The Value of Nancy Drew Bare Thick Blue and Tweed Books
In short, Nancy Drew bare tweed books are easily worth $10 each plus tax and postage. The bare tweed books can even sell online for well above $10 each.
Local stores are different. A neighborhood bookstore will not be able to get online prices for those books, while a bookstore located in a tourist hotspot should be able to get a higher price. A bookstore located in a wealthy area might get even more than that. Stores should price according to the demographics of their clientele.
This leads me into the subject of this post, in which I will reveal exactly how much I paid for some books that I purchased. I do not usually divulge that information since most of the books I buy will be sold online. Some buyers get really offended when they realize that a seller might actually have paid less for a book than what they had to pay to get the book from the seller.
I don't understand that reasoning, since sellers have to pay fees on the item price, the shipping cost, and even the sales tax collected. Yes, I am charged a selling fee on the sales tax collected on the items I have sold, even though though that amount never goes in my pocket. Selling online is rather expensive, so prices must be marked up above cost.
A seller's time should also be compensated. But that's not the point of this post.
Back in the summer I published a post about how people reveal too much information when they mention their purchases from local stores.
Hidden Clues #9 Sharing Too Much Information
In the post, I explained how some of my local stores have greatly increased their prices on series books. This passage is especially relevant.
Nearly one year ago when the first books in dust jacket showed up priced at $20 each, I knew that most of the books would not sell and that they would end up getting marked down eventually. Later, when the bare tweeds showed up in the same store priced at $10 each, I had the same reaction.
Most stores like this one must keep the books moving since new books continue to arrive. Overpricing works against the purpose of the store, which is to sell books. While the books might sell eventually, they end up taking a long time to do so when they are priced too high. They also end up taking up too much shelf space that the store needs for the new arrivals.
For that reason, I am willing to pay more to get the Nancy Drew and Dana Girls books that I need. I am finding it increasingly difficult to obtain these books. That is to be expected since the books are getting to be older and older. Most of the nice copies are already in personal collections.
I also really like helping others build their collections. I enjoy the process, and I find it a lot of fun. I love finding books locally that I can offer to those who need them.
During the last week, I kept thinking of the books that I left behind. I decided to go back and get them. It's interesting that my opinion of them changed since I last saw them. I actually perceived the books to be in better condition than I did a week ago.
I was planning just to purchase the three Dana Girls books with jackets, but I decided to get the Nancy Drew books as well. One of the Red Gate Farm books has the deeper blue multi endpapers.
I don't understand that reasoning, since sellers have to pay fees on the item price, the shipping cost, and even the sales tax collected. Yes, I am charged a selling fee on the sales tax collected on the items I have sold, even though though that amount never goes in my pocket. Selling online is rather expensive, so prices must be marked up above cost.
A seller's time should also be compensated. But that's not the point of this post.
Back in the summer I published a post about how people reveal too much information when they mention their purchases from local stores.
Hidden Clues #9 Sharing Too Much Information
In the post, I explained how some of my local stores have greatly increased their prices on series books. This passage is especially relevant.
Books from prominent series like Nancy Drew are now priced a bit steeply in my local stores from this chain. Ordinary tweed Nancy Drew books with dust jackets are now $20 each. Tweed Nancy Drew books without dust jackets are now $10 each. Those are online prices. Local customers are unlikely to pay that much. The books are going to take a long time to sell, and the books will likely go on clearance eventually at the prices that the store used to charge.
Nearly one year ago when the first books in dust jacket showed up priced at $20 each, I knew that most of the books would not sell and that they would end up getting marked down eventually. Later, when the bare tweeds showed up in the same store priced at $10 each, I had the same reaction.
Most stores like this one must keep the books moving since new books continue to arrive. Overpricing works against the purpose of the store, which is to sell books. While the books might sell eventually, they end up taking a long time to do so when they are priced too high. They also end up taking up too much shelf space that the store needs for the new arrivals.
A week ago, I checked the store that had the overpriced Nancy Drew and Dana Girls books. The books had been recently marked down to half price. So, my prediction came true. I knew all along that the books would languish for months until they were marked down. The lower prices made some of them worth purchasing and others marginally worth purchasing. I purchased some and left others behind.
The yellow spine picture covers were recent arrivals that were priced fairly, so they had not been discounted. The tweed Nancy Drew books had been reduced from $10 to $5 each, and the books with dust jackets had been reduced from $20 to $10 each. I left around half of the books with dust jackets behind, since I didn't feel that the condition was good enough for me to pay $10 each.
The Nancy Drew and Dana Girls books are my core inventory. I like to keep a good selection of each series, if at all possible. By having those books always available, I am more likely to have regular sales, which are necessary in order to keep a favorable ranking in eBay and Etsy's search engines.
The Nancy Drew and Dana Girls books are my core inventory. I like to keep a good selection of each series, if at all possible. By having those books always available, I am more likely to have regular sales, which are necessary in order to keep a favorable ranking in eBay and Etsy's search engines.
I continue to work on downsizing parts of my collection. Many of my books that I need to sell are hard to sell, so I must keep the popular books in stock in order to drive traffic to my stores. Sometimes buyers might add an impulse purchase, perhaps a book in an obscure series that they wish to try, to their order to reach the $35 threshold for free shipping.
For that reason, I am willing to pay more to get the Nancy Drew and Dana Girls books that I need. I am finding it increasingly difficult to obtain these books. That is to be expected since the books are getting to be older and older. Most of the nice copies are already in personal collections.
I also really like helping others build their collections. I enjoy the process, and I find it a lot of fun. I love finding books locally that I can offer to those who need them.
During the last week, I kept thinking of the books that I left behind. I decided to go back and get them. It's interesting that my opinion of them changed since I last saw them. I actually perceived the books to be in better condition than I did a week ago.
I was planning just to purchase the three Dana Girls books with jackets, but I decided to get the Nancy Drew books as well. One of the Red Gate Farm books has the deeper blue multi endpapers.
I also visited another store, where I found some softcover Nancy Drew books as well as some R. L. Stine books that were in pretty good shape. I really like the design of the Stine books. I wish I actually liked the stories. If I did, I would collect the books. I tried a number of Stine books a few years ago, and I did not like the writing style at all. That was disappointing. At least I can enjoy looking at the books while they are in my possession.
This last picture is of some Stine books that I purchased a few weeks ago.
1 comment:
My Nancy Drew collection began with my Mother's tweed cover of The Secret of the Old Clock. It remains a precious treasure to me. At the age of 59, I finally put together my own bookshelf to feature the near-complete collection. I want to work on the Dana Girls titles also. Thank you for your inspiration over the years in both ND appreciation and series collection.
Do you have the Ginny Gordon books in your collection?
Thanks and Happy reading in the New Year.
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