I was wondering what a set of Collier"s New Encyclopedias, copyright 1921 would be worth if anything?
Thank you.
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Today they are being sold for anywhere from $100 to around $1000 on dbay and similar online marketplaces. If you have a complete set in good condition, the market value would likely be on the higher side of that figure. Another option would be to break them up and sell them, as there is a market for single or several volumes for use in vintage decor or DIY projects. This may yield between $5 and $25 per book, depending on where and how they are sold. Most encyclopedias published after 1880 have yet to reach their peak value, so if you were to hold onto them for some time, the value will continue to increase, possibly one day selling for two or three times as much as they would today.
I was out on eBay this morning and there are several unsold sets and one that did sell for best offer:
www.ebay.com/
If this on is an exact match for yours, you can figure today's market value is somewhere less than $99.98 + 17.98 shipping.
Sadly that is all best price can tell me because the seller could have accepted anything from one penny to one penny under asking price. Usually sellers will not divulge what the item sold for if you ask.
Tomorrow's market value may change. In today's fast paced world market values literally change daily because it is pretty much determined by what someone will pay for an item today. Supply and demand are everything so low supply + high demand = higher prices.
People can ask anything they want for an item, but if someone won't pay it, the item is essentially valueless.
Check back to eBay frequently and see what the SOLD prices are. If you are going to list it, try listing when there are none of an exact match to yours on so you have the "monopoly" on today's market and start it at what the SOLD items were getting (or a tad higher if you are the only one with the listing.
Keep watching the auctions and if more come on with lower prices, you will have to lower your price (I always list items in eBay's 30 day best offer method so I can do this easily). Big items like encyclopedia are not designed for the 7 day regular auction format as the interest isn't high enough to bid them up (where the 7 day format is wonderful).
Remember value is different than profit. Meaning, if the item sold for $100 with free shipping, the seller only netted (and I am using round numbers for reference only) less than 50 because shipping something this heavy is expensive in that case is paid by the SELLER, plus the eBay and Paypal fees are paid by the seller also. Even if the buyer pays shipping, the seller can't count that toward profit as the money goes to the USPS to pay for the postage.
Hope this gets you started on the value of your item!
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