Selling a lot of very old books - worth it?

What_time_is_it

As part of a house clearance we have a lot of very old books. Most of them were bought as a box of 30 or so from auctions over the years. Some of theses are still unboxed. They are mostly 19th century and in variable condition. Mostly reference books and classic literature and encylocpedias.

Is it worth our time to try and sell these? Auction houses don't seem keen and they would take up a lot of space in our home if we need to store them for a while. There are maybe 1,500 to 2,000 in total.

Any tips or advice?
Are we best off just binning them and not spending much time on it?

caprikid1

Almost certainly worthwhile spending some time on ebay / Google to value

Spoonie_Turtle

If you don't think it's worth trying to sell them on eBay then see if a secondhand bookshop is interested (even if you give them away).  Better that they can rehome some than throwing them all away.  If not a physical store, there are some companies who sell all sorts of books online, they might take them.

What_time_is_it

caprikid1 said:

Almost certainly worthwhile spending some time on ebay / Google to value

Done a bit of that, but it's hard to see that it would be worth it. People list prices that are too high, and sold prices are so low that it might work out at about £5 an hour for my time!

What_time_is_it

Spoonie_Turtle said:

If you don't think it's worth trying to sell them on eBay then see if a secondhand bookshop is interested (even if you give them away).  Better that they can rehome some than throwing them all away.  If not a physical store, there are some companies who sell all sorts of books online, they might take them.

That's a nice idea. Not sure how I'd get them all to the bookshop though. It would take probably 2 days and multiple trips back and forth in a car.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

What_time_is_it said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

If you don't think it's worth trying to sell them on eBay then see if a secondhand bookshop is interested (even if you give them away).  Better that they can rehome some than throwing them all away.  If not a physical store, there are some companies who sell all sorts of books online, they might take them.

That's a nice idea. Not sure how I'd get them all to the bookshop though. It would take probably 2 days and multiple trips back and forth in a car.

If you are giving them away they might be willing to collect? Or they might be willing to come to view and offer you something for them. 

Charity shops might also collect but I doubt they'll buy them, a lot of charity shops will give unwanted stuff to recycling companies, at least one of which, picks through and sells stuff off by the ton which no doubt end up online so there might be a lot of life in old books.  

Always worth checking values online I think, the mega sellers don't do photos so if you do have anything of value you've got a better change at a sale given condition is so subjective. 

christineperseus

Oxfam book shop........they sell a lot online. If you pay tax... possibly a little something for no effort.

soolin

I used to sell books and like the OP would often buy loads very cheaply at auction. Even ‘very old’ books are often of little value , I suspect 99 out of every 100 books I researched were barely worth storing to sell, however the  1 in 100 was often very worth the effort. To get any decent return it does take time unfortunately as you need to research the exact copy you have, printing details and learning to accurately describe condition grade was also difficult sometimes. 

I tended to do quick searches, sort into piles, obviously worthless (charity shop - where they often got very good money for the charity!) definitely worth listing, and finally, difficult to research, put aside until I have time. 

I was always surprised to have books 200 years old that carried a value of less than 50p , it is a sad fact that people don’t collect books much anymore, no one has large libraries and the classics are usually all reprinted in modern editions, even available on kindle. 

What_time_is_it

soolin said:

I used to sell books and like the OP would often buy loads very cheaply at auction. Even ‘very old’ books are often of little value , I suspect 99 out of every 100 books I researched were barely worth storing to sell, however the  1 in 100 was often very worth the effort. To get any decent return it does take time unfortunately as you need to research the exact copy you have, printing details and learning to accurately describe condition grade was also difficult sometimes. 

I tended to do quick searches, sort into piles, obviously worthless (charity shop - where they often got very good money for the charity!) definitely worth listing, and finally, difficult to research, put aside until I have time. 

I was always surprised to have books 200 years old that carried a value of less than 50p , it is a sad fact that people don’t collect books much anymore, no one has large libraries and the classics are usually all reprinted in modern editions, even available on kindle. 

Thanks. That backs up what we thought. It's a very large collection bought over a number of years. Perhaps for £20-£50 a box. More of a hobby than an investment and, like I say, often left unopened, still boxed and piled up in the attic. 

Brie

I like the idea of doing a quick sort. And do it one or two boxes at a time.  The ones that look worthless go directly to a charity shop and the very few that are in excellent condition, look particularly old or valuable get set aside to research.  I'd be looking for anything that might be a first addition and/or signed by the author or someone of repute for the academic stuff.  (i.e. Tolkien's copy of a 18th century copy of Bede or something even if tatty)

If you want to get rid of them quickly you could either offer them as a job lot on freegle or to a shop for free so either way someone will collect. 

That said MiL tried to get rid of a lot of "very lovely old valuable books" by ringing booksellers and I think after the 3rd one showing up and finding nothing worth their time they alerted all their friends so no one else would come out to look.  Granted I would have said the vast majority of what she had was either tat or too damaged to sell.

(used to collect but can't anymore now the garage is full floor to ceiling....)

What_time_is_it

 "very lovely old valuable books"
- yes, exactly this! To the older generation, size, quantity and age of objects seems to equate to value. In a way it does I suppose, but just not in the way they thought. Large, plentiful, old objects are often worthless and a pain to move on!