I have a set of 1976 Encyclopedia Britannica which were published red, white, and blue for the bicentennial. The 7 yearbooks I have which are the normal black and brown I figured are worthless. They are all in pretty good shape. Is the special bicentennial publication worth anything?
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Encyclopedias are not in demand unless they are 100 years old and complete. Yours is not worth much.
Some sets of encyclopedias are still in low demand but none are really selling for very much except the very special editions.
I believe you can probably sell your set but shipping is always a problem so it may be better if you list your set on a local site lie Craigslist, USA4Sale, OfferUp, LetGo or any other site that has 'pick up only'.
You can check eBay for listings so you can see how to describe your set.
Also, check eBay listings for sold sets as that is closer to current value..
The biggest problem is how long a set may be listed before (or if) it sells.
Book sellers leave listing up for months/years and may never sell the set.
Many resort to selling one book at a time but that is not a good idea if you have a full set in good condition.
eBay present listings: Asking prices are just what a seller would love to get for their books and has almost no bearing on what value is as sold listings will tell you what someone was willing to pay.
www.ebay.com/
Items that have sold on eBay over the past several months.
www.ebay.com/
Year books should go with the set.
Thanks for the information!
Without photos it is hard to give you an exact apples to apples value for your set.
cybergrannie gave you some good general info on the market for these.
What I can add is that there is a new market for old encyclopedias for artists who do what is called junk or art or smash journals.
These artists are looking for books that have high gloss, color pages, with really interesting art and illustrations and really neat black and white illustrations. If there are lots of flowers, animals, and pastoral scenes, even better!
That yours is a celebratory edition--if there are lovely photos of the flag, or other scenes which celebrate American history, these can be draws to the artists also...highlight pages those in your ad's photos.
The artists are also looking for book covers that are sturdy and have no smells (so smoke and odor free -- if yours truly are in this state -- should be highlighted in your advertisement).
Book purists recoil in horror at this process of gutting and tearing up books, but I see it as a lovely way to purpose something that has essentially became a dust collector for many people.
If you market your books to artists--by showing the covers and some of the really neat illustrations, you may fetch a decent amount for the books (which in my world is around $40-$50).
That said, always start high and negotiate. You may even want to consider selling books one at a time if an artist asks.
You never know when someone wants something and is willing to pay good money for it!
One last suggestion, if you are unable to sell them, I noticed that places in my town like our Center for Creative Reuse--which is an artist source for all things that can be crafted--they just started taking encyclopedia again.
Most thrift and resale shops do not take these because they take up space and are so to sell, but that a place like CFCR is taking them shows that artists are willing to buy these if they have value in the art inside. If your town has such a venue, perhaps you could donate and take the tax credit if you are eligible.
Post back with an update on your sale.
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