Where It All Began
In those early days, I acquired books from garage sales, thrift stores, antique stores, and used book stores. Garage sales were especially fun, since the books were cheap. A wide variety of old books were available. I was only interested in finding Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden books, but I was so enamored with the idea of collecting old books that I purchased many cheap old books that I found. The books I purchased were on all subjects, a little bit of everything.
As I expanded my series book collection to include many additional series, I gradually let go of most of those books purchased in the early days. A few of them still linger here and there, scattered around the house out of sight in various places, not shelved with my other books. I was able to find four of them in the garage on a shelf and photographed them. These books represent the type of random book that I purchased in the early 1990s.
These particular books date from the late 19th century up to around 1910 to 1915. I used to have at least 200 to 300 books like these. I gradually sold them in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
I expect that many collectors start wide and narrow down their focus as they go much deeper into collecting the books that they like the best. Most of us have to narrow down our focus since we simply do not have enough room for everything.
While I did quit acquiring random old books, I rapidly expanded the number of vintage series books that I collected during the 2000s. Some of the books I decided to acquire were not wise decisions. Grace Harlowe was one of those unwise decisions. I'll mention more about Grace Harlowe in a future post.
In 2014, I expanded my collection into boys' series, and I gradually realized that some of the series I collected in the 2000s were probably not sets that I would ever be able to read. I enjoyed boys' series more than I ever thought I would, and I concluded that some of those girls' series sets would likely be too boring for me. I continued to hold onto all of those sets, however. There was always a chance that I just might someday read them.
I also expanded my collection to include nearly 1,000 international edition series books and well over 1,000 library edition series books. Therefore, I have been very short on space for the last five years. I have acquired some more shelves, but I filled them very quickly.
When I first started collecting international editions, I bought pretty much every series book that came up for sale. I have greatly expanded my Nancy Drew international editions in the last five years, so I have begun to thin out the other series. I have sold all of my boys' series international editions. I have sold all of my Vicki Barr and Cherry Ames international editions. I sold most of my Dana Girls French editions in recent months. I have sold some of my Trixie Belden international editions.
I now have such a large quantity of Nancy Drew international editions that I am content mainly to focus on them. By selling some of the other international editions, I free up shelf space.
I also have debated back and forth about those series books purchased in the 2000s that I have never read. I recently listed my Grace Harlowe books for sale. Last weekend, I listed my Motor Girls and Dorothy Dale books. I am never going to read them, so why keep them?
Most of these old series will not sell on Etsy, so I must list all of them on eBay. I am limited in how much I can have for sale at any given time since I only get 250 allotted free listings on eBay each month. I ran my recent 20% off sale in order to avoid an overage in fees for October. I estimated that I would have to pay an overage on around 45 listings if the books didn't sell first.
Yesterday morning, I realized that I had avoided the October overage, and that I was actually going to be three listings short of using my 250 free listings. Right after I made that observation, I saw that eBay had granted me 500 additional free listings good if used within the next few days. Just when I think I've pulled free of the dreaded overage, eBay pulls me back in!
Of course, I had to use some of the 500 free listings, which will likely cause an overage in November. I'll worry about that in November.
Since I suddenly had extra listings, I got busy listing some of my books. I have listed my entire set of Shirley Flight books in individual listings. I also listed a few of Capwell Wyckoff's books and the last six of my Dana Girls French editions.
I had another set pulled down and was going to list those books. I'm going to keep those a bit longer and try to read them. There is also another set, really collectible books in jackets that I do not think I will ever read. I may sell those sometime soon. I do not wish to state either series name at this time.
Check out my eBay listings for my Grace Harlowe, Motor Girls, Dorothy Dale, Shirley Flight, and French Dana Girls books.
Jennifer's Series Books on eBay
I also have books on Etsy.
Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy
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