Featured Box Lot Of Books

Got this box lot of books at auction for $5. Thought they were interesting. Was outbid on many other items and didn't want to go home empty handed. Is there much of a market for this kind of antique book? Most are 1910-1930 era. Looked at eBay and found a few that had sold for $8-$15 plus shipping. If I ever decide to dip my toe into the reselling business I'd probably try to sell these, although I'd bet they would be slow sellers.

 

The Boy With the U.S. Weather Men looks interesting to me. I like old fiction books from that era that are illustrated with photographs. -- And I assume that one is, since this e-version from Project Gutenberg says that it has 72 photos. (And I see the photos are reproduced there, too.) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22156/22156-h/22156-h.htm

Overall, though, most of these would have modest value -- but total is better than the $5 you paid.

 

A good place to start is on a collectible/used book site like abebooks.com. There you can get asking prices for your volumes and an idea as to their scarcity.

Debora

 

For instance, a 1st printing of The Boy With The U.S. Weather Men is on offer for $30 and a later printing is on offer for $13.88. Do keep in mind that, in books, old doesn't mean valuable, nor does scarce.

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Se...17&sts=t&tn=the boy with the u.s. weather men

Debora

 

eBay has two volumes, editions, printing and condition unknown (to me,) on offer for $25 and $20-ish but no sold copies. I suspect little collector interest but... I may be wrong.

Debora

 

I use the median price on abebooks to price for retail.
So if there are 40 books of the same year, I look at what people are asking around #18-22 and price there. I check conditions listed to see if mine is as good or better.
Sometimes I'll price just a little higher.
I usually do fairly well pricing that way.

 

Thanks for your comments!

Here is another one. Not a very good photo "The Boy Scouts In The Great Flood". There are a few more that are missing covers or are in really poor shape that I'm not going to post.

 

Another thought if they don't bring a lot of money sold each. Some people sell books in lots for decor purposes only for props.

 

Was going to recommend possibly selling all the Boy Scout books as a lot. People collect Boy Scout related items specifically. A lot would be easier to sell too. USPS has a special rate for media so it’s cheaper to mail. Since they are still heavy you may want to try a local sale. Maybe package the manuals the same way. Not sure on market but wouldn’t imagine it’s robust. The “CT Boys in the Western Reserve” looks like a fun read to me.

 

Juvenile books are definitely collectible - but the key to real value is the artist involved (such as N. C. Wyeth). That and the first two Hopalong Cassidy books - which were written by Louis Lamour. A $4 book became a $400 book when his authorship was confirmed.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

I've had some success selling some childhood books privately (Nancy Drew flew out-the-door; others not so much), but when my husband tried to sell some popular Civil War books (down-sizing) to a used book store, they rejected the entire lot because they said they detected mold (although not visible) in one book. Not sure how mold is detected in a matter of an hour or two, but that was the deal.

I am not typically concerned at all about a little mold, since it is everywhere (obvious black mold is a different animal, though.) Every time I purchase anything that cannot be thoroughly disinfected, there is an opportunity for mold. This isn't just secondhand stuff from garage sales, ebay, thrift stores, but items from regular retail. I bring it up just to make you aware it can be a concern for some buyers with books of this age. Just know your potential buyer. I love my older books and yours look really cool.

Along that line, check out the "new" shoes I received this week from a major and slightly pricey retailer. Nothing to do with this thread, except to emphasize you never know what is lurking in even a "new" item.

 

That is awful. I hope you can return them and get a refund.

 

Without hijacking this thread, yes they sent a pre-paid return label when I explained that even their local store was appalled (they couldn't take them back there.) Then received a message asking me to review and send a photo of how I'm "styling" them. And, I did just that....

 

@Joe2007 If you decide to resell the Boy Scout books, I'd love to know about it. My son is the quintessential Boy Scout and loves all things BSA.

Linda