Selling Vintage Books

OK, so you would like to sell your collection of Vintage Books (paperbacks, comic books, pulps, digests and/or magazines) or maybe you just bought a box of Vintage Books at an auction or yard sale and would like to know what you can sell them for. What do you do?

First you need to get a rough idea of the value. This is important for collectors as well as those with little knowledge. The Vintage Book market is strong, but you have to be able to determine what you have and what it’s worth in order to get the most from your Vintage Books.

Knowing what genres are most collected is a first step. For example, I was at an antique mall in Ohio a few years back where many dealers displayed their items in showcases. I asked the attendant to open one particular case where I spotted some Vintage Books on a bottom shelf. They were comic books from the 1950s all priced the same, $5.00 each. Every book was worth at least more than 100 times more than marked! Of course, I bought them all. If the dealer had just taken the time to do a little research they could have really made out (I think what happened is the books were all of the horror genre instead of superhero, so the dealer wasn’t alerted to their value).

What a find for a collector of horror-themed comics, and I still have the books in my collection.

Shock Suspenstories, E.C. Comics (1952). Value $500+

Other factors

In addition to be able to identify the most collectible genres, there are 3 additional factors that can be considered when doing an initial analysis to determine the value of Vintage Books. Together, I call these Mike’s Four Factors.

MIKE’S FOUR FACTORS TO ASSESS VALUE

To properly assess the value Vintage Books, you need to start with four factors: Format, Year, Genre and Condition.

  1. Format. Must be a paperback. This means either a comic book, paperback, digest or magazine.
  2. Year. Must be published sometime between 1930 and 1965.
  3. Genre. Must be fiction in the mystery, horror, science fiction, superhero or social exploitation (i.e., drugs, juvenile delinquency, bad girl and gay/lesbian) genre.
  4. Condition. Must be in at least very good condition which means no major defects like missing pieces, brittleness, marks, stains, water damage or more than one or two minor creases.

If books meet all these factors, you probably have something of value and it’s worth taking the next steps to determine the market value.

NEXT STEPS…

*I have posted a few links to vendor resources for those visiting my site to use in acquiring Vintage Books and supplies. I have used these sites in my collecting for years, and they have worked well for me. I want to disclose that for a few vendors I recommend (eBay, AbeBooks and Amazon) I may receive a small renumeration if you use one of the links and make a purchase (there's no extra cost to you). For example, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. --Mike

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