Current Value of the Applewood Edition Nancy Drew Books

I recently posted on Facebook (see post here) about an overpriced eBay listing for Nancy Drew #1, The Secret of the Old Clock, and the listing actually sold.  Since I did not want the comments on my post to be just people bashing the seller for listing at such a high price, I added this comment: 

NOTE: The seller did nothing wrong.  DO NOT criticize them.  Sellers have a right to price their books however high they want.  It's not fraud.  This seller made no claim about the book's value or printing status.  The seller said this:  "Acceptable condition. This book has been read several times, is showing signs of advanced age, and the dust jacket is worn and badly torn."

As I expected, there were still some comments about the seller being wrong to price the book that high.

I have been selling books online for nearly 30 years.  I find it truly impossible to price books fairly in all situations.  Every seller prices wrong at times, and it's unfortunate that some people are so judgmental.  Pricing books in a way that is fair to both buyer and seller is difficult.

I had two-thirds of a set of Applewood edition Nancy Drew books in very nice shape to list.  I needed to decide whether to go with eBay or Etsy and how to price each book.  It's not easy.  I want to get a good price for myself, but I don't want to overprice them.

I went into eBay's Terapeak to see the highest prices paid for the Applewood editions in the last three years.  For the earliest titles, I ignored results for the first printings.  Beginning around #7, I went with highest overall.  I made that decision since my copies of the earliest titles are not first printings.  

I made note of the highest prices for each title, based on the above criteria.  I wanted to know the highest price so that I had the upper boundary for the value range.  The lower boundary is useless.  I try to list my books somewhere between 50% and 75% of the highest price, depending upon condition.

#1 Old Clock - $19.99
#2 Hidden Staircase - $18.00
#3 Bungalow Mystery - $19.99
#4 Lilac Inn - $24.95
#5 Shadow Ranch - $20.00
#6 Red Gate Farm - $19.99

#7 Diary - $41.95
#8 Letter - $59.95
#9 Twisted Candles - $29.99
#10 Larkspur Lane - $40.00
#11 Broken Locket - $44.99

#12 Hollow Oak - $59.99
#13 Ivory Charm - $54.99
#14 Whispering Statue - $50.00

#15 Haunted Bridge - $157.49, $66.99
#16 Tapping Heels - $84.99
#17 Brass Bound Trunk - $79.99
#18 Moss-Covered Mansion - $89.99

#19 Missing Map - $134.32, $114.99
#20 Jewel Box - $114.99, $110.24
#21 Old Attic - $142.95, $115.00

I felt that the highest sold price for #15 Haunted Bridge was an outlier, so I also noted the second-highest price which was more in line with the prices for the other books.  I also listed the top two prices for the last three titles since sometimes buyers and sellers overvalue the final books in the set.

I noticed that Twisted Candles sells for lower prices than the surrounding titles.  It could be that more copies were printed.

I inserted line breaks in the list to indicate where I feel that the overall scarcity increases.  There are approximately five levels of scarcity for the Applewood editions.

#1-6 very easy to find
#7-11 usually easy to find
#12-14 a little harder to find
#15-18 moderately difficult to find
#19-21 hard to find

But still, it's not that hard to find any of them at a reasonable price if you are patient.  The books are out there.  If you're looking to build a set quickly or want to acquire any book in the set immediately on any given day, you must expect to pay more on average for the higher-numbered titles.

I decided to list my books on Etsy.  I looked at sold prices on eBay for the last 90 days as I prepared to list each book.  When I create a listing on Etsy, I copy my new listings from my own sold listings, which are still available to me in my account.  I had my own sold prices to guide me as well.  These are the prices I went with for the books I listed:

#4 Lilac Inn - $14.99
#5 Shadow Ranch - $14.99
#6 Red Gate Farm - $14.99
#10 Larkspur Lane - $24.99
#12 Hollow Oak - $24.99
#13 Ivory Charm - $37.99
#14 Whispering Statue - $37.99
#15 Haunted Bridge - $49.99
#16 Tapping Heels - $59.99
#17 Brass Bound Trunk - $59.99
#18 Moss-Covered Mansion - $79.99
#19 Missing Map - $99.95
#20 Jewel Box - $99.95
#21 Old Attic - $99.95

I priced #13 and #14 at $37.99 to split the difference on the postage amount.  $34.99 would not qualify for the free shipping promotion, but I didn't want to price the books at $35 and trigger the free shipping promotion.  I also didn't want to price the books at $39.99 to where the buyer would get free shipping—but not really due to the higher price.  I went with a compromise so that both the buyer and I benefit partially.  There is a lot to consider when pricing books. 

My goal is to price the books somewhere in the middle—not too high and not too low.  As I mentioned earlier in the post, I want to price the books fairly for both the buyer and for me.  Sometimes I am wrong and let a book go for too low of a price.  Other times, I price a book too high and then gradually lower the price until it finds a buyer.  I do the best I can, and I don't stress over the mistakes.  It's always a bit of a guessing game, and I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it.  I go with my gut.

Thoughts on the Value of Revised Text Nancy Drew Books

This is not the post that I was going to write about the scarcity of the revised text Nancy Drew picture covers.  I instead have some brief thoughts about my unlisted extras.  

I went through my unlisted extra Nancy Drew picture covers to pull books to list on Etsy.  The goal was to find a copy of each title that I don't have listed on Etsy currently.  I was unable to pull some of them.  For some of the books that I did find and pull, I took the last unlisted extra.  I'm short on extras. 

I purchase bulk lots when I can, but bulk lots typically yield only one copy of each title.  This only fills in the gaps briefly.  Certain titles are always more in demand, and those are the ones where I have fewer extras.  If I list the one copy that I have of each of those books, then they sell and are gone. 

I seldom lack for extras of #55 and #56.  I'm willing to pay more to acquire them, so I have no trouble acquiring extras.  I can pay more because buyers are willing to pay more.  Buyers feel that those two books are worth far more than the rest of the titles in the set.  

I took some photos of my unlisted extras after I removed one copy of each available title that I needed for Etsy.  Click on each image in order to see a larger version.

Notice that my photo shows four extras of #55 and three extras of #56.  Before taking the photo, I removed two copies of #55 (1st printing and double oval) and three copies of #56 (1st printing, 2nd printing, and double oval), so I had six of each.  As I stated, I tend not to lack for extras of #55 and #56.  I have more extras because I pay more.  When I list the extras, they sell fast.  I wonder if, despite the higher prices for #55 and #56, we are undervaluing them. 

I tend to have fewer extras of the revised text books in the range from #12 through #34, especially for many of the books from #21 to #34.  I am limited in how much I can charge for those titles, since buyers feel that they should be cheap. 

Most of these books are now 45 to 50 years old or more.  They are getting scarce.  The picture cover format is the current most desired format among Nancy Drew collectors.  Low supply coupled with high demand results in higher prices.  Or at least, it should.

The problem is that Farah's Guide has low values for most of the picture cover editions.  Many people go by the prices in Farah's Guide even though they are sorely out of date.  

Here is something interesting.  Farah's Guide has the same first printing value of $25 for each of #53, 54, 55, and 56.  Oddly, #53 and 54 sell for less than #55 and 56.  I contend that the first printing of #53 is the hardest to find of the four titles, yet it isn't worth more than #55 and 56.  If Farah were to state that #53 is worth more, then the price would shoot up.  

Many of the revised text books are worth far more than the stated Farah's Guide values.  There is something about a printed guide that holds great weight even when the guide no longer has accurate values.  If Farah were to update his guide with higher prices, then the prices would suddenly jump.  We saw that immediately after the publication of Farah's 12th edition many years ago.

My conclusion is that I'm going to have to start paying more for revised text picture covers.  This means that I will have to charge more.  Hopefully this will work out okay, since most people think that the revised text books in great shape are worth no more than $5.  That's so illogical considering that the current list price for new flashlight editions is $9.99.

I guess we'll see how this goes.  I'm certainly having trouble sourcing the books, and the condition just isn't that great.

The Value of Nancy Drew Bare Thick Blue and Tweed Books

Recently, someone posted in a Facebook group about two Nancy Drew books that they purchased in an antique shop.  Ivory Charm was $45, and Larkspur Lane was $30.

Members immediately offered their unsolicited advice about how the books were too expensive.  I felt bad for the buyer.  The buyer apparently deleted the post, because it vanished.  Later, someone else asked about the purchase in another group, wondering about the value.

As soon as the post asking about the value appeared, members jumped in, saying that the books were too expensive and suggesting that they are worth under $10.  

I responded to the post.

First, here is a short answer.  If you are considering a purchase, then the prices are fine and worth it if you are willing to pay them.  It's whether the books are worth it to you, not what others think.  Ivory Charm might have the four internal illustrations due to the cover texture.  I can't tell on Larkspur Lane.  If Ivory Charm has internals, then it probably is worth that price.

Checking eBay, I see copies of Ivory Charm without internals (including a wartime copy in rough shape) that sold for $20 to $30.  That doesn't surprise me, since tweed books without jackets often sell for $10 or more online.  (Yes, they do even if others think that is too high.  I have sold tweed books without jackets for $10 plus postage.  The books tend to sell fast.  There is a market for them.)  Likely, the books are worth the prices on them, although at the same time, the books could probably be found for cheaper if one is patient.

The member asking about the value clarified that someone else had purchased the books, and then I remembered the original post.  I made another response.

In these groups, members almost always will say books like these are priced too high.  There is an expectation in these groups that all books without jackets should be very cheap, as in well below $10.  Some members will say that the books should be $3 to $5.  That simply is not realistic in the real world in the 2020s.  30 to 40 years ago, sure.  Not now.

I have sold thick bare Nancy Drew books similar to these in the $25 to $35 range.  That was probably 10 to 15 years ago.  I don't recall the exact prices or anything else.  It's been a long time.

The value of bare tweed Nancy Drew books is also discussed in the groups.  Members often state that the bare tweed books are worth $2 to $3 each.  $2 to $3 is accurate for 30 years ago.  We've had a lot of inflation since that time.  The current Nancy Drew books published under the Grosset and Dunlap imprint by Penguin now retail for $9.99 each. 

We all remember the matte picture covers costing under $3 each.  Those days are long gone.  Any tweed Nancy Drew book or matte picture cover Nancy Drew book that is in nice shape is easily worth as much as the new books.  

I want to back up my statement about the value of bare tweed Nancy Drew books.  All of my sold listings are saved in my Etsy account.  I took screen captures of all of the tweed books.  A few books with jackets are also included, since I had no way of sorting them out of the results.

In some cases, the buyer got free shipping for purchases of $35 or more.  In other cases, the buyer purchased one book and paid $3.95 postage.  Most of the recent purchases had sales tax added, which was paid by the buyer.  This means that very often the book's actual cost was more than the price on it.

As always, you can click on an image to see a larger version.

I would price all bare tweed books at $10 or more each, but most bare tweed books that I sell have at least moderate wear.  I do not feel comfortable pricing them higher due to the condition.

I could be pricing the books with jackets too low.  However, I find the books with jackets to be much harder to sell than the bare tweed books when the jackets have chipping.  When I have tried to sell the tweed books with jackets at higher prices, they take way too long to sell.  Even when the books with jackets are in excellent condition, they take too long to sell if priced higher.  

Many years ago, a collector sold Nancy Drew books to the production for the movie, The Birdcage.  The production decided in favor of bare tweed books instead of books with dust jackets.  Some people actually like the appearance of the bare tweed books better than the ones with dust jackets.  I believe the value difference between the bare tweed books and the tweed books with jackets is much less than what most other people think.  

Other people who sell on eBay have no qualms about pricing the books higher.  Here are some sold listings from the last year.

The second listing seen below is still visible.  The book had moderate wear. 

The next sold listing is mine.  My price was $3.57 per book.  Whenever I choose to sell tweed and thick blue books in bulk lots, it is because I feel that the condition is not good enough to sell the books individually.  This means that the books have heavy wear, stains, and possibly loose pages.  

The next listing seen below is still visible.  The book had light wear.

This is enough to support my position.  Bare tweed books are worth more than just a few dollars.

The Popularity of the Nancy Drew Digest Series #57-175

This was intended to be a selling update, but it turned into an informational post.

It is near the end of spring break, so I will soon quit listing new items.  The eBay and Etsy stores will remain open, but new listings will be sporadic when I feel like creating them.

I have sold a large number of books in the last week, but it has barely made a dent in my backlog of books.  I will keep plugging away, and hopefully by June, the situation will be more under control.

I want to mention the current interest in and value of the Nancy Drew Digest series.  I refer to Nancy Drew #57-175.  I began collecting the softcover digests in around 1999 and the hardcover library edition digests in 2001.  

20 years ago, Nancy Drew books with dust jackets were extremely popular and sold for high prices on eBay.  Series book collectors who sold those books wouldn't have dreamed of giving a second look to the picture cover books or any other later formats.

It was around 10 years ago that I noticed some of those sellers finally listing early Nancy Drew picture covers for sale.  They had belatedly noticed that the picture covers were in greater demand than the books with dust jackets.  The demand shifts to later formats as the primary collecting group changes.  Most collectors used to be Baby Boomers.  Most Boomers now have complete collections or are downsizing.  Their favorite books, the ones with dust jackets, are no longer in great demand.

The current active collectors are primarily Generation X and Millennials.  Generation X collectors love the picture covers and may have some interest in the digests.  The Millennials certainly enjoy the picture covers and many of them are also quite fond of the digests. 

Naturally, the digests are going up in value.

The time is coming for the Nancy Drew Digest series to become the most favorite format.  The picture covers aren't going to recede in popularity anytime soon, but the digests have increased considerably in popularity.

Interestingly, I don't think most series book collectors and sellers have picked up on that quite yet.  But it has happened.

In the Facebook groups, there are the usual people who only like the books with dust jackets and speak poorly of everything else.  They typically don't get much pushback.  As always, those of us who like the later formats just stay quiet.  It's never worth it.

In my opinion, the Nancy Drew titles #57-175 are just as much real Nancy Drew books as #1-56 are.  Yes, I really do feel that way.  The titles are great.  The cover art is great.  The stories are usually good with many of them very good.  There are some stories that aren't good, but there are also some stories from the original 56 that aren't good.

The digests should not be overlooked by collectors or sellers.  The books aren't that easy to find.  The trouble is that softcover books destruct very easily.  I believe that many of them get thrown away or recycled, which means that far fewer survive than do hardcover books.

I have been listing the softcover digest books on Etsy for a few years.  The books sell very fast.  I could certainly be pricing them too low, but often, the books are not in good enough shape to justify pricing them at more than $5 to $7 each.  I'm not going to ask $15 or $20 for a book that has moderate wear.  I probably could get away with pricing the books somewhat higher, but I feel like, for the most part, I am pricing the books just fine.

I had 41 Nancy Drew Digest listings last week when I reopened my Etsy shop.  31 of them have sold.  I have now listed more of them, and I expect the books to sell fairly quickly.  Even though the last thing I need to be doing right now is buying more books, I went online and managed to source some small bulk lots of Nancy Drew Digest books.  I love helping people build their collections.  Most people don't want to mess with bulk lots since they end up with many extras, so I acquire the bulk lots and then offer the books myself.

I find that the digests are in high demand up to #128 and in moderate demand up to #159.  Take a look at this cover art gallery, and you'll see why #128 and #159 are the cutoffs.  Collectors are very influenced by formats.  I also believe that the most recent books, #160 through #175 are still quite abundant on the secondhand market, which keeps their value down.

On the subject of format, hardcover flashlight editions of #57-64 were issued by Grosset and Dunlap for a very short time.  Those books are in very high demand.  I continue to be mystified by how many people rabidly seek the Grosset and Dunlap editions of #57-64 but refuse to consider #65 and up as books worth having.  It's the format mentality.  Those people are missing out on most of the set since they are limiting themselves to one format.

Regarding value, all books up to #159 are worth more than the original cover price.  #160 through #175 are probably only worth the original cover price and some titles, like the excessively common #162, may be worth less than the original cover price.  #162 was packaged with one of Her Interactive's Nancy Drew games many years ago, which is why the book is everywhere.

Some cover art variants and some books are much more scarce.  Some second or third cover art versions for books from #57-90 are very hard to find.  #100 is much more scarce than the average title.  #113, 114, and 121 are also more scarce than most titles in the set.

And then there are the hardcover library editions.  I've blogged about them on a regular basis as I have worked on my set for the last 20 years.  Interestingly, I have had trouble selling my extras, except to just a few people who greatly desire them.  I hope that will change now that the softcover books are in such demand, especially since I currently have a large number of extras at this time.

I wrote about "The Surprising Rise of the Nancy Drew Library Edition" last year.  There are very few sales of the hardcover Nancy Drew Digest books, so it's hard to say whether interest has increased like it has for the library editions of #1-56.  I suspect that interest has increased, but there aren't enough recent known sales to have any idea.

So, I'm hopeful that I will be able to sell my extra hardcover Nancy Drew Digest listings on Etsy.  They ought to sell, since the softcover books are in demand.  The only reason I began collecting the hardcover digests was to have hardcover copies to read.  For that reason alone, the hardcover books should now begin to be very desirable since the softcover books are so popular.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

You will find an eclectic mixture of many series on eBay including some very scarce books.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

On Etsy, I focus on the Dana Girls, Nancy Drew, the Three Investigators, and Trixie Belden.  Currently, most of my Nancy Drew books are listed on Etsy. 

Since my eBay store was closed for seven months, I lost my Best Match search ranking on eBay.  My Nancy Drew books are not selling on eBay, since they are suppressed in the search results.  I do fine with all other series on eBay since eBay cannot hide my books when the search contains few results.

Since buyers can spot my Nancy Drew books easily on Etsy, I am listing most of them on Etsy for now.

Nancy Drew Early First Printing Values and Avoiding Buyer Regret

Attention sellers:  This blog post was written for advanced collectors and will not contain the information you seek.  The first printing dust jackets for the first 10 Nancy Drew books are extremely scarce and seldom come up for sale.  Do not confuse these with later dust jackets.  A first printing dust jacket is the jacket printed for the very first printing of a book.  The second and subsequent printing jackets are different.  You must own Farah's Guide in order to tell.  You can also search this blog for old posts about the first printing dust jackets.  For some basic information, read this guide and this page.

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The first printing Nancy Drew dust jackets are especially scarce for the first 10 Nancy Drew books.  Around 20 years ago, I decided that I wanted to own every single first printing Nancy Drew book with the matching first printing dust jacket.  It seemed to be an impossible quest.

So that I would never have buyer regret, I always purchased any available first printing book and jacket as it became available at a reasonable price.  A bad condition first printing dust jacket is better than not having a first printing dust jacket.  A few critical comments were made by some of you regarding a few of my purchases.  I didn't understand why those critical comments were made, since bad condition books and jackets could always be upgraded.

Some collectors want to buy each book only once and never have to upgrade.  If you have that kind of patience, then that's wonderful.  I don't.  I could never be sure when or if another example would surface and at a price I could pay.  The goal always was to secure a copy then worry about a better copy.  Bad condition copies could always be upgraded.  I was never locked into always having to keep the copies I purchased that were in bad shape.

I recall that the first copy of the 1933A-1 dust jacket for The Password to Larkspur Lane that I owned was badly water damaged.  So what?  I sold that book many, many years ago and have had a nice dust jacket for many years.  Someone owns that water-damaged jacket now, and I am sure that they treasure it.  There is something thrilling about purchasing a first printing book and jacket in rough condition for a reasonable price.  Those purchases can be much more satisfying than the expensive purchases in nice shape.

These days, few people are seeking the early first printing Nancy Drew books with dust jackets.  Actually, everyone would love to own them, but only a handful of collectors are willing to spend the serious cash necessary in order to acquire the jackets.  I have recently concluded that the handful of collectors who currently seek the early first printing jackets only want examples in very good or better condition.  This means that the dust jackets in great shape are still very expensive when they show up for sale.  The dust jackets in rough shape do not sell except at lower prices.  That's an interesting turn of events.

One of the bad condition books and dust jackets that I purchased was for the first printing of The Secret at Shadow Ranch.  The book had mildew all over it, and the jacket was pretty bad.  I swapped out the book for the one I already owned and placed the jacket on it.  I sold the mildewed book for a very low price.

Yeah, it was pretty bad.  But by purchasing it, I had one.  I purchased the above jacket in 2011.  I am not sure if one sold between 2011 and 2019.  The first printing dust jacket for The Secret at Shadow Ranch is quite scarce.

Note:  I mark first printings with stars on the spines.  The star is on the mylar cover, not on the jacket itself.

A seller recently listed a first printing book and jacket for The Secret at Shadow Ranch on eBay.  The jacket also isn't very nice, but overall, it is better than mine.  Knowing that most people are currently uninterested in paying very much for the early first printing dust jackets when not in excellent condition, I didn't want to pay the seller's asking price.  The seller kept relisting the book at a slightly lower price each time.

After a couple of weeks, I decided that I wanted the dust jacket.  I actually didn't care about the signed book one way or the other.  Signed books do nothing for me.  That probably doesn't make sense to most of you, but I simply do not care about signatures in books.  I have no emotional reaction to a signed book.  Also, I am quite aware of the story about how Mildred Wirt Benson was allegedly not paid much to sign a large quantity of books.  That taints the signature.

But I wanted that dust jacket.

I wondered what most people would be willing to pay.  I suspected that a price reduction to $500 would likely do it, because the signature would be quite desirable to many people.  I saw the book itself as no better than the book I already had.  However, I knew others would see the book differently due to the signature.

The dilemma is in deciding how long to wait when a seller continues to relist a book at a lower price each time.  I wanted to get the jacket at a lower price, but I needed to make the purchase before the price was low enough for others to decide to go for it.

When the listing priced at $825 ended, the seller relisted the book at $750.  That was a $75 price reduction and more than the previous reductions.  I pulled my jacket off the shelf.  I had forgotten that the back panel was missing a huge piece.  That made my decision.  I purchased the book at $750.  It likely would have gone lower, but I felt that any further reductions would have made it too risky for me to keep waiting.  As stated previously, I wish to avoid buyer regret.  I am still haunted by two certain books from around 15 years ago that got away.

The seller had written $1100 inside the book, which means that the book was originally priced at $1100 before it was ever listed on eBay.  I am satisfied with having paid $750, especially since I will have to pay 9.1% local sales tax on all of my eBay purchases beginning July 1.  By the way, the sales tax will also be applied to any postage charges.  After July 1, the book would have to be reduced significantly more in order to cancel out the sales tax.  $750 was the right price point for me.

Sometimes we think a price is too high when we first see an item listed.  Sometimes it really is way too high.  If the price is somewhat near what you are willing and able to pay—and the item is very scarce and not likely to show up again anytime soon—then you should purchase the item.  Don't wait and regret it.

Nancy Drew Picture Cover Prices

I wrote a post three years ago about the scarcity of Nancy Drew original text picture cover books.  The data compiled in that post is relevant to this discussion.  Also relevant are some statements about Nancy Drew prices that David Farah made in Farah's Guide in 2005.  At that time, I disagreed with what he wrote.  I have now changed my mind and agree completely.

Farah wrote that eBay listings are but a small portion of the Nancy Drew listings sold online and that eBay listings are not representative of the average prices paid for Nancy Drew books.  At that time, I felt that the eBay sold listings were truly representative of the value of Nancy Drew books, since I felt that most of the action was on eBay, even though it was in decline.  Now in 2016, eBay has declined considerably, and I completely agree with Farah.  eBay sold listings are no longer representative of the average value of Nancy Drew books, because now, most used books are not sold on eBay.  It's interesting what a difference 11 years can make on one's perspective.

In my recent post on Bret King prices, I mentioned that buyers often pay higher prices for books on fixed-price sites such as AbeBooks and Amazon than they do in eBay auctions.  Since fixed-price sites do not make sold listings available, collectors have no idea what other collectors are paying for books on those sites.

The original text Nancy Drew picture cover books are in demand and are getting harder to find.  I have noticed that I tend to price some of my books higher than other sellers do and that my books do tend to sell, sometimes very quickly.  Am I pricing them too high?  I don't think so, at least not for most of them, since they are selling.  I cannot keep some titles in stock, since I cannot find additional copies quickly enough to satisfy demand.  This causes me to wonder if I am pricing them too low.  For some books, I cannot justify pricing them any higher because the condition is not good enough.

Another reason I wonder about prices is because I have a buyer who is purchasing some of my picture cover books to resell.  This does not bother me at all.  However, this causes me to wonder about the value, because when someone who is reselling pays $20 for a Nancy Drew picture cover book, that tells me that buyers are paying much higher prices on the fixed-price sites.  The seller cannot be selling the book for just a few dollars more if the seller is willing to pay $20 for the book.  The seller must be pricing the book at $30 or more.

I have observed that I sell some picture cover books at $15 to $20, while in eBay auctions, some of the same books sell for just $5.  That's why I believe that eBay auction prices are actually low-end prices.  The auction prices are a good benchmark for value and give us very useful information.  But we have to remember that we don't know anything about the fixed-price sites and what type of prices are being paid on those venues.  Since my experience is that fixed-price listings bring higher prices, I contend that the eBay auction results are at the low end.

This does not mean that the books are worth hugely more than the eBay auction results.  In some cases, they are worth only slightly more.  In other cases, they are worth much more.  When I have a book to sell from a scarce series, I check the eBay auction results and unsold fixed-price listings from other sites.  I will usually price the book higher than the auction results but lower than the unsold fixed-price listings.  This may mean pricing a $5 auction book at $10 or a $20 auction book at $30.  In some cases, I may decide to price a book significantly higher, if I feel that the scarcity justifies the higher price.

With all this in mind, I took screen captures of some of the sold listings for individual sales of Nancy Drew picture cover books on eBay.  For books sold by "best offer," I noted on the photo the approximate price paid, which was determined by the book's placement in search results sorted by price.

Click on each image to see a larger version.

The "man with pipe" cover art of The Clue of the Broken Locket is scarce.  Knowledgeable sellers price the book at $15 and up.  I saw four examples on eBay that sold for between $13 and $23.  I saw a few others that sold for $5 to $10.  The book that sold at the lowest price was a copy for $2.50 in an auction.

 

The original text PC of The Clue of the Tapping Heels is one of the harder to find picture cover books.  Seen below are two books that list to Pine Hill.  One seller priced the book at $8, and I priced mine at $20.  I always price this title at $10 and up if the condition is good enough, and I have no trouble selling it.

The revised text of Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk is one of the hardest to find revised text books.  I sold one at $15 while two other sellers priced their books quite low.

The original text PC of The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion is one that I sometimes have more trouble finding.  I found it to be quite scarce a few years ago, but more recently, I have had more extras come into my possession.  Nevertheless, I tend to price it a little higher, and I don't have much trouble selling it.  The two higher-priced books are first picture cover books, but I typically price my non-first picture cover copies at $10 to $15 depending upon condition.  Two sellers sold their books, one a first PC, for only around $5.

The original text PC of The Clue in the Old Album with the original cover art is one of the very hardest to find PCs with only three printings.

Here are several different completed listings that I captured.  I don't have any specific comments to make.

Here are several examples of sold listings for Mystery of Crocodile Island.  All four of these books are first printing books.  The book that sold at auction went at the very low opening bid.

The Thirteenth Pearl is a strong seller.  It's not as hard to find as some other books, and I often find extras locally.  In fact, I just purchased one in the last two weeks.  However, it's a book that probably isn't found easily in a local store by the average person who actually needs a copy of the book.  For that reason, it always sells well online.  Notice the range of $10 up to $30 for the following listings.  The lowest prices are auctions.

Even copies of The Thirteenth Pearl with double oval endpapers are strong sellers.  I have sold nice condition copies of The Thirteenth Pearl with double oval endpapers for $20 to $25.  In nice condition, all matte copies of this book are worth $20 to $40, with the true first printings commanding the prices at the high end of the range.

The prices shown here are not definitive and do not show the entire situation.  Mainly, I hope I have shown that prices do vary considerably and that auctions do often bring prices that are much lower than prices of the fixed-price listings.

Scarcity of Original Text Nancy Drew Picture Cover Books

One of the more scarce original text PCs

The values for most Nancy Drew picture cover editions are trending well above the Farah's Guide values.  I have previously mentioned the scarcity of certain original text Nancy Drew picture cover editions. Some of them sell faster than others, and those same books tend to be the ones that I have more trouble finding extras of in order to sell.

I get most of the picture cover books I sell by purchasing large lots of picture cover books.  I try to acquire lots that contain key volumes that I consider more difficult to find, and I try to purchase lots that contain more original text books than revised text books.  I don't always succeed, and condition is also a deciding factor.

The lots I purchase vary as to what is contained within them, and this depends upon what the original owner purchased and exactly when the original owner purchased the books.

This means that what I purchase is not necessarily an accurate cross-section of what exists, since multiple factors are at play.  Still, certain books do show up far less often than others.  I thought about Farah's Guide and decided to compare what I have found to be more scarce with what should be more scarce.

But first, we need to revisit the topic of Farah's Guide and actual printings since many collectors have incorrect assumptions about the data presented in Farah's Guide.

Farah's Guide documents a list of printings for each title.  When Farah assigns a code of 1970A-57 to a particular book, he is suggesting that the book was printed in 1970 and is the 57th printing. 

However, a good many collectors do not understand that Farah's list of printings is actually a list of every single documented variation in the book's boards, illustrations, text, interior lists, and exterior lists since the first printing.  Farah did not have the actual data from the bindery to assign dates and printing numbers.  He made educated guesses, and these guesses are pretty accurate.  For the majority, they are correct.  But not always.

Broken Locket "man with pipe" cover art with 1965 text

Some Farah's Guide printings from the middle part of the 1960s are unbelievably difficult to find.  One example is the third picture cover printing of The Clue of the Broken Locket.  This printing has the "man with pipe" cover art paired with the 1965 text.  The "man with pipe" does not appear in the revised text, so the cover art does not match the story.  This printing most likely consists of the boards from Farah's second picture cover printing paired with the text block of Farah's fourth picture cover printing.  This means that the third picture cover printing is not a printing at all, but rather a combination of what Farah calls the second and fourth picture cover printings.

Label from inside of Kingsport Press file copy

I mention this because we need to understand that some Farah's Guide printings may consist of a very small number of books.  According to limited data discovered from file copies of books, we know that printings from the 1960s had around 10,000 copies apiece.  Variants, such as the third picture cover printing of Broken Locket, are so scarce that most likely no more than around a thousand were bound.  They were not full printings even though they appear to be full printings as listed in Farah's Guide.

Even though I know that some Farah's Guide printings are not actually full print runs, for clarity, I will always refer to them as printings since that is the convention that was established 30 years ago.

I went through Farah's Guide and made note of how many original text picture cover printings exist for each title.  #1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 are not listed here because they were never printed in the original text in the picture cover format.

 #5 - 5 printings
 #7 - 1 printing
 #8 - 8 printings
 #9 - 5 printings
#10 - 3 printings
#11 - 2 printings
#12 - 11 printings
#13 - 15 printings
#14 - 7 printings
#15 - 11 printings
#16 - 8 printings
#17 - 13 printings
#18 - 11 printings
#19 - 6 printings
#20 - 9 printings
#21 - 6 printings
#22 - 10 printings
#23 - 16 printings (8 printings with the 1st art and 8 printings with the 2nd art)
#24 - 15 printings (3 printings with the 1st art and 12 printings with the 2nd art)
#25 - 3 printings
#26 - 6 printings
#27 - 6 printings
#28 - 8 printings
#29 - 7 printings
#30 - 8 printings
#31 - 13 printings
#32 - 13 printings
#33 - 14 printings
#34 - 15 printings

Here are the books reordered by least number of printings to greatest number of printings.  I have put the ones that I consider harder to find in red and easier to find in blue, based on my acquisitions and sales over the last four years.  My opinion is neutral on the titles that I kept in black.

 #7 - 1 printing
#11 - 2 printings 
#10 - 3 printings
#25 - 3 printings
 #5 - 5 printings
 #9 - 5 printings
#19 - 6 printings
#21 - 6 printings
#26 - 6 printings
#27 - 6 printings
#14 - 7 printings
#29 - 7 printings
 #8 - 8 printings
#16 - 8 printings
#28 - 8 printings
#30 - 8 printings
#20 - 9 printings
#22 - 10 printings
#15 - 10 printings
#12 - 11 printings
#18 - 11 printings
#17 - 13 printings
#31 - 13 printings
#32 - 13 printings
#33 - 14 printings
#13 - 15 printings
#34 - 15 printings
#24 - 15 printings (3 printings with the 1st art and 12 printings with the 2nd art)
#23 - 16 printings (8 printings with the 1st art and 8 printings with the 2nd art)

Of the ones I listed in red, I have the most trouble with #7 (by far the toughest), 11, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24 (1st art only), 25, 26, and 28.   Of the ones listed in blue, I tend to have the most extras for #15, 17, 31, 33, and 34.

I kept #18 in red because it was very difficult for me to acquire extras for around three of the last four years.  During the last year, #18 has been much easier for me to find, and I have several extras currently in reserve.  The number of printings indicates that it might be easier to find than I previously thought.

Some of the books, like #8, 9, and 29, have fewer printings in the original text than many other titles, yet I have never noticed them to be particularly scarce.  It could be that those titles had larger print runs than some of the other titles that went through more printings. 

Based on what I have noticed for series books in general and with respect to general human behavior, I believe that around the first 5 to 10 volumes in any series had either more printings or much larger printings, since those books tend to be more abundant.  People who purchase books for children and grandchildren are most likely to pick up the early titles.  That would cause those titles to sell in greater abundance over the years that a series was actively in print.

As with other series, the middle titles seem to be harder to find than the earlier or later titles.

Note:  As always, absolutely no criticism of Farah's Guide is present here.  Please do not read intent into my commentary that is not here.  Farah's Guide is essential to collecting Nancy Drew books, and this post would not have been possible without the data from the guide.