DCA
Bronze Answer Medal for All Time! 220 Answers October 18, 20170 found this helpful
Many people have old books they think are valuable and would like to sell. Most old dictionaries, references etc., have very little value, a few dollars at most. Encyclopedias dated after 1923 are essentially worthless but crafters may be interested for the old pictures. Libraries, Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc., receive donations of tons of old encyclopedias, dictionaries and reference books but send them to recycling centers or dumps as they cannot use or sell them.
You can check online for old book collectors, on EBay, Craigs List and other retail sites for possibilities. Everything is now online and updated constantly so old books are just that-old.
October 18, 20170 found this helpful
As a general rule encyclopedias do not sell for very much. There is almost no information that is not available for free over the Internet.
- Encyclopedias are almost a thing of the past and only a few years are valuable.
- Britannica sets #15 and the last published set seem to be the most valuable but even these are not fast sellers.
- Shipping is very costly and a lot of trouble and that is why most sellers will list their sets as pick-up-only.
- eBay and Amazon sell more books than any other sites but sellers may keep books listed for months and months and may never sell them.
- I see that you have your set listed on eBay so you must feel that your set and year books are worth at least $350.
- www.ebay.com/.../192336119117?hash=item2cc820454d...
- I believe you are probably new to selling on eBay so I would like to offer some advice.
- If someone bids on your set at the $200 price and there are no other bids, you will be obligated to sell the set for that price - $200.00 per eBay rules.
- As far as shipping prices go - what ever price you show on your listing (right now you have about $6.50 listed for shipping to Florida) is all the buyer will pay - no matter what the actual shipping cost amounts to.
- Very important - you CANNOT charge more than you have showing on the listing.
- eBay is very specific about this and most buyers know this which means it may cost you $50 or more to ship but you will only receive the $6.50 from the buyer.
- What you have stated in your listing means absolutely nothing when it comes to a violation of eBay rules.
- I would strongly suggest you make a change in your shipping costs or list it as pick-up-only.
- Your set may not sell at the $200 price but if it does and no changes to your shipping cost is made, you will either have to ship at your expense or eBay may remove you from selling anything in the future.
- eBay is very strict about their rules so please, think about this - soon - as once a bid is placed you cannot change anything on the listing.
- Shipping a set of books this size and a bookcase will be very expensive.
- I can find no evidence that a 1964 set has sold for this amount of money in the past year or so but someone may see your set and bookcase and shipping and decide to bid.
I always suggest listing sets like this on your local Craigslist as you can ask whatever price you want and change it if no interest and the best thing is no shipping involved.
Judy
Gold Post Medal for All Time! 677 Posts October 18, 20170 found this helpful
They are worth very little. Antiques, or books over 100 years old, have more value.
attosa
Diamond Post Medal for All Time! 1,246 Posts October 19, 20170 found this helpful
Not much, I'm afraid. $20-$40. As far as I've seen personally, people who want to repurpose them have better use for them so I'd find a buyer that way.
I have a set of Encyclopedia Britannica from 1964 with the Books of the Year from 1965 through 1981. What is my set of books worth?
