Old Books

crazycamper

I wonder if anyone could offer any advice. Sadly, I recently lost my Dad. He was a journalist for many years & he used to review books. He has hundreds of books, mainly fiction hardbacks from the 1960s & 1970's . They are virtually all books that were sent to him to review and still have the letter from the publishers with each book. I can see there are sites such as Amazon, Alibris, Abe etc but there are so many that it would take me forever to sell them. Has anyone got any suggestions where to start ? I did put some into a local auction but they went for next to nothing so probably would not chance that again. Any advice would be appreciated.

Flyonthewall

Are you allowed to sell them? I do believe some books that are sent for the purpose of reviewing are not to be sold on. I may be wrong but best to be sure. I've certainly read before about a site giving products for reviewing and stating they are not to be sold. They may not always be the version published for the public either.

Sadly most books aren't really worth anything now, especially popular fiction. Non-fiction can be worth something, depends what it is. First editions and rare books will probably be worth something, possibly quite a lot. As they have letters with them and could vary from the versions mass printed you may have some that are worth more.

You could ebay them. Do bundles to get rid of them faster. Do make sure to double check their value first though.

You could give some to a few different charities, but you're unlikely to get rid of them all that way if he has hundreds.

Auction may be the best way if you find any of value. You need to make sure that they're seen by the right people though. Your previous experience could be down to numerous things - lack of description, lack of buyers, low value books. So might just be a case of finding a better auction.

crazycamper

Thank you Fly On The Wall. Ive checked most of the books and they are first editions but not pre publication copies, does not say anywhere not to be sold. I have had a look for values, but as you say, sadly not much call for old books these days. I have got a lot of Racing car books because Dad worked at Goodyear & was very involved with the Grand Prix, I know the Autocourse books fetch a good price. Will probably resort to Ebay. Thanks for your advice.

Nada666

You can try a charity with specialist bookshops such as Oxfam - they tend to take the time to price things reasonably so will not be giving them away at unreasonable prices just for someone else to resell.

(Of course, this isn't a 'boost your income' solution!)

Hedgehog99

Very sorry about your Dad.

For the books you decide are less valuable, you could try a car boot? Cheaper than eBay & no hassle of posting them. If you pick the right one, there are people looking for paperbacks for voracious readers or for holiday reading. Even if you get less per book, it's still more profit because you've only paid the entry fee.

I've seen whole personal libraries listed in auctions, broken down into two or three sets, but it's a risk, I agree. It is worth auctioning the more valuable ones - choose an auctioneer who advertises online worldwide to maximise your chances of customers.

Flyonthewall

crazycamper wrote: »

Thank you Fly On The Wall. Ive checked most of the books and they are first editions but not pre publication copies, does not say anywhere not to be sold. I have had a look for values, but as you say, sadly not much call for old books these days. I have got a lot of Racing car books because Dad worked at Goodyear & was very involved with the Grand Prix, I know the Autocourse books fetch a good price. Will probably resort to Ebay. Thanks for your advice.

No problem. If they're first editions check that when looking at values you are looking at what they're worth as a first edition as there could be a big difference between that and the normal version. Some first editions sell for thousands! They're probably not always easy to find (in which case they could be worth more if very rare) and value though, but it's well worth doing your research and getting them valued. As I say, they could be worth a lot so best to double check and be sure.

If you've got old racing books and any stories, letters, photos, signatures or anything like that you may be able to sell the books based on/with them. Sure there will be some racing fans who love the history of it all and the behind the scenes type stuff.

Hedgehog99 wrote: »

For the books you decide are less valuable, you could try a car boot? Cheaper than eBay & no hassle of posting them. If you pick the right one, there are people looking for paperbacks for voracious readers or for holiday reading. Even if you get less per book, it's still more profit because you've only paid the entry fee.

Entry fees are often between £7-10 and often you'll be lucky if you get 50p a book. More likely to get 20p and books don't always sell well. People don't care about their value usually, they don't expect to pay more than a few pence for a book at a carboot. At 20p each even if entry was only £5 that's quite a few books to shift before breaking even.

I wouldn't do a carboot with the aim of selling only books.

lincroft1710

The car books may be more valuable, check Amazon or eBay and see what prices are being asked.

crazycamper

Thanks everyone, much appreciated.

Mistral001

lincroft1710 wrote: »

The car books may be more valuable, check Amazon or eBay and see what prices are being asked.

Haynes repair manuals and the like sell well.

Anglea

Where are you located?

In the Bristol/Somerset area there are second hand bookshops that will pay for books either take them in or they visit. I've also seen classifieds ads for the contents of home libraries.

I expect there are shops all over the country that do the same.

Or there are book dealers (selling unusual books online) - you phone and give them an idea what you have and they tell you if it's suitable or not.