!".....I planned on taking some paper bags with handles to put my "finds" in to make it easier along with being there early.
Also that was a great suggestion "bidsbids" about checking out joining the Friends of The Library......never thought of that.....thanks!
I live in a small town and so our book sales are usually priced for the first day at .50 for hardbacks and .25 for paper backs......then the second day I think they do a bag sale on what is left over. I plan on going both days....
Anyone have any suggestions on how to spot a first edition book? I do know that some have "First Edition" printed inside and others have the numbers......12345 etc and the "1" supposedly marks a first edition or the letters, "ABCDEF" marks the first editon by the letter "A"......any other ways that 1st editions are marked?
Thanks much for all the great advice and sharing.....I'll let you know Monday night what "goodies" I might have found....
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Nanasturtles
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posted on February 10, 2002 07:34:45 AM new
Just another question on spotting a first edition book......if a book only one copyright date on the inside....does this make it a first edition?
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spyked
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posted on February 10, 2002 08:21:16 AM new
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area - and we have the "Friends of the Library" here at a few of the local libraries - and I'm a member along with those greedy book dealers I mentioned - who were all also there for the
2 hour "preview" (for members only)before the non-members get to go in - and basically
get what is left over!
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holdenrex
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posted on February 10, 2002 08:21:34 AM new
Nanasturtles, there's a lot of different rules to identify a first edition. Many Book Club Editions have only one publishing date on their title page, and these are generally never first editions (and are usually only sold as reading copies). Here's a couple web pages on identifying first editions and book club editions:
http://collectbooks.about.com/library/howto/htfirstedition.htm
http://pix.popula.com/items/0224/vintage/boox.html
Remember to avoid first editions that were big sellers. It's good to familiarize yourself with the early books by today's collectible authors like King, Clancy, etc. First editions of their earlier works are more valuable than their later first editions for the simple reason that once an author becomes big, the first edition runs of their new books are published in the millions. The books written prior to them getting established had much lower publishing runs.
Also, I've found that persuing non-fiction books tends to be more lucrative than fiction. The more specific and the more obscure the topic the better. Always think "keywords" when picking non-fiction books - a general book on "dogs" will not generate as much interest as a specialized book on "Irish Wolfhounds, " for instance.
Happy hunting!
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Nanasturtles
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posted on February 10, 2002 08:26:04 AM new
holdenrex......thanks for the links....I know what I will be studying up on today.....Also thanks for the great advice on looking at the specialized books....I'm making my notes as I go...
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bidsbids
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posted on February 10, 2002 08:26:23 AM new
also http://www.rarebooks.org/firsted.htm
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Nanasturtles
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posted on February 10, 2002 08:56:02 AM new
Great links......I have book marked all of them and have printed out some of the ways listed to spot a 1st. edition......I'll have this in my pocket just for a reference when I go tomorrow. Can't wait to see what I can find...Now that I am armed with a little bit of knowledge......I'm ready! If anyone has anything to add to this thread....I'll appreciate it and keep check it for more tips. AW users are the very best! Thanks guys!
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mballai
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posted on February 10, 2002 09:02:43 AM new
I try always to go early to library sales. It's not that you can't find great stuff later--I've gotten some real pearls, but the pickings are very slim. My guess is that 95% of the most saleable stuff is snatched up within the first half hour.
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nycyn
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posted on February 10, 2002 09:32:15 AM new
All this book talk reminds me of this story. We recently had one of those booksales in my building. $5.00 & $3.00 tables, then boxes on the floor with $2.00 items. So this lady comes in looking for.....books to fill the shelves in her new custom built house in Montana. (It is a RICH neighborhood, so why not?) Friendly with our "friends" I indicated to the $5.00 table with my eyes. They started there. Oh sure they would deliver to Park & 89th! She filled up shopping bags full to mail to the house. Spent over $250 they tell me. Took, what, 45 minutes?
I bought a set of books on fishing, which I'm keeping.
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Nanasturtles
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posted on February 10, 2002 10:14:58 AM new
All this new found knowledge of books had me remember that I went to an estate auction of a retired older teacher at the end of last summer.....I listed what books from the lot that I knew where collectable....Dick & Jane etc.....but now I think I will pull out those boxes and take a second look.....maybe how that I can recognize a few things that I didn't have a clue about before will unveil some "treasures" I didn't even know I had......my fingers are crossed!
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richierich
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posted on February 10, 2002 10:16:00 AM new
I am not a really book seller but I like to add variety to my auctions occassionally to attract new bidders to my normal catagory.
I took collapsible boxes and a luggage cart with me. Worked great. There were people there with great trash plastice trash cans on wheels just tossing book after book into them. I am sure they had to have bought a million books!
The luggage cart saved my from having to lug everything in my arms. I wheeled to the end of the isle, parked in it and shopping. Put my books in the box until it was fill and opened the next box.
I bought war books (did ok with them), bought old books, printed 1890 and such (WISH I did NOT). I did really good will "How to" books, you know the How to fly, How to fish, how to build a plane, etc.
good luck!
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Nanasturtles
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posted on February 10, 2002 10:34:50 AM new
Yeah, I thought about my cart on wheels that I take to the flea markets (my daughter mentioned me taking it) but the only problem is our library is a small library and where the books are put out can get so crowded that I think my cart would actually be more cumbersome to me being able to get around.....if I put it at the end of a table and don't stay with it, my "goodies" could be GONE....that's why I thought of the paper grocery bags with handles....I could put my books in them and set them under the table and move them down the line under the table as I browse.....any more suggestions? I love the help everyone has provided....
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bidsbids
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posted on February 10, 2002 03:45:20 PM new
I strongly disagree with the 95% of the sellable books going in the first half hour theory. Many 95% of the Guttenberg Bibles get bought but the vast majority are people looking for what they collect or like to read. The average ebay seller buys what they have had luck selling in the past but there are so many different areas of interest that nobody knows just what will sell on eBay. I see a lot of rookie eBay sellers buying all the wrong books and losing a bundle on listing fees and then telling everyone that books do not sell on eBay. Some of the best deals I've ever gotten at library sales and flea markets have been at the end of the day after everyone else has gone through the stuff already. Heck, the elderly ladies that run the sales probably snag the really good stuff just like at thirft stores.
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rarriffle
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posted on February 11, 2002 03:40:25 PM new
once a year, in the little college town near me, they a large 3 day book sale.
people donate books all year and the hospital twig runs the sale.
there are 1,000s of books with every category you can imagine.
the 1st day books are $1.00 and $2.00, 2nd day $1.00 and $.50, 3rd day $1.00 a bag.
there are books, records, software, games and puzzles.
last year I went the 3rd day and got some really nice books but I had no idea what I was looking for.
this year I have read all the booksellers threads and advice, I will be better armed and will go the first day.
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aliceroad
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posted on February 11, 2002 05:49:20 PM new
has any one figured a place other than Ebay to sell all these books?
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mballai
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posted on February 11, 2002 06:29:37 PM new
The most saleable books are almost always newer or older and those books do get gobbled up pretty fast. Yes I've gotten wonderful books afterwards and even days later, but the majority go quickly. I have a very diverse knowledge in many book areas, and it is almost a given that I will find things most others do not, but the bread-and-butter that drive my sales isn't going to sit too long on a table or shelf at a sale.
One of the sad things is that lots of books are very saleable and worthwhile, but the market is completely flooded with copies and you probably won't make enough to justify the purchase even if it is under a dollar. I used to sell lots of books I won't even touch anymore. People will sell five volumes of certain authors for scarcely more than shipping just to clear their shelves.
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Libra63
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posted on February 11, 2002 06:29:42 PM new
nanasturtles How did you make out at the book sale? I hope you got a bundle of good ones. Be sure and tell us
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Libra63
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posted on February 11, 2002 06:29:43 PM new
sorry double post
[ edited by Libra63 on Feb 11, 2002 06:30 PM ]
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Nanasturtles
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posted on February 11, 2002 08:27:40 PM new
Libra63---My daughter and I got to the Library at 9:30 and there was only a few people waiting in their cars for the doors to open. Finally at 9:45 more came and started to gravitate toward the front door in anticipation of them opening.....so my daughter and I decided to get out and wait in the cold also.....wanted to be one of the first ones in. Even though our library is small, last years sale was much bigger so when I peeked thru the window to only see 2 short tables with books, my heart sank but when we got inside there was several more tables set up in the back room so I had high hopes. Thanks to all the helpful suggestions and links offered on this threads (see this is why I LOVE AW users so much.....thanks ALL!) I went in was looking thru different eyes this year. I did find some "how to" guides, some travel guides, some military weapon book, a Fostoria Glassware Reference & Price Guide (that I will keep for my self to reference Fostoria......I only live about 45 minutes from where this was produced so I come across it frequently but need to know patterns), Antique Furniture Guide, many kids dinosaur books (which I might give to a friend's little 5 yr. old boy who loves dinosaurs) some 45 record reference guides, several Art books, several gardening guide books and some others that I haven't had a chance to unpack yet......Really I was disappointed that there really wasn't that much to pick from.......what I considered good re-sale books anyway.....but this was a very cheap library sale at only 10 cents for hardback books and 5 cents for magazines so after my daughter and I loaded our box of books into my van, I told her lets go back in and just do another quick scan.....when I went back in I found a mint copy of the 1977 Nancy Drew Cookbook....that I had never seen before (and missed the first time)....so I think that with as little as I have invested, I will make out on my purchases. I think I'm going to go back in tomorrow and pick up some of the Dr. Atkins diet books....saw lots of different ones of them today and passed them up not know how they would do but......I see that when sold in a lot on ebays past sales, they sell for a little bit and my investment would be worth it.....especially if they do the $1.00 a bag full which is what they did last year....Anyway the main thing is not what I got from the library sale....but what I came away with from others here who were willing to share their knowledge that I can always take with me.....thanks to all who shared! And I will say it again.......thats why I LOVE THIS BOARD!<p>
Donna
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