OK, so you would like to sell your collection of Vintage Books (paperbacks, comics, pulps, digest and/or magazines) or maybe you just bought a box at an auction or yard sale. What do you do?
First you need to get a rough idea of the value. This is important for those with knowledge as well as those with little knowledge. The Vintage Book market is strong, but you have to be able to determine a realistic value in order to sell your books for what they are worth. For example, I was at an antique mall in Ohio a few years back where many dealers displayed their items in glass showcases. I asked the attendant to open one particular showcase and discovered a stack of vintage comic books from the 1950s on the bottom shelf all priced the same, $5.00 each. Every book was worth at least more than 100 times more than it was marked. Of course, I bought them all. If the dealer had just taken the time to check what the books were selling for online or purchase a $20 comic book price guide, they could have really made out (I believe what happened is the books were all of the horror genre instead of superhero, so the dealer wasn’t alerted to their value). I still have these books in my collection.
Shock Suspenstories, E.C. Comics (1952). Value $500+
How to Sell Vintage Books
If you have a collection of vintage books that you’re looking to sell, there are several avenues you can explore. One option is to sell online through platforms such as eBay. These platforms allow you to reach a wide audience of potential buyers and the market can set the price (note: this is not foolproof because the books must be identified accurately).
Another option is to sell your vintage books to specialized bookstores. These establishments often have a keen interest in acquiring valuable books and may offer a fair price for your collection. However, keep in mind these stores need to re-sell the books at a profit and thus, will rarely offer full market value. In addition, and unfortunately, the number of brick and mortar used bookstores are dwindling which limits this resource.
Additionally, attending Vintage Paperback, Pulp, or Comic Book conventions or joining online communities dedicated to buying and selling Vintage Books can help you find buyers. Connecting with collectors is ideal, as they are more likely to pay market value for books they need for their collection.
To properly value Vintage Books you need to start with determining four factors:
- Format. Must be a paperback book, comic book, digest or magazine.
- Year published. Must be published sometime between 1930 and 1965.
- Genre. Must be fiction, in the mystery, horror, science fiction, superhero or social exploitation (i.e., drugs, juvenile delinquency, bad girl and lesbian) genres.
- Condition. Must be in at least very good or better condition.
I’ll discuss the details of these factors in a follow-on post. While there are some exceptions (also covered in another post), you can’t go wrong using the above four factors as a starting point to determine if your Vintage Books are valuable..
