eBay

satnrose · ‎02-26-2003

There are quite a few books that don't look like anything special. Here's one:

fine.books · ‎11-19-2016

I was wrong - this is still clinging to Life. I wonder if it would have dropped over the edge? Begun in February, 2003.

.

fine.books · ‎11-19-2016

@fine.books wrote:
Tip o' the day: Life is this short: ||

Every moment spent bickering, complaining, or otherwise not spent enjoying what you're doing is a loss. There is no magic which will bring back lost hours, and there is no proof of immortality. Enjoy life, and, in so doing, add to the enjoyment which others take from it.

I can't add anything to this; I still think it's true.

midnight-martini · ‎03-21-2017

I was feeling nostalgic and remembered this thread from years ago, so I did a search for it. I'm pleasantly surprised that it's still here and I hope people still find value in it and contribute. That list that was mentioned earlier would be so helpful.

bill11223 · ‎09-06-2017

Malcolm Gladwells THE OUTLiERS, is in pletiful supply and doesn't command a high price but has never failed to sell for me.

gargoyle-books · ‎09-06-2017

Thanks, Bill, but this thread is more about those "hidden gems,'' ie, books that don't look like anything, but that people REALLY want. Almost by definition, it excludes anything that's ever been on the NYT bestseller list...It's about those rarities, those diamonds in the rough...not something that happens to consistently sell well. Look at a few examples, eg. Security Analysis (the book that started the thread way back when). Looks like a **bleep** old economics textbook, sells for $5000-$10,000. Thanks for posting anyway!

vintage-bookworms · ‎10-06-2017

The History of United States Coinage as Illustrated by the Garrett Collection. Circa 1979 by David Bowers

kitscollectibles · ‎04-11-2018

Is there any way to get an updated list as the last one was done on October 31, 2009. ((9 years ago)

righteousrelics · ‎09-24-2018

Diseases of Exotic Animals: Medical and Surgical Management -

1983 Joel Wallach

I recently flipped this one for $2,894 (by far my biggest book sale to date). I thought the price was overkill, but it sold the first day of listing so I guess there might be some more room to play there.

I was going to keep my gems to myself, but you all have been so generous. I'll do my best to contribute.

There's a story here. I bought out an estate sale for $200 (All books, movies, magazines, and cds). I was stoked because no one had grabbed the massive Franklin Library collection (and it was Sunday already...last day). This was the perfect estate find: Veterinary & Medical Texts (Owner has his own clinic), Alternative & Eastern Medicine Texts, New Age (Alien, Occult, Metaphysics, & Conspiracy Texts), Books on Psychadelics, Books on Native American subjects, Archaeology Magazines, Cookbooks (that actually sell...I'll try to list a few later), Martial Arts Texts & DVD Lessons.

Surprisingly, I haven't even listed any of the Franklin Library books yet.

The aforementioned Exotic Animals text was in a dusty box stashed in a cluttered garage, apart from the main estate. I almost left without it, exhausted by packing 3 truck loads full of 16x12x12 moving boxes. But, last minute, I stopped by the garage and threw the boxes that I could access reasonably into the truck (Who am I kidding? I'm not going to leave anything behind).

I get home, unload, and take a couple of boxes with me to my bedroom desktop. The filthy garage ones were on top. I can always pop a couple Zyrtec's (allergy pill) and vacuum later right? Anyway, after pricing a dozen or so outdated veterinary textbooks, I was fairly confident this 1980's text was another dud (or a small win, due to the "exotic animal" focus).

I'm not too astonished when I find some absurd prices for the book. In my experience, these price points are usually due to repricing software gone awry or to some dropshipper type seller that lists 1000's of books absurdly high in the hope that he finds a sucker out there (at which point he'll source the book online easily, if it's out there). But guess what? I discover the book sells quickly when listed for $500-$700 and has recently sold for considerably more. Why not list high and dock the price $100 or so every week? Eight hours later I realize $2,894 might have been cheap.

Another amazing find at this sale: There was one of those fake hollow books that had over $1,000 worth of silver coins in it (Morgan Dollars, Liberty Dollars, Old Quarters...nothing too collectible, but a good stash of silver coins). Finders keepers? Well, I'm trying to contact the original owner. I'm not sure how I feel about keeping this one. I don't trust returning it to the estate sale company though.

TLDR; I know. I hope this wasn't a "once in lifetime" find. I have a taste for these things now. I still have a good 20 boxes to unpack and I'll do my best to add some more to your list if I find some gems.

righteousrelics · ‎09-24-2018

@buby44 wrote:
A pair of books:

The Pigeon, by Wendell M. Levi
The Encyclopedia of Pigeon Breeds, by Wendell M. Levi

In Fine condition, each of these books can be in the $100 price range. A few listed on ebay have the author's signature as well. Mine weren't quite so fine, but I bundled them for $125 and sold them.

That ain't just pigeon-feed.

Pat

It's funny that you mentioned those two books.

My very first thrift store run, for the sole sake of flipping books, landed me both of those.

It was at a Salvation Army in the California Desert.

Those were the books that got me hooked (along with one other).

Oddly enough, I only got around to listing them a couple weeks back.

I haven't made the sale just yet.

In that same store I also came up with a Catholic text:

The Office of Readings: According to the Roman Rite

1983

This text quickly sold for $197.94. There were no other listings so I just guessed at the price.

There's currently a nice copy on the Bay for $134.99 and it has recently sold at that price point.

My guess is that this is a decent flipping opportunity, but I have enough to work on at the moment.

I usually check most religious texts and do quite well selling $20-$30 (sometimes more) bible variations that I pick up cheap. The "Roman Rite" text looked attractive and felt like value to me, so maybe it doesn't fit the subject, but I could imagine alot of scanners assuming it was just another mass produced text for the back of the church pews (heck, even alot of those sell well).

I apologive for the large font in my previous post. That was a misclick and it's too late to edit.

wri-8727 · ‎10-25-2018

World Almanacs : My head says no but my heart says yes.

Listen to this poor guy sputtering on about... Books

https://youtu.be/4UkrwCE-NQ8?t=3036

"Well, you know, The World Almanac works so well as a book, and I don't mean to sound anti-technology at all, because I'm not. I use the Internet all the time myself, and sometimes I seem to be glued to my computer. But The World Almanac works beautifully as a book, even in the computer age, because there's so much information all in one place, and it's so accessible and easy to find that if you want a fact or you want the answer to a question, you can pick up the book and you'll get your answer much faster than booting up your computer. And, of course, there's a lot of information on the Internet and then lots of Web sites that one can consult, but it also can be time-consuming finding the right Web site for each particular subject. Plus, there's the issue of evaluating how objective, how reliable is this particular Web site and..."

Maybe worth picking up in good shape, just in case.

wri-8727 · ‎01-02-2019

Still available

https://twitter.com/i/status/1079741088309465092

Have a Happy & Blessed New Year

lja440 · ‎01-02-2019

I guess you really can't judge a book by it's cover.

righteousrelics · ‎01-24-2019

@wri-8727 wrote:
Still available
https://twitter.com/i/status/1079741088309465092
Have a Happy & Blessed New Year

Lol @ Tom Hanks moving his book to a better shelf position.

Coincidentally, I acquired a signed first edition of his book during a recent thrift store sourcing trip.

I'm just going to hold onto it for now (and give it a read if I get a chance). It's not worth a fortune or anything.

taylor_memorial · ‎08-16-2019

Speaking of movie stars...

I bought a shelf lot at an online estate sale (Blind Squirrel Auctions, as it happened) and found this little nut:

James Dean by Mike Bast. Hardcover; Ballantine. I saw the title on the shelf, and didn't bother looking it up because it was small enough that I knew it to be a BCE. There were some $20 books there, and a couple that might be worth a little more so I figured since I was going for another lot, I might as well.

I got the other lot for $2.00 (space books which I'd checked comps on).

So last night, I decided to look up the Dean book. Lots of paperback copies in the $20-50 range, in solds. One unsold hardcover, no jacket, at about $125. Dreamer, I thought.

Well, ViaLibri set me straight. Ballantine had a very small run in hardcover. There were some signed copies (not that the author or any of the co stars were all that famous or anything) over a grand and my copy (with a nicer spine than most) was in the $300-400 range.

Turns out Bast was Dean's roommate, and the guy who spilled the beans about Dean's closet, in a later book. Who knew? Apparently enough to make the book valuable.