Stupid internet

[Juggler]

It's been becoming more and more of a problem.

People will find some old book and thing "Cha-chng, it's old it must be valuable." They then do their own Internet research, whereupon they find the highest asking price of what they have and think that they can come in here and get that.

No they can't.

There are a lot of idiots selling on the Internet and making sense of the prices listed on the various book-selling sites requires some experience. Even if the prices listed are the actual market price, we are not going to pay that. We pay wholesale and sell at retail.

The worst ones are the ones who only look at Amazon. Most of their sellers are what we call "scanner zombies". They just go through the books at library sales with a bar code reader hooked up to a pda to check Amazon prices. The pda just makes a happy or sad sound to tell them whether or not to buy. Some of them can't even read English. Their descriptions of condition are useless if they even bother with one.

The people who do this think of books as nothing but a commodity. I don't think they have ever bought books to read them.

[morwynskya]

Sad and all too true.

Had a guy come in yesterday with a hardcover Book 13 Wheel of Time (those of you who know this series know Robert Jordan died in '07 and this book was stitched together by his estate, his widow and Brian Sanderson). We made him the standard wholesale offer and he was not pleased - and here's his reason:

"But look, it's autographed by Robert Jordan!"

My partner says, "That's a neat trick - he's been dead for three years. Actually, since someone scribbled on the flyleaf in ink, it's actually worth even less than I offered."

The seller grabbed it back off the counter, looked mad as hell, and stormed out.

Clueless doesn't begin to cover it.

[lordlundar]

"But look, it's autographed by Robert Jordan!"

I would have just laughed my ass off at that point.

[dalesys]

"But look, it's autographed by Robert Jordan!"

That proves it was ghostwritten!

[Cassandra]

I have a few friends that might do something like that. I have a couple of books that are over 100 years old and my friends think they are worth thousands of dollars. Guess what? They have suffered minor water damage. I did some extensive research on the net about these books and even in excellent condition they'd only bring about $20 each. So, yeah, old does not automatically mean they are worth tons of money. Hell, I have an officially autographed Anne Rice and the going price on the net is about $50. I know that at wholesale it would be even less. But I buy these things to read and to go to people "look whose autograph I have". I like books, simple.

[PepperElf]

which explains why the books i got the antique store were priced at just a few bucks each.

[Sheldonrs]

..."But look, it's autographed by Robert Jordan!"

....

How much could I get for a copy of the bible autographed by the author?

[drunkenwildmage]

We had a local used book store close up their shop, after 18 years in business. The main reason they gave for closing the shop, was that the internet not only hurting their sales, but also effected the prices they could charge.

quote from the story I read online.

It's not just the local economy, but the availability of used books on the Internet that has really brought the prices down," hurting profitability


This is the 2nd long time business in the same strip mall the closed.. a Gaming Store I went to often closed down about a year earlier, basically for the same reasons.

[Argabarga]

I have a relative who believes all-too-blindly in the "if it's older than a few years, it's worth money!" fallacy.

He's tried to convince me to put 25-year old car parts I found in the basement, that were BROKEN and DENTED beyond repair on Ebay because "You could get money for those! They're old and discontinued!"

Yeah, I can get money for em' alright, what's the current going rate on scrap metal?

[houdini]

Yeah, I can get money for em' alright, what's the current going rate on scrap metal?

Usually a lot more than you can get for the parts(at least in the UK), so selling them for metal is worth doing!

[Victoria J]

I love that the people who blindly think old books are always valuable also have no idea what an OLD book is.

My mother is a huge collector of books. She must have 30+ full length bookshelves of books (or equivalent) with many double stacked. She isn't particularly a serious collector - in that she buys to read, and doesn't collect multiple editions etc. She does have fair collections of mysteries and thrillers (particularly but not exclusively women writers) and children's books but she has eclectic taste and has also become an increasing fan of graphic novels.

The oldest books in her house are over 200 years old. And they're worth next to nothing. They are an incomplete set of works by Jonathan Swift (and include the rather wonderful book of predictions parody in which he predicted dire and terrible things for his publisher ). A complete set would be valuable. These are just nice to have - nice to have something so old, attractive plus from a writer with a sharp mind and humour.

However I recently lent an old children's book of mine to my father. He was sad to find it was out of print and wanted to read it to my sister. I wanted it back and started to look at getting them their own copy - and discovered that my copy probably is worth well over £50 (can't find a single hardback for less with many for considerably more and mine is in very good condition, obviously a seller would give less). It's obscure, less than 20 years old and was not particularly expensive when it was published.

Supply and demand I guess.

Very old items are also amazingly cheap compared to whatever collectible craze is. I do find something amazing about VERY old items, and would love one day to have a little item from ancient Egypt. I know a couple of shops specialising in antiquities and they can be surprisingly cheap - particularly little scarabs etc. When beanie babies could sell for hundreds and hundreds you could own something a couple of thousand years old for less than a hundred pounds.

If I had any money I also have a huge love of old science books. They're so interesting because they have both the science and then they also tell the story of how the world has changed and we learned new things.

Victoria J

[NateTheChops]

They just go through the books at library sales with a bar code reader hooked up to a pda to check Amazon prices.

This in and of itself is a sad commentary about the state of technology.

But it's not just them. I was trying to get a library card at the Salem Library, but I didn't have what they were looking for as a proof of address. The librarian then tells me,

"You can just ask for a temporary pass if you want to use the computer."

What does it say for future generations if people who work in a library are flummoxed by the reason one would try to get a library card?

[Sapphire Silk]

which explains why the books i got the antique store were priced at just a few bucks each.

Exactly. I used to live near a bookstore that specialized in antique books. I got some really cool books there, and some were quite valuable. However, it was rare that I managed to pick up one of the really valuable ones at a bargain basement price.

How much could I get for a copy of the bible autographed by the author?

That would be another book in and of itself.

Supply and demand I guess.

If I had any money I also have a huge love of old science books. They're so interesting because they have both the science and then they also tell the story of how the world has changed and we learned new things.

Victoria J

Very much supply and demand. I have a wonderful guide on obstetrical instruments throughout history that retails for $300. It's not old at all, but was not printed in large quantities, and is recognized for the wonderful book it is. Still, I'd have a hard time getting my $300 back out of it unless I sold it to someone interested in medical antiques.

I love old science books as well, especially old medical and nursing texts. For me, it's a kick to look at how things were done 100 years ago, compared to what we know now.

One of my favorites is a collections of papers presented at an late 19th century meeting of the Michigan Medical Association. One of the papers discusses the loss of tidal volume (lung capacity) in women who wear corsets compared to women who didn't.

[EricKei]

My mother is a huge collector of books. She must have 30+ full length bookshelves of books (or equivalent) with many double stacked.

For some reason, this anecdote reminded me of this site.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I don't really care that much about collecting books (except for my tendency to want to read all the books in a series I particularly enjoy), but I too feel sad when I find out that people don't take care of them. I was heartbroken when I found out a huge stack of books I'd stashed in the basement (to make room in my bedroom for more books) was ruined by a leak in the dishwasher. Some of them were books I had every intention of keeping.

I also feel sad when I find out that people buy books solely with the intention of sitting on them and hoping to make money or something. I still shudder when I recall a classmate of mine waaay back when I was still in high school. I was reading a book of mine before class, and he asked what book it was. I told him, and he asked what class I was reading it for. I told him I wasn't, I was reading it for fun. He looked perplexed and gave me a weird look.

It was at that moment that I truly began to despair for the future.