Where to go to sell rare/old books?

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boogaloo

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hi,

A family member has built up a large number of books over the past 20 years - various subjects but mainly history, topography, politics.
He would like to sell off a number of the more valuable ones, but is unsure how to go about this.
Would he be better off to go to a reputable dealer? The risk here is that dealers do not want single books usually, they would like to come in and bulk buy the lot. He is loathe to advertise in any newspapers/journals as he does not want too many people knowing he has this stash of books and does not want to be plagued by people calling him up.

Any ideas?

thanks.
 
Is that not what ebay is for. People looking for rare books will trawl ebay. Have a look on ebay for some of the books you have to sell and see can you get a feel for the prices. Going through a dealer will mean that he is the only one guarenteed to get a good deal.
 
If your friend is happy to value the books himself then try the ebay route. I know this is a generalisation but rare-book buyers in Ireland (assuming that the books for sale are of Irish interest) tend to be of an older generation, where ebay would not be the first port of call. It's worth following Bluespud's advice though as well.
Also, if the books are of local interest, you may get a better price at a local auction house.
 
I've had dealings with Cathach Books off Grafton Street in the past. They might be able to help you out.

They also have a search facility for their stock of books, so you might be able to see approximate values for the books that you have - assuming they're in stock already.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions folks, I will try and take a look at all the websites.
I never even thought of ebay for him, it woudl be worth a look anyway.

Thanks so much again, much appreciated.
 
My suggestion is do a search for each individual book on www.abebooks.com -if they're listed you'll get an idea of the value and can then sell them there or on ebay.

I've bought a few rare books from them and it's an excellent site.

Good luck
 
Amazon.com also have a section for direct selling of rare/antiquarian books. How to do it instructions on their website.
 
What about old records? We have (or my mum has) lots of records eg. Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd etc. vinyls in their original sleeves. Would these be worth sticking on ebay?
 
roxy said:
What about old records? We have (or my mum has) lots of records eg. Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd etc. vinyls in their original sleeves. Would these be worth sticking on ebay?
Click to expand...

It depends really. I find ebay to be surprisingly cheap for buying a lot of old vinyl. In fact for most of what I've bought, the postage costs more than the product. People seem to have a perception that because it's vinyl and it's old, it must be worth something. Your best bet is to search for completed sales to see if anything you have has sold for large amounts. Of course you then have to get your head around vinyl collectors classifications (for truly collectible records, the sleeve and the vinyl are usually classified as being in mint, excellent, good etc. condition).
 
jnh said:
It depends really. I find ebay to be surprisingly cheap for buying a lot of old vinyl. In fact for most of what I've bought, the postage costs more than the product. People seem to have a perception that because it's vinyl and it's old, it must be worth something. Your best bet is to search for completed sales to see if anything you have has sold for large amounts. Of course you then have to get your head around vinyl collectors classifications (for truly collectible records, the sleeve and the vinyl are usually classified as being in mint, excellent, good etc. condition).
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for that, must have a look.
 
roxy said:
What about old records? We have (or my mum has) lots of records eg. Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd etc. vinyls in their original sleeves. Would these be worth sticking on ebay?
Click to expand...

Depends on the condition.

But remember as the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd sold loads of LPs the second hand market will be flooded with copies for sale.

Even more importantly

Vinyl isn't and never was an obselete format.

Yes CDs are the industry standard but vinyl is holding its own with sales hovering around the 10% mark for new LPs.

I have bought 30 new albums this year [by new I mean released in 2006] and 21 of those have been on vinyl.

I find it amazing the perception that people have in relation to vinyl.
i.e.
'vinyl is dead'
'you can't buy records anymore'
'you can't buy turntables anymore'

absolute rubbish.

There are at least a dozen shops in Dublin's city centre that sell new and second hand vinyl. Tower and HMV also sell new vinyl.
 
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