Selling Magazines - Do I Black Out Name and Address on Label?

Please excuse me if this question has been raised before. Although we've been selling online for many years, we've never sold magazines.

We recently acquired a large number of magazines with a former US president on the cover of various publications. Some of them have the name and address of the person who subscribed to the magazine on the cover. I googled the person and found that she passed away only recently, and her photo and list of family members is online.

Should I black out the name and address before listing the magazines? I don't want to de-value the magazines, but I'm not really comfortable with putting the original owner's name and address out there. Maybe it doesn't matter, but I want to do the right thing.

Thanks for your advice!

 

I'm sure the original owner would appreciate your concern ascot.
In this situation, I have used Goo-Gone to release and remove the label.

 

Thank you! The name and address isn't on an applied label. It's directly on the magazine in the white space at the bottom. I would need to black it out with a marker.

 

Hmmm, that's a quandary, blacking out would be preferable to clipping it out.
If it might ease your conscience to leave it, may I say that if privacy was a real issue to the heirs, they would have probably obliterated the name and address before offering them for sale.

 

Sandra, thank you again. After attending auctions and yard sales for many years, I'm still surprised at the amount of personal information is on stuff people get rid of. I also think that upon the death of a family member, the relatives just go in and take/divvy up the things that have special meaning to them (or that they inherited) and then turn the rest over to an auction house or estate seller without a thought to what may have personal information in or on it.

I think I'll just neatly black out the name and address.

 

Leave it be. I'd say no one who bought the mags would have the least interest in the previous, now dead, owner.
This obsession with 'information' is a modern fad, if someone wants a load of old names and addresses let them buy a phone book. It is all in there anyway.

 

If the person has passed away...I'd leave it alone , as it does contribute in some way to the history of the item...

 

Oh no! That is oil based!
Are you sure you used that???
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If a label is on with something sticky I use lighter fluid that I drip on and cover for a few minutes. Then the label should come off easily.
This works without damage to all but cheap cheesy printing like on comics from Mexico.
I believe most magazine labels go on with two thin runs of white glue and sometimes those will just fall or pop off,
As far as what to do with printed addressing I'd look and see what other big sellers are doing.

 

Before you go to a lot of work, I suggest you check first and see if your magazines have collector value. Presidential covers were widely saved and, therefore, are often not rare.

Debora

 

Indeed there are enough for a highway to the moon with Kennedy ones alone.

 

The collector value is low - $3 to $10 on average. I was actually bidding on 4 art prints that I wanted, and the auctioneer threw in the magazines, about 20-25 of them. I paid $5 for everything. If the mags don't sell, it's no big deal.

 

No big deal but... there is the cost of your labor.

Debora

 

I'm retired. It's too hot outside for yard work, so other than going to the gym or taking a nap, I'm free .

 

Well then, in my opinion I wouldn't black out name & address of previous owner. Doing so would deface cover. And as her family wasn't concerned about selling with information visible...

Debora

 

If the information had already been blacked out when you got the magazines you wouldn't have this concern. So I would go ahead and neatly cover up the name and address as if it had been that way all along. Maybe you could use some sort of vintage pen that would be period appropriate.

 

Hi,
Please do not mark on the covers. Leave them alone. There is nothing more disturbing to a collector than marked covers. If the magazines were mailed there is nothing on the address that could not be gathered from other sources. People are too crazy with hiding information that is known everywhere else. People are concerned about private matters but they broadcast on many kinds of information.
For instance We are on vacation for two weeks, the house is empty and ready for robbers. Please do not deface a magazine.
greg

 

My feeling is, most people were or are in the phone book so why would blacking out the name and address matter. Anyone can look them up anyway!

 

That makes sense Book!