Book Marketing Mysteries: Meditations on Book Values and Pricing
- by Renee Roberts
Titles described in Jules Verne: A Collector's Biography of First Editions in English increase in value.
by Renée Magriel Roberts
Pricing books to sell on the Internet remains one of the real mysteries of this business -- a heady mixture of magic and a sort of subjective science. To price effectively, you really need to know what kind of business you have and what kind of business you want to have (a moving target, I admit). You may find many of these meditations contradictory or illusory, because the basis for book valuation is perhaps better described by the Pythia at Delphi.
If you have a physical store (especially those with comfortable leather chairs, long wooden tables, and a kind of hushed atmosphere, staffed by intelligent sales people), then many of these thoughts may not apply. Sales made in person are generally in the absence of Internet competition and therefore prices can not only be higher, but books can be sold which may otherwise have no value on the Web.
A broad search should give you a reasonable price range for used books in very good or better condition.
If I'm looking at a very good, used book that happens to be in short supply, I'll check two major markets: Amazon and ABE. I may choose to sell the book in both or one of these sites, or in another one of the sites on which we sell. If the book is in fine condition, I choose a price on the high side of the spectrum. Condition is truly a driving factor in value.
Good stuff sells and increases in value.
By "good stuff", I mean truly rare and interesting books. Because they do increase in value, their prices should be re-visited on a regular basis to make upward adjustments. For example: Lawrence Beesley, The Loss of the S. S. Titanic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1912. First Edition. $600.00 in new full-leather binding.
Don't be afraid to just stick your neck out.
Sometimes there are no comparables. For example: Jules Verne, (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Vingt Mille Lieues Sous Les Mers) Veinte mil leguas de viaje submarine. Madrid: Tomás Bey y Compañia, 1869. Complete with all full-size engravings. $20,000. Arguably the first edition of this work in book form, preceding the French first edition.
The value of a book is what an informed customer is willing to pay for it and what you are willing to sell it for, not what you think it is worth in the abstract.
We are not a bargaining culture, but bargaining is fast becoming the name of the game. If you are already selling a book for 8-20% commission on one of the commercial sites, you have some room for negotiation and many buyers know this. There are millions of listings, and then there are a smaller number of sales. Do you want to get your price, or pay your bills this month?
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
