Box of old books - worth anything??

Vic83_2

Hi I've just had a sort out and have no idea where some of these books have come from but are in a fairly good way and some date back to 1901, 1913, 1924.

Where can I find out if they're worth anything / sell them without getting ripped off??

Thanks for any help x

FloFlo

Search for them on ebay.

Suzy_M

For some idea of values try here:-

http://www.usedbooksearch.co.uk/

For advice on selling see the "Selling Your Stuff on Amazon" posts on this forum.

seashore321

I have always found this site easy as it gives books in various states of repair and condition. You can sort of work out a midway point of value.
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/?AID=9867503&PID=1457557&SID=1Weuk

Hope this helps.

rose_sparky

Put the title plus author into Google.

lowbrim

As a first step check if they are 1st editions if they are and in good condition then they are probably worth a bit so then you can check on the sites recommended. If they are not first editions it is unlikely they will be worth much.

Contains_Mild_Peril

seashore321 wrote: »

I have always found this site easy as it gives books in various states of repair and condition. You can sort of work out a midway point of value.
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/?AID=9867503&PID=1457557&SID=1Weuk

Hope this helps.

I always try eBay completed listings first. The trouble with ABE Books is it only tells you what dealers are asking for them, which might or might not be realistic. Ebay Completed Listings, if books like yours happen to have been sold in the previous 14 days, will tell you what people actually paid for them.
I volunteer in a charity shop selling some of our more collectable items on eBay, and I remember my boss asked me to list a book, Alcatraz From Inside signed by its author Jim Quillen, with a start price of £9.99 because the one copy on ABE Books was optimistically priced at £79. I did some checking and found out that the author (a former inmate) had worked as a tour guide at Alcatraz, so a signed copy would hardly be rare: in fact the last one sold on eBay had made £2.99.
If you can't find your books on ebay then ABE Books is worth looking at: if several dealers are selling the same book then an average should give you a rough idea of its potential value, but don't get excited just because one dealer has an inflated idea of a book's value. Same with other places (Amazon etc) where you're looking at the asking prices rather than prices actually achieved.

lowbrim wrote: »

As a first step check if they are 1st editions if they are and in good condition then they are probably worth a bit so then you can check on the sites recommended. If they are not first editions it is unlikely they will be worth much.

That's generally true, though later editions of some out-of-print books are still highly sought after.

ormus

really depends on the book itself. fiction isnt worth that much generally, unless maybe a first edition.
non fiction can bring good money to the right buyer.