Yahoo auctions recently displayed four five-figure books, including two first edition Oz books and an inscribed JFK.
By Michael Stillman
The auction arm of the world's most visited website (according to Alexa rankings), Yahoo, is closing down. That would seem to be astonishing news. Online auctions appear to have become an enormous force in the field. As best we can tell, there are always far more books being offered for sale online than at all traditional auctions combined. The closing of the online auction of the most visited site on the web would seem to be a momentous event. The world yawned.
As you are undoubtedly aware, though Yahoo may be the most popular website, it is not the most popular auction site. It is undoubtedly in the top ten, and from what we can tell, probably the top five. It might even be top two. It doesn't matter. In this competition, there is only one site that matters, and as we all know, it is eBay. Now, even Yahoo recognizes that fact. According to Reuters, citing tracking firm comScore, eBay controls some 94% of the auction market. Yahoo obviously was not making inroads.
From looking at their listings, books may have actually been one of Yahoo auction's stronger suits. At the time of their announcement in early May, they were showing almost 90,000 listings for books, though half of these were comics. This compares to over 450,000 for eBay. Perhaps more tellingly, Yahoo had 1,882 listings for "antique and rare" books, compared to 62,462 for "antiquarian and collectible" books on eBay. A small start-up site might be happy with that ratio, but it is a sign of defeat for so major a force as Yahoo. They recognized it was time to throw in the towel. To gather listings, you need sales, and to achieve sales, you need listings. Yahoo was not able to break in to this chicken and egg scenario at either end.
There are still a few other auctions trying to compete with the eLephant of online auctions. uBid is perhaps the oldest and most notable other online auction, though "notable" is a relative term here. However, books appear a low priority for this auction. They do not have a books category, other than as a sublisting under "collectibles." I found only 12 items here, not a one of which appeared collectible to me (I fear the Uzi modification manual offered is intended for practical use, not collecting). For those who buy and sell books, Amazon is likely the most significant other site. They do have an auction section, and a search under "books" found 20,894 listings (about a third of what Yahoo located). However, some of these have no discernable relation to books I can find, such as the $150 worth of repair service on your computer's motherboard that showed up as a "book." If there is a way of finding just antiquarian or collectible books at Amazon's auctions, the means are not clear, but I think it can safely be noted that rare books are not Amazon's strength in the first place.
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.")
