Nancy Drew Crossword Cipher First Printing Auction

I spotted an eBay auction for the first printing of Nancy Drew #44, The Clue in the Crossword Cipher, right after it was listed.  The first printing of Crossword Cipher lists to Pine Hill on the back cover. 

I wondered whether the auction was going to get noticed.  A lot of high-end stuff has been sold in recent weeks on eBay, and not all of it is getting noticed as it should be.  Ultimately, this first printing of Crossword Cipher did close at a strong price, although I'm not sure what that tells us about the value.  The closing price does tell us that the book is extremely scarce and coveted.

Click on the image in order to see a larger version.

The book closed at $255.00, but it had only two bidders.  Normally, we consider the value to be what the third-highest bidder is willing to pay.  We don't have that information in this case.

In an old post of mine, I mentioned an auction for the first printing of Crossword Cipher.  It closed at $86.00.

Noteworthy First Printing Nancy Drew Auctions

That was in 2014.

For yesterday's auction, I expected the end price to be anywhere between the opening bid of $9.99 and some indefinite price above $100.  Anything was possible.  I knew that I wasn't going to bid, and I hoped that others were aware of the listing.  I wasn't going to advertise the listing, since I have long believed that scarce items up for sale on eBay should go to the people who check eBay.  They should have a shot at getting those items for decent prices instead of having people like me tell everyone about the listings.  

This auction could have closed even higher if it had been advertised.  We'll never know.  $255.00 may seem to be a steep price for this book, but it is unbelievably scarce.  I wouldn't use "rare" for it, but it isn't that far off from what I would consider rare.  

The 1932 text picture cover of The Clue in the Diary is nowhere near rare.  A lot of people want it, but the book is findable with careful searching.  It shows up on eBay three or more times per year.  I have five extra copies of it in my possession right now (six total including the one in my collection).  I realize how odd it sounds to have six extra, but the book has shown up repeatedly this year.  I keep finding it!  I have also had a good number of them pass through my hands over the years.  At best, that book is just scarce.  It could only be considered rare in excellent condition.  Four of my five extras are in rough shape.

The Crossword Cipher first printing is close to rare in any condition.  There is a considerable difference in scarcity between the Diary picture cover with the 1932 text and Crossword Cipher in the first printing.

I don't know that I have ever seen a Nancy Drew picture cover close as high as $255.00.  This might be the most anyone has ever paid for a Nancy Drew picture cover.  

I have a tag in this blog for the first printing of Crossword Cipher.  Follow the link to see the related posts.

Nancy Drew Crossword Cipher 1st

This new post will be showing first.  Scroll down to read the previous posts.

Overflow Shelves Emptied and Everything Set

I ended all of my listings this morning.  A short while later, I received a message on eBay from a buyer asking where the Hardy Boys books went that were in their cart.  They said that they weren't done shopping.  That was a dilemma.  

I decided that I could deal with one more transaction, so I reactivated all 73 Hardy Boys listings and let the buyer know.  Nothing happened.  If I had contacted a seller who told me that they were closing but would activate the books of interest, I would have made my purchase immediately.  I feel like eight hours was enough time to wait on the buyer.  Early this evening, I ended the listings again.  If they contact me again, I will tell them that it's too late.

I am pleased to report that my eBay listings dropped to 400 items.  My goal during the last two months was to get below 400 items, but I'll take 400.  That's close enough.  I have 274 Etsy listings, which isn't bad.  

Since my listing totals dropped down by a bit, I was able to clear off my overflow shelves and get all of my eBay and Etsy books onto the designated shelves that I always use for books that are listed for sale.  It's important that I store the books only on the designated shelves so that I don't risk making mistakes.

Some of the books are stacked more than I usually do, but I want them together with each other.

These shelves contain most of my eBay books.  Click on each photo in order to see it better.

These are my Etsy shelves.

These are more Etsy shelves with Christopher Pike books from eBay stacked on them as well.

These shelves contain mostly Etsy books with some eBay books mixed in.

If you looked at the photos carefully, then you might have seen some books out of numerical order.  Books from the same series are scattered as well.  Having the books arranged in order is the least of my concerns.  

I am quite pleased that I managed to get all the books together on as few shelves as possible.  I ran sales for the last few weeks hoping to get the number of books down as much as possible, and I am happy that I succeeded.

As I mentioned previously, I may be closed around two months.  I'll just have to see how everything goes.  I'll know when I'm ready.

Reminder: My Stores Will Close by Tomorrow Morning + Thyroid Stuff

I will deactivate all of my eBay and Etsy listings either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. 

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

This is of necessity due to some family stuff beginning next week.  My thyroid medication also has just been adjusted, which will cause deep fatigue.

I wrote this explanation in 2019:

I always feel better for most of the first week, then the drop begins.  I can feel the very beginning of the drop coming on.

This happens because the hypothalamus detects the sudden increase in thyroid hormone in the body due to the medication increase.  The hypothalamus then secretes a hormone that tells the pituitary gland to shut down the thyroid, which then makes the patient feel sick for two to five weeks or possibly even longer.  The lengthy adjustment period is caused by the long half-life of T4.  It takes weeks for the hormone to stabilize, which is why many thyroid patients feel bad for a lengthy period of time after any medication change.

I am four days in right now, and I can feel that the drop has started.  It's going to be a steep drop this time.  I will feel crushing fatigue and will probably experience brain fog and other assorted symptoms.  I do not use the word "crushing" lightly.  The worst fatigue I have ever felt is the fatigue that I feel after a medication increase.  It is extreme. 

I'll be okay.  It's something that I have to deal with periodically, and I will get through it.  I am really looking forward to winter break.  I hope that the worst of the drop is during those two weeks.

I don't mention this for sympathy.  I like helping people.  Sharing my experiences can help others who are being gaslit by their doctors.  Unfortunately, many doctors do not understand the thyroid condition and think their patients are mental. 

I am quite fortunate in that I'm being treated at an endocrinology clinic by someone who has the same condition.  She understands while most providers don't.  Interestingly, on Monday my provider told me a story about how she was gaslit when she first started medication.  Her body's negative reaction to the medication was dismissed as nothing.

On Facebook, experiences that are different from the "group think" get shut down.  I have only ever made one comment on a Facebook page where I told someone that it is normal to feel worse for a time.  Someone else responded, telling me rather harshly that what I wrote wasn't true and that my provider was an idiot.  I have never commented again on Facebook about anything related to my thyroid experiences.

On Facebook, people aren't allowed to be different from whatever the expected norm is.  We see it in all of the groups, regardless of topic.  It's annoying.  It really is like high school with all the silly cliques.

I have cautiously made a few responses on Reddit in the last week or so and was received well.  The thyroid discussion on Reddit seems to be less prone to the "group think" effect.

Once winter break begins, I might have a couple of listings available on eBay.  I have some Aquaphor ointment that I was using on my dry lips until I suddenly developed an allergy to it.  Of course my body would develop an allergy to something as mild as Aquaphor.

I want to get the Aquaphor sold, so it might get reactivated.  I also have a Half Price Books 2023 calendar with 10% off coupons.  They are of no use to me because I have an educator discount card.  I always get 10% off.  Discounts can't be stacked, so I can't use the coupons.

I'm still going to be around on Facebook.  I just won't be selling.  The hiatus will likely be at least a minimum of four weeks, but it could be good bit longer.

Spying Some Hardcover Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Digests

This happened yesterday.  I was at home, awaiting for it to be time to leave for my appointment.  I checked eBay and looked at a bulk listing of green APC Nancy Drew books.  I was using the zoom feature on the image and stopped when I reached the lower right corner.

WHAT WERE THOSE BOOKS ON THE FLOOR?!

I saw what I felt certain was a hardcover Hardy Boys Digest plus some other possible hardcover Hardy Boys Digest books.  I saw Nancy Drew Ghost Stories but couldn't tell for certain if it was hardcover. 

I checked the seller's other listings, but the books hadn't been listed.  I kept a tab open on the seller's listings page, sorted by newest first.  I came back and refreshed every so often.  Finally, the books appeared, and I got them!  This never would have happened if I hadn't taken the day off for my appointment.

I didn't take the time to check the books before buying them.  With library editions, I have to buy first.  The Nancy Drew lot looks to be really good, possibly outstanding.  I can see that I likely will be keeping at least 13 of the books as upgrades.  I prefer the binding where the book is an actual picture cover rather than having a laminated cover.  Of course, I take anything I can get, but I love upgrading to the style that I like the best.

The Hardy Boys books don't look to be in as good of condition, but the seller's photo isn't as sharp making it hard to tell.  I know that I will be keeping at least three of the Hardy Boys books, but I can't tell on the rest.  I will have to compare the books to what I have once they have arrived.

This is so exciting.  Even though I do now have the complete set of Nancy Drew #57-175 in hardcover library editions, my set still needs work.  It's great to have an opportunity to upgrade some of the books.

A Local Three Investigators Find and an Online Christopher Pike Find

I found these books in a local store.  Remember to click on photos to see a better version.

The Nancy Drew Twin Thrillers are the more scarce tall version with good quality paper.  If you've only ever seen the short Twin Thrillers, which are 99% of the Twin Thrillers that exist, you will want the tall Twin Thrillers.  Unfortunately, only eight were printed in the tall version, but they are much nicer than the short version.  Good quality paper and a sturdier binding make a big difference.

Strangely, I keep finding Three Investigators books locally this year.  These softcover Three Investigators books are overall in very nice shape.  Silver Spider has a few cover creases, and the books are a little bent.  Otherwise, they have no surface wear and very light wear to the edges.  This is a sharp-looking group of books.

My hardcover library edition Christopher Pike books arrived in the mail today.  The books came from three bulk lots offered by a library on eBay.  One random R. L. Stine book was included with the Pike books.

 

I already have quite a few hardcover Pike books, but the bulk lots contained quite a few books that I needed.  There are some books that are fairly scarce and great to find in hardcover.  

I will update once I get the books sorted and remove the library stickers.  That likely won't happen until at least this weekend.

The Trouble with Selling Bulk Lots

I use bulk lots in order to get rid of books that I don't want to sell individually.  Many of the books are not in good enough condition or collectible enough to sell in individual listings.  Other books placed in the bulk lots are ones that I already tried to sell but no one was interested.  I also sometimes include books in the bulk lots which would be fine to sell but I have way too many copies.  Sometimes I might have six to eight extra copies of certain Nancy Drew titles, so I place some of the duplicate extras in with the other books destined for the bulk lots.

The goal with my bulk lots is to sell the books fast.  I try to offer a good value proposition.  Sometimes the bulk lots are listed at my cost plus eBay fees plus the expected shipping cost.  Other times, I write off what I paid for the books and list the lot at eBay fees plus the shipping cost.

This means that the books are cheap.  I want them to sell.

Unfortunately, I quite often have buyers request that I break up the lot so that they can have one or two books.  I believe that these people are expecting to get the unit price from the bulk lot and then pay a minimal amount for postage.  Most of the time, I do not answer the messages since I'm not going to reset the lot so that someone can have just one book for cheap.

In one recent case, I decided to respond.  The request concerned this bulk lot.  I only have the thumbnail, so the image is a bit blurry.

The buyer said that they wanted eight of the books but didn't specific which ones.  Since the lot had 10 matte picture cover books in it with one trashed and another in rough shape, I was pretty sure that I knew which eight books the buyer wanted.  

At first I was going to ignore the request.  I then decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to break up the lot and sell one-third of it to this buyer.  That is what I did.

Meanwhile, I have had multiple requests about this bulk lot.  The buyers all want a certain green book.

I was hoping that placing the green APC Nancy Drew book in the lot would help sell it, but my plan backfired.  The funny thing is that I have a second copy of the green APC Jewel Box book that is available in an individual listing.  To me, this just proves that the buyers are looking for a cheaper copy and think that they can get the book for the unit price of $3.52 plus postage.  

Meanwhile, I have had requests about the green APC book that is available by itself.

Do you want to guess what the buyers want?  

They want me to lower the price.  In the most recent message, the buyer asked what my lowest price would be.

I'm not desperate to sell the book, so I'm ignoring the messages.

Since the bulk lot of library editions ended up a dismal failure, I broke up the lot and split the books up into multiple lots and added other books to the group.  These are the listings that I created.

So now I have two different green APC copies of Jewel Box up for sale.

Now they can have their pick.  The books are different shades of green!  I am not desperate to sell either copy.  After all, in five days I will close my stores for an extended period of time.

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

One Last Time - eBay and Etsy Sales Extended

This is it.  I have reinstated my eBay and Etsy sales one last time.  Both of my stores will go on hiatus either the evening of December 9 or the morning of December 10. 

I've been running the sales in order to get as many books sold as possible before I close for the winter.  Getting extra books sold helps me reduce the amount of space that my eBay and Etsy books require.  I have some of them on overflow shelves that I don't usually use for books that are up for sale.  I want to get those books off of the overflow shelves. 

By the time I reopen my stores, I will have forgotten many details.  In order to avoid making mistakes such as listing already-listed books again or selling books from my collection by accident, I must have all of my "for sale" books on the shelves I always use for those books.

I have already started bringing the books closer together. 

I also have to contend with my love of purchasing bulk lots.  I do tend to restrain myself when I am on hiatus, but I often can't help myself.  I will soon have in my hands a large bulk lot of Christopher Pike books in hardcover library editions.  Many of the books are ones that I need, but the lot also contains many extras.  And so the struggle of dealing with unlisted extra books filling up shelves will continue.

I wish I could stay open, but I will be taking on some temporary extra responsibilities beginning the week of December 11.  Those responsibilities will last for at least one month and perhaps longer.  So that I don't overtax myself, it will be necessary to close for at least 1 1/2 to 2 months.

That was the plan all along from before my thyroid became inflamed by the Moderna vaccine.  In light of my medical situation, I may end up staying closed for longer than I originally anticipated.

As I've been saying, get anything that you want now.  Once I go on hiatus, I will not complete any transactions for any reason... no matter how many times someone begs.  I have had people beg before.  I won't budge. 

My Etsy listings are 15% off.  

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

My eBay listings are 12% off.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Auctions of White Spine Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew White and Red Diaries Ending Tomorrow

I have a number of auctions closing tomorrow.  I am selling Hardy Boys #1-12 in the white spine dust jackets with the red shields.  I also have the Nancy Drew white and red diaries, a scarce Nancy Drew audio book, and a Nancy Drew Harold Hill edition with dust jacket.

 

 

 

Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Auctions

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

I will probably keep my stores open for another 1 1/2 to 2 weeks.  However, I could pull everything down at any point after tomorrow.  I had a strong autoimmune flare at the beginning of this week which resulted in some deep fatigue, and I believe that my thyroid hormone levels are continuing to decline.  This all began after I received the bivalent Moderna Covid vaccine on September 23. 

Note: I am pro-vaccine, and I will continue to be vaccinated when the need arises.  It's apparent that the vaccine flared my already-existing thyroiditis to the point that I need a medication change.  I suspect that having Covid in July had already increased the inflammation enough that the vaccine sent it into overdrive.

My appointment is on Monday.  Even if my medication is adjusted, it will take a minimum of 2 to 2 1/2 months to stabilize.  Also, I read online that people who suffer thyroiditis as a result of the vaccines take six months to return to their previous state.  Those people are ones who didn't have a thyroid problem in the first place and end up not having one after six months.  In my case, anything is possible since I have an ongoing condition.

In addition to that I will have additional responsibilities beginning in the next few weeks.  This is why I will have my stores closed for a minimum of 1 1/2 to 2 months.

If you want something, make sure that you go ahead and get it very soon.