Have a general question about selling rare books

If you have a book that's exceptionally rare, and likely very saleable, can it hurt to discuss it in a public forum before offering it to auction houses?

Thanks for any perspective on this...

 

I don't see why not. I posted about this one
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/a-civil-war-history-worth-a-read.810/
and I'll mention others as I dig them up.

 

Great book, Af.

Okay, I guess I'll post about the book in question as soon as I take a few photos. Thanks for your reply!

 

Ya, we kinda get the idea already that you're selling on that site and want us all to come take a look !

 

Guess there was a spam post that got removed???

 

Yuppers......

 

Actually Pat, I wouldn't. None of my finds meant for auction houses get discussed here, if I can help it. The reason is because this board, and likely others, is highly searchable on google. Anyone here that might happen to make a disparaging comment about its condition, saleability or something like that would NOT be good. I'm curious to know what you have, but if the book were mine, I wouldn't risk it. It's fun to come on here and share what you've found that you're excited about, but I won't do it, no sir!

 

Adding that I have been told by a number of auction houses to NOT post about the item on message boards and the like. They weren't happy when, in regards to one item that I had asked questions about before realizing it was valuable, they were able to find my questions and the answers through a simple search.

 

WOW! Had no clue of this... Thanks!

 

It's all about it being "fresh to the market." Auction houses don't want prospective buyers doing a search on an item they're thinking of buying and finding the consignor's questions about said item or even photos showing it off. Puts a tarnish on it I guess. Of course, this would apply MORE to truly rare and one of a kind items.

 

Thanks for your thoughts, Moon.

Even with lower-priced eBay things, I'm always uneasy talking about them publicly (i.e., available to search engines).

Since the General Discussions area isn't searchable, I think I'm going to start a thread there for "backroom discussions." In fact, I think that's what I'll call it.

 

'Nuf, you may be right that things generally will sell anyway, but I'm still uneasy.

True, Antiques Roadshow discusses items, but you almost never hear the discussions that occur among the appraisers prior to taping. Those are the "backroom" type discussions that I prefer to be private.

 

Whatever, I'm just going by what others have told me...don't shoot the messenger! In response to your comment, IMO there is a big difference between top appraisers talking about an item on Antiques Roadshow, versus a bunch of people on a message board. The difference is esoteric, but I think most of us could probably understand the possible effects of one versus the other. One MIGHT actually help sales and promote the item, the other could possibly hurt. Why risk it? Personally I try to protect every cent I might make. With an autistic son who I might have to support for forever, I have to be very careful with my money, and when many professionals tell me not to do something that might cost me money, I listen to them.

 

I was referring to the times an appraiser on ARS will say something like "I consulted with my colleagues at the XYZ table, and the consensus is..."

I don't remember ever actually hearing those discussions, just the conclusion they came up with.

 

Sorry you have to take this to a personal level when someone doesn't agree with you. And no, I did not forget that I have asked you for advice, and I thank you for helping me. I've also PMed others on this board for their advice on items they specialize in. But anyway...just because you helped me doesn't mean that you know EVERYTHING in the world, and it also doesn't mean that I have to agree with you about EVERYTHING. I mean, really, what the hell!
I was giving Pat my thoughts, telling her about MY own personal experiences, which are quite a bit more than a few...do my thoughts become "hearsay" simply because we disagree and you think everyone needs to listen to you and you alone? It's really not something you need to get angry about. Chill.

 

Well, yes, you ARE acting that way, in this thread. And what does one situation have to do with the other...you giving me helpful advice in the past about a certain topic, and this thread? The two topics were and are not related, so I'm not really following you here. Unless you're saying what you are denying saying...which is that I must always agree with you, no matter what, because you gave me helpful advice in the past.
But whatever. Pat is free to do whatever she chooses in regards to talking about her item, no matter what. And I'm perfectly content with the fact that we disagree about this subject. It doesn't mean that I don't think you know a lot about a lot of different kinds of antiques. I don't see anyone dissing you in this thread...it's more like you are attacking me!

 

Although I haven't been there and heard their conversations, I suspect sometimes they disagree and sometimes someone may say something that turns out to be wrong when they dig deeper, etc.

I suspect they don't want to air these conversations because it might be misconstrued and undercut their reputations.

 

Wish you had just said that to begin with, but glad we agree to disagree. I agree it's all BS and God knows I unfortunately have bigger fish to fry than this petty mess.

Good luck with your book, Pat. I hope it all goes very well for you!

 

Thanks, Moon!

I just started a thread for private discussions about items. It's in the General Discussions area, so the images and text in the thread won't be picked up by search engines.

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/backroom-item-discussions.4128/