posted on March 21, 2002 02:52:11 PM
Hi. I've read often but have never posted here. I realize this is the Ebay board,b ut my general question is, do you think Ebay is the best place to auction collectible books? I have many and have sold a few.I do my research with ADDALL and other rare and collectable book searches, try to describe accurately, but somehow they never quite seem to get the hits or decent prices. I was wondering if perhaps Amazon got the attention of more book offcianados. I do have one listed now on ebay that sells in the hundreds in some of these collectible online book sites. I need advice I think I'm approaching the "book end" of my Ebay stuff incorrectly. Thanks.
posted on March 21, 2002 04:14:24 PM
Collectible books on eBay can do very well, but may fall short of the prices commanded elsewhere on the web. I would say that you might expect to get 50%-100% of some of the asking prices if there is enough interest and bidder bucks available.
Keep in mind that prices on the web are often indicative of greed on LSD and steroids. Some people don't price books out and will pay more than they should.
posted on March 21, 2002 05:47:42 PM
Thank you for your kind reply and for sharing your knowlege. Do you think that Ebay has just as good a "target audience" of those interested in collectable books as say and Amazon/others more specifically focused on books auctions? Just curious and thinking aloud, but I suppose it's like comparing apples and oranges
posted on March 21, 2002 06:26:38 PM
Amazon is geared more to book buyers, but the audience is just as much into the latest books as the rest of the world. I would sell there on a fixed price basis if I were dealing in collectible books. I don't think the auction traffic is anywhere near that of eBay. In many cases you have to get a collector who is "ripe" for a purchase, a book they wanted for a long time and they finally have the means to buy it.
posted on March 22, 2002 12:01:22 AM
I've been wondering the same thing for a while myself, so I'm glad you asked the question. My books don't do gangbusters on ebay but they usually do bring a decent amount. So much depends on your skill in finding the right category! Half.com has been very very slow for me the past two months. I've been thinking about Amazon but just not sure yet. I tried it about a year ago and it wasn't that good a site for me.
I don't know of any other place to list books right now. I'm not a big-time book seller, and the peeks I've taken at abebooks and Bookfinder and some of the others make me think you have to have a huge inventory and/or be a bookshop to even list with them. If anyone here knows somewhere else where I could list my 50 - 100 collectible books, I'd love to hear it.
posted on March 22, 2002 06:00:18 AM
Hi roadsmith. I think it was after I let an autographed Carl Sandburg first edition go on ebay that I thought I should ask some questions and do more research about where the "experts" thought the best place to list such books was. half.com has been dead for me too the last couple of months. I don't put any older collectible books on half.com and I that's what I have mostly.
posted on March 22, 2002 09:26:55 AM
Those "asking" prices on the book sites, I fear, often sit un-asked for for a long time. I picked a couple of books on two different sites (for which I had duplicates) and watched them for a month or two--as long as I had the patience for. They did not sell! So I suppose it depends on how huge an inventory you have and how long you want to wait for your money.
Sometimes I think I should just wrap my truly unique books in acid-free tissue paper and hold them for a few years until I do discover a good book site to sell on. . . .
I think I'm approaching the "book end" of my Ebay stuff incorrectly. Thanks.