My uncle passed away last year, and he left me boxes of hardcover mystery books. There are probably at least 400 of them. They are all in library plastic book covers; he was a book collector.
Now there are some books that are woth $40 or $50, others $100 and $200 and one or two are worth $800. My house isn’t very big; it’s under renovations. At the moment they are in storage. When the house is done I plan on putting in bookshelves for the books. But I’m wondering if I should sell the books or some of the collection and get some money for college or something…but then again I kind of feel a responsiblity to keep the books and think I might feel guility if I sell them.
What do you suggest I do? And if I decide to sell the books where should I sell them (in the NY Metro area)?
Keep them.
February 25th, 2010 at 11:00 am
ebay or craigslist.com
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February 25th, 2010 at 11:20 am
keep them
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February 25th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
try a second hand book shop, if that doesnt work, try ebay & set a reserve price & detail the history
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February 25th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
You could go with half.com, ebay or an antique store. You may even want to call an auction house or the show Cash in the Attic they may be worth more than you think.
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February 25th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
The answer should revolve around the community of buyers who understands and appreciates what it is your selling. If you have the time, why not do all of the above? First go to an antiques book show and auction to get an idea of the market value there. Also watch the Ebay and online book store transactions. When your ready, if it’s all about getting top dollar from the sale, any sales forum that gives you your price will suffice.
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February 25th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
it is really up to you! since you don’t have the room for all of them. you should sell some of them. but keep some as an heirlomb to your uncle. but keep the most expensive ones. for two reasons first off there value will only go up. secondly everyony goes through hard times and you have those as security but only as a last resort. but if you are going to use the money for college then look at it as a final gift from your uncle that was looking out for you to help improve your life. is reading and mysteries a passion of yours? if so don’t sell. read a few books before you answer this question.
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February 25th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
I think a great idea for those books is to donate some(or most ) of them to the library down in New Orleans. They are still recovering from the hurricane destruction of their city. What better way to help the victims by donating books that they can read at their local library? here is the link: http://www.nutrias.org/
Maybe peruse the selection of books you were left, and keep maybe fifty books that you may read down the road to place in on your bookshelves. You will have something to pass on if you ever have children.
You can also donate them to local public, college and high school libraries, try calling them too.
If you want to make some money, you can sell a few on ebay perhaps, or have a yard sale.
Hope this helps.
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February 25th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
E-bay!
A friend of mine made hundreds of dollars SELLING free Fender and Gibson guitar catalogs and price sheets on E-Bay!
People paid $20 for a two sheet price list from 1956!
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February 25th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Garage sale. Mystery books suck.
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February 25th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
e-bay is the best place to go and sell things on you be surprise just what people will pay for in regards to items that are being auction off there. One of my friends who is a advert record collector said someone he was bidding against was prepared to out bid him $50.00 for a record. So go for it. As for second hand book stores the owners of those stores will only give you a small cut of what you think is the actual value for a book they are in it to make money not share the wealth.
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February 25th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
How about Ebay? Might take you a while, but the proceeds you will get from some of those collector’s items would be worth the effort.
If they are really worth alot, see a local book dealer and strike a bargain. But if you know the value of some of the individual books, don’t let them go cheaply, which a dealer will try to get you to do.
Also, you might find a local library or college that might be interested in taking them as a whole collection, if it unique enough. That might give you a tax write off, but not much else. Maybe your name on the collection (with your uncle’s?).
Just don’t put them out on the yard sale table for 25 cents each!
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February 25th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Check the yellow pages for used book dealers, and get at least two appraisals of the collection as a whole. Then you will have the information you need to decide whether it makes sense for you to keep it or sell part or all of it.
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February 25th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Keep them.
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February 25th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
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