Book Marketing Mysteries: Meditations on Book Values and Pricing
- by Renee Roberts
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There is a herd mentality in pricing.
That's why there are so many books with similar prices. It may have nothing at all to do with what they are "worth".
The market can be manipulated. You're not in Kansas anymore.
Dealers can buy up their competitors' books if a lower-priced listing is depressing the price they wish to charge. Auctions can use shills. Dealers can agree on prices they wish to post for rare titles.
The Emperor has no clothes: Beware of paying too much for and overpricing mediocre books that happen to be in fashion momentarily. This is a particular danger in buying and selling modern first editions that are bestsellers.
In a decade, nobody will be very interested in a signed first edition of The Bridges of Madison County. Currently with a ridiculous range of $30 - $910 on ABE, Bridges is already showing severe market weakness.
The dealer who has the best customer can charge the highest price.
I don't dream about winning the lottery. I dream that I've won one of those shop-til-you-drop prizes -- a few hours with a very large shopping cart at Bernard Quaritch, Heritage, or Bauman along with unlimited access to their customer base. Some dealers can charge pretty much whatever price they like. You will have to charge less. Don't bother using them as comparables; they have customers you do not have.
And related to the above:
Bend over backwards to establish relationships with your customers.
If you have warm, respectful, ongoing relationships, you can charge fair prices for your books with minimal competitive pressure. Your profitability goes up significantly with subsequent purchases from the same customer.
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Discover Upcoming Auctions
Sotheby’s, Dec. 9: Coronelli, Vincenzo Maria. "Epitome Cosmografica." With the 6 circular celestial and terrestrial charts. 7,000 – 10,000 USD
Sotheby’s, Dec. 9: Hurley, Frank. Collection of 69 photographs taken during Ernest Shackleton's Endurance Expedition. 80,000 – 120,000 USD
Sotheby’s, Dec. 10: Sendak, Maurice. Original artwork for the inaugural "New York is Book Country" poster, 1979. 300,000 – 600,00 USD
Sotheby’s, Dec. 10: [Brontë, Emily, and Ann Brontë] — Ellis Bell and Acton Bell. An outstanding survival of the sisters' debut novels Estimate. 90,000 - 130,000 USD
Bonhams, Dec. 18: A Very Fine Composite Atlas Magnificently Illuminated and Heightened with Gold in a Fine Contemporary Hand Throughout. $300,000 - $500,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Saint-Exupéry's Revised Ending for Wind, Sand and Stars. $40,000 - $60,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Edith Wharton's Gold Medal from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1924. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Salinger on the Glass Family and on Detachment. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Fanny Burney's Groundbreaking First Novel. Evelina, Or a Young Lady's Entrance into the World. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Kafka's Earliest Extant Piece of Writing. Autograph Note Signed ("Franz Kafka"). $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Wagner Signed "Ride of the Valkries." $6,000 - $9,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Dickens on the Death of Little Nell. $5,000 - $8,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Sylvia Plath's Copy of Joy of Cooking. $4,000 - $6,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Walt Whitman and Friends: Whitman to James Russell Lowell. $8,000 - $12,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Walt Whitman and Friends: The Genesis of his Lincoln Lectures. $6,000 - $9,000
High Bids Win, Dec. 4 – 19: Lot 212. Kelsey Letterpress
High Bids Win, Dec. 4 – 19: Wood & Metal Type. Many fonts and faces.
High Bids Win, Dec. 4 – 19: Print Shop Miscellany including type, tools, and equipment.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: A Rare Complete Run of the Cuala Press Broadsides. €5,500 to €7,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Rare First Edition of a Classic Work. [Stafford (Thos.)] Pacata Hibernia, Ireland Appeased and Reduced…, 1633. €1,500 to €2,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Signed by author, limited edition. €1,250 to €1,750.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Fishing: Literal Translation into English of the Earliest Known Book on Fowling and Fishing, Written originally in Flemish and Printed at Antwerp in 1492. London (Chiswick Press) 1872. €1,500 to €2,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Fishing: Blacker's - Art of Fly Making, etc., Comprising Angling & Dying of Colours..., Rewritten & Revised. Lond. 1855. €250 to €350.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Joyce (James). Finnegans Wake,, London (Faber & Faber Ltd.) 1939, Lim. Edn. No. 269 (425) copies, Signed by the Author (in green pen). €3,000 to €4,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Synge (J.M.) & Yeats (Jack B.) illus. The Aran Islands,, D. (Maunsel & Co. Ltd.) 1907, Signed Limited Edn. €4,000 to €5,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Meyer (Dr. A.B.) Unser Auer -, Rackel-Und Birkwild und Seine Abarten, Wien (Verlag Von Adolph W. Kunast) 1887. €2,500 to €3,500.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Carve (Thomas). Itinerarium R.D. Thomas Carve Tripperariensis, Sacellani Maioris in Fortisima iuxta…,, Moguntia (Mainz) impriemebat Nicolaus Heyll, 1639. €1,500 to €2,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Grose (Francis). The Antiquities of Ireland, 2 vols. folio London (for S. Hooper) 1791. First Edition. €3,000 to €5,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12: Heaney (Seamus) & Le Brocquy (Louis) artist. Ugolino, D. (Dolmen Press) 1979, Signed Limited Edition No. 87 (125) Copies. €3,500 to €4,500.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 10:</b> [Brontë, Emily, and Ann Brontë] — Ellis Bell and Acton Bell. An outstanding survival of the sisters' debut novels Estimate. 90,000 - 130,000 USD](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/b074d0c9-0c77-4e80-a457-f59c4262ea72.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 10:</b> [Brontë, Emily, and Ann Brontë] — Ellis Bell and Acton Bell. An outstanding survival of the sisters' debut novels Estimate. 90,000 - 130,000 USD")
![<b>Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12:</b> Rare First Edition of a Classic Work. [Stafford (Thos.)] <i>Pacata Hibernia, Ireland Appeased and Reduced…,</i> 1633. €1,500 to €2,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/2bfa5105-2bf9-4a52-8ab5-45f3ef7b1eb4.jpg "<b>Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12:</b> Rare First Edition of a Classic Work. [Stafford (Thos.)] <i>Pacata Hibernia, Ireland Appeased and Reduced…,</i> 1633. €1,500 to €2,000.")
![<b>Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12:</b> Heaney (Seamus). <i>Eleven Poems,</i> Belfast (Festival publications - Queens University) [1965], First Edn., (First Issue) Signed. €2,500 to €3,500.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/d8cd5291-2e7d-4a24-8d22-f316554ec8f8.jpg "<b>Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 11-12:</b> Heaney (Seamus). <i>Eleven Poems,</i> Belfast (Festival publications - Queens University) [1965], First Edn., (First Issue) Signed. €2,500 to €3,500.")
