How much are these worth? Should I sell them in my yard sale?
Hi I an haveing a yard sale in a couple days and i recently came across some really old books i was just wondering if they are worth holding on to or if i should just get rid of them. there are 5 books total. i will list all of them and there condition.
BOOK ONE: The Wrong Twin by; Harry Leon Wilson
copy right of 1920, 1921
The cover of the book is in good condition
very little frying on the edges
the pages inside have less then 10% of folding
discoloration on all pages due to age
less then 10% of pages soild
there is small writting in less then 10% of book
there are no torn pages
dark blue in color
BOOK TWO: The Hermit of Far End by; Margeret Pedler
Copy right 1920
The cover of book is in good condition
very little frying around edges
book was givin as a gift in 1924
has a note on inside descibing how it was from and too.
pages are discolored from age
no soils, folding, or torn pages
a brown color of book
BOOK THREE: Daily English Lessons Book Three by; Willis H. Wilcox, Ph.M.
Copy right 1915
outside of book in good condtion
very little frying on edges
writting in about 30% of book
looks like someone was writting down notes to study by.
pages are slightly discolored from age
no soild, folded, or torn pages
Color of book is a yellow/brown
BOOK FOUR: The Rainbow Mother Goose By;May Lamberton Becker
Copy right 1947
Outside of book is in fair condition
there is medium frying on edges
pages are slightly discolored from age
there is about 10% soild pages
there is about 10% folded pages
there is no torn pages
Book is yellow and orange in almost a checker pattern
BOOK FIVE: Whittier’s Complete Poems By; John Greenleaf Whittier
Copy right(last date) 1904
Outside of book is in poor condition
there is medium freying on edges
there has been water damage to outside of book on bottom right corner
water spot on cover top left corner
book seems to be signed, has a legal seal on three pages and has a protective page that covers the signature
pages are discolored due to age
less the 5% of soiled pages
no torn pages
no folded pages
book is blue in color with a gold wreath decoration in all corners as well as the name Whittier on front
Well those are my books..If some one could get back to me with just a general worth it would be great. I am not looking to make a fourtune but if they are worth something i would like to save them for my kids.
thanks very much.
the books are old they have no ISBN numbers
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7 comments
moonlightonalake on March 31, 2010 at 6:36 am
Hi. I always look on abebooks.com to get an idea of the value of books.
Trixie Votes 3rd Party on March 31, 2010 at 7:30 am
I don’t know much about the value of books, but if you think that these one might be worth something try looking up the titles on eBay and maybe the Amazon market place. See if there are any like them that might be worth some money. If they are worth a little bit of cash, you can either mark them for that price at your yard sale, put them on eBay, or put them up on a site like craigslist. It might be your best bet to get the best value for them, and then you’ll be able to see them to someone who was looking for them and know their value versus someone who just stumbled upon them.
**Try doing a search with the specific ISBN rather than just the titles.
mean cats mama on March 31, 2010 at 7:55 am
Don’t put these books in a garage sale! I googled the 1st book & saw prices of $30+. If you just want to sell them, put them on ebay with a starting bid of $15 or $20 & see what you get. If you want to know the real value find a local appraiser. Your local library may be able to help you out or suggest book appraisers. Good luck!
Sophie B on March 31, 2010 at 8:47 am
If it were me.. those would go on the eye level shelf in my library, so I could see them everytime I went to look for a book(sigh)…
Of the group Mother Goose is probably the most valuable…
At a garage sale you wouldn’t expect more than a buck or two for any of them
Mother Goose , English Lessons,and the Poetry book might easily fetch 100.00 or more on ebay…..
ravenwood240 on March 31, 2010 at 9:41 am
You could send them to me… I’ll take good care of them.
Seriously, you should take them to a reputable rare book dealer near you to get an accurate value. The internet is nice for ballpark figures, but the only way someone can give you an accurate valuation of a book is to see it in person.
Raven
plethora de sarcasm on March 31, 2010 at 9:59 am
you should figure out the edition numbers. There’s a way to do it…there’s a number on the copyright page that looks like this:
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 <—– if there is a number ‘1′ in the series then it’s a first edition and the book is probably worth something and i would definitely NOT sale it in a yard sale.
if it’s a second edition then there will be no number one: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 <——this is a second edition and it just continues on from there.
Aerin on March 31, 2010 at 10:42 am
I don’t know how much they’re worth, but don’t put them in a garage sale! They’re definitely worth more than what people who go to garage sales are willing to pay for them.
Oh, and I’m assuming Mother Goose is a picture book – is it? If that’s the case, then keep it, and preserve it well, because old editions of children’s picture books tend to become collectibles over time. (Mostly because of the unique illustrations.)
Also, keep the Hermit of Far End. I’m assuming it’s the first edition or close to the first edition, which means it could be valuable.
Just a note: Books may become collectibles, but not necessary valuable, because it’s hard to translate their value on paper into real cash. So I suggest you keep the books as collectibles instead.