Sunday, June 29, 2008

Some More Strange eBay Prices

The massive buying frenzy seems to be winding down, but there are still several buyers who seem to enjoy paying very high prices for common books.

Judy Bolton - Vanishing Shadow - Applewood First Item #360063578418

This book closed at $114.11. The Applewood Judy Bolton books with dust jackets are still available on other sites at reasonable prices. In fact, the seller of this book has this same book also listed on the Advanced Book Exchange for $9.00. Follow the provided link to view that listing, so long as the seller has not removed it. Sellers who list on ABE frequently put their books on eBay, hoping that the books will sell and for a better price. It certainly worked in this case. I hate to say it, but buyers of the Applewood facsimile editions are not using common sense when they bid on the eBay listings.

I know part of it is because the descriptions are usually more detailed on eBay, and most sellers display pictures of the actual book for sale. Also, for many people, bidding is fun. I prefer buying on eBay to buying on ABE. Even so, I will buy on ABE when the book is a better deal.

In a previous post, I mentioned an Applewood Nancy Drew #20 that sold for $71.99 and an Applewood Nancy Drew #21 that sold for $104.49. #20 and #21 are the two high-numbered Applewood editions that are not yet sold-out! Of course at the rate things are going, they probably will sell out soon to all of the eBay sellers who will then state how RARE they are. Why bid high when the books are still available at reasonable prices? To prove that I could, I have purchased the Applewood editions of Nancy Drew #19 and #21 as well as Judy Bolton #1 and #2 at reasonable prices just in the last week. I plan to sell them. Call it an experiment, if you will.

I am reminded of an auction from sometime in the last year. Tony Carpentieri of SynSine Press put an Applewood edition Nancy Drew book up for sale shortly after the prices spiked. In his auction, he stated that the books are apparently now very rare and collectible, and it was obvious to me that he was being very sarcastic in his listing. The sarcasm was missed by the bidders, and they bid the book up to $40.00 to $50.00, which was what the prices had spiked to at that time. I found the whole thing immensely amusing.

While I still do not feel that people should be bidding $100.00 or more on Applewood editions, I will agree that #9 through #19 are harder to find than the others, and the prices are higher. I can understand why the people who value the facsimile editions above the original editions will bid high on those books, but why bid high on #20 and #21 which are not sold-out?

........................................................

Judy Bolton books by Margaret Sutton – 2 books, 2 bucks Item #330244454378

The two books are Broken Wing and Phantom Friend. They are tweed books that are missing their dust jackets. The books sold for $61.00. I realize that these are higher-numbered Bolton books, but I have sold copies with dust jackets for around $25.00 to $35.00 apiece for these two books. This is another case of me not understanding why buyers want to pay so much for ordinary reading copies. Also keep in mind that as per my previous post, the entire Judy Bolton series is about to be reprinted and available at a reasonable price, further making the current prices of reading copies a bit ridiculous.

........................................................

Judy Bolton The Whispered Watchword Sutton 1961 Item #140243345983

This picture cover book should have sold for a higher amount than the two books mentioned directly above. It only went for $33.55 and was probably bought to resell.

........................................................

NANCY DREW THE CLUE OF VELVET MASK..DJ..CAMEO EDITION! Item #250262085696

This book closed at $116.25, which is way too high. As stated in a previous post, if you want to pay over $100.00 for a Cameo edition, pick The Secret of the Old Clock or The Hidden Staircase. Don't choose The Clue of the Velvet Mask; it was the first book in the set and should be the most common one.

No comments: