Some series book fans have trouble understanding why other fans collect the international editions. That should be obvious. It's for the same reason that we collect books with dust jackets or that we collect books in various formats like library editions. We enjoy the differences in cover art or the different styles of books. The cover art of the Scandinavian editions is especially gorgeous.
My very favorite books of the international editions are the Danish editions. One example is seen at the left above. My next favorite books are the Norwegian editions, with one example of an early book seen at the right. I do love the original style Norwegian cover art as much as I love the Danish editions. However, the later Norwegian cover art isn't as beautiful in my opinion, which is why I place the Norwegian editions overall in second place.
Several collectors currently are building sets of Scandinavian series books. For that reason, prices for Scandinavian Nancy Drew books have been especially high in recent months. Some fans think that the prices are too high and that the bidders are being foolish. Fans in Norway say that the books are only worth around $5 in Norway. The value in Norway has no bearing on the value in North America.
Different markets, different availability.
This is simply a case of high demand for books that are in short supply in North America.
Let's think about this.
How exactly is the average collector living in the United States going to acquire Scandinavian series books? I suppose that they could travel to a Scandinavian country, but that would be expensive with no guarantee of success. The cost of the trip must be considered as part of the cost of any books that are found.
If a collector is lucky enough to find a contact in another country, then it is possible to acquire the books inexpensively. Most collectors will not be able to find a contact. This is why the prices are high. More than one person wants the books, and so they must bid against each other.
If the people currently buying the books end up getting all that they need, then the prices will fall again. However, this doesn't mean that the current buyers are paying too much for the books. The buyers have no idea whether any additional copies of each title will surface or how long that might take. These books are in short supply in North America with no guarantee of any future availability.
I have paid high prices for international editions myself. I've had people laugh at me or criticize me for it. It seems like how I choose to spend my money is my business. The same goes for how anyone else spends their money.
I paid a large amount of money for all the Japanese Nancy Drew and Judy Bolton books that I purchased in 2018.
2018: The Year of the Japanese Series Book
I wrote:
When the books were mentioned on Facebook, some people questioned why the prices were so high. Some thought that it would be better to go to Japan and find the books. Assuming that the books could be found, one still has to pay airfare, lodging, and transportation. The books would not be cheap once the other costs were factored in. Of course, if one were to be going to Japan anyway, then the cost of the trip would be irrelevant.
However, this is assuming that the books can actually be found in Japan. I have heard about collectors who have traveled to other countries and tried to find series books as they vacation. They usually cannot find any, or they find very few. The international editions are not just laying around waiting for one of us to show up.
I consider it far easier just to buy the books than to try to travel to Japan to purchase them. If some of the books are priced a bit high, then that cost is a convenience fee.
I took screen captures of recent eBay auction results. The bottom line is that the buyers did not pay too much. Most of the prices are lower than what I paid for each of the Japanese series books that I bought in 2018. There, I said it. Those books were expensive, but they were worth it to me, which is all that matters.
Always click on each image in order to see it clearly. Blogger shows images at a low resolution until they are enlarged.
The results are sorted by highest price first, but some appear out of order because the seller had a higher shipping charge on some listings.
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