Collecting Childrens Picturebooks

We started a thread on the eBay Bookseller's Forum to identify higher value children's books sold on eBay, with $300 being the 'bottom' threshold. The thread can be found here: Valuable Children's Books Sold on eBay. The thread covers a broad range of children's books, from a $12,000 Hardy Boys first edition book to a $400 pop-up book.

If you do not want to take the time to page through the thread on the eBay Booksellers Forum, you can download a PDF of the thread from our website.

Prices realized on eBay auctions tend to be closer to wholesale than retail, so perhaps 30%-50% below a 'book store' price. Often first edition books sell at eBay auctions which do not surface regularly in the regular book market (ABE , Alibris, Amazon, Bookfinder, live auctions, etc...), therefore it's difficult to make an analogy from an 'eBay price' to 'market value'.

Many booksellers and book collectors do not seriously consider eBay a venue for collectible books. On the other hand, many do. We know of several ABAA booksellers who source some of their inventory from eBay auctions, including some of the premier childrens booksellers in the country.

We have been active book buyers on eBay for over a decade, and have purchased 100's of first edition childrens books, often at very good prices relative to the market. In addition, the knowledge we have gained is invaluable through the thousands of collective hours searching and investigating possible first edition books. We do have a fair idea of the frequency with which certain first edition books surface on eBay, providing a barometer for the book's scarcity.

eBay Booksellers Forum

The Booksellers Forum on eBay is one of the better learning centers for experienced and new booksellers, and contains valuable information for book collectors. The non-moderated forum does have its share of political and various ranting threads, but the concentrated book related information is unmatched on the internet. Some helpful threads:

• Helpful Links For The Bookseller
• Library links once again from the top
• Terminology, Identifying, Dating and Grading Books...
• Bibliography Thread

Links Are Our Friends

The information offered on the website and blog is offered free of charge. If you find the information useful, then kindly link or share the post with a parent, teacher, librarian, bookseller, or collector. Thank You.

Posted by Stan Zielinski at 08:52 AM | Permalink

A first edition copy of Madeleine L'Engle's Newbery Medal winning book, A Wrinkle In Time, recently sold at a PBA Galleries' auction for $10,800.

Heading:                     

Author:                         L'Engle, Madeleine

Title:                            A Wrinkle In Time

Place:                           [New York]

Publisher:                     Ariel Books/Farrar, Straus and Cudahy

Date:                            [1962]

Item # :                        195185

Description:

[10], 211 pp. (8vo) cloth-backed boards, dust jacket. First Edition.

First Edition of of the 1963 Newberry Medal winner, the 1965 Sequoyah Book Award, and the 1965 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. The first in the author's series of novels for children of the Murry and O'Keefe families. Extremely rare in the first edition, According to ABPC no copies have appeared at auction in more than 15 years.

Condition:

Very minor wear to jacket, primarily at spine ends, light browning to jacket edges and folds, small stain at foot of rear jacket panel; light wear to cloth at spine ends, faint stain on rear board corresponding with stain on jacket; small spot of foxing on front free endpaper; overall near fine in a like jacket.

Sale Number                             386

Lot Number                              60

Sale Name                                 

Illustrated Books – Fine Printing – Books in All Fields

Sale Date                                  08/21/2008

Price realized                           $ 10800

 

Click here to see the PBA Galleries auction page.

First edition copies of A Wrinkle In Time are difficult to find. This is the highest price we know of for a first edition Newbery Medal book. Since the book was bought by Aleph-Bet, a prominent children's bookseller, one would assume the retail asking price will be higher than the auction purchase price.

First edition Newbery Medal books are very collectible since the award winning books tend to stay in print for decades and a acquire a large public following over the years. The Newbery books are approved for most school curricula, and middle school teachers and librarians often develop a passion for them.

Currently, the first edition Newbery Medal winning books do not have as high a market value as first edition Caldecott Medal books and are much more affordable. 

Links Are Our Friends

The information offered on the website and blog is offered free of charge. If you find the information useful, then kindly link or share the post with a parent, teacher, librarian, bookseller, or collector. Thank You.

Posted by Stan Zielinski at 10:50 AM | Permalink