by Pamela Palmer

#131, 19 January 2009

Which fiction and non-fiction books are winners on eBay? Each month this series answers the question and, along the way, looks at the listing strategies sellers use to bring in big bucks. To learn more about what's in and what's out of the lists, read our Top 10 on eBay Parameters.

NOTE: Items numbers are now included in this article. They are in the individual auction comments section below the author and title. Click the links to see the listings.

December 2008 was a good month for relative novices on eBay. Four of the 18 sellers (2 sellers sold 2 books each) had feedback in the single digits. The fiction top 10 included 3 copies of Twilight and 2 books by Haruki Murakami. Classic science fiction was represented by 1st editions of Ray Bradbury's Dark Carnival published by Arkham House and Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. The non-fiction top 10 included 3 1st editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. Beyond that it was diverse - from a pre-revolutionary history of St. Petersburg, Russia and Barack Obama to Mark Twain and Daytona Cobra coupes.

eBay
Fiction Top 10
December 2008

#1 $4,000.00 Signed Pinball, 1973 by Haruki Murakami 1st/1st
#2 $2,950.00 Battlestar Galactica Crew Book
#3 $2,765.00 Cormac McCarthy-SUTTREE-A Novel-1st Ed. Author Signed
#4 $2,252.00 Philip K. Dick Do Androids Dream 1st Ed. Blade Runner
#5 $2,000.00 Signed Hear The Wind by Haruki Murakami 1st/1st
#6 $1,825.00 Stephanie Meyer Autographed Twilight - First Edition!!!
#7 $1,775.00 Stephen King- The Stand S/L Total Package + Brass Plate
#8 $1,700.00 Twilight
#9 $1,000.00 Ray Bradbury DARK CARNIVAL Arkham House SIGNED First
#10 $999.99 Signed First Edition HB Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

#1
Pinball, 1973
Haruki Murakami
280292675167

Sold as a Best Offer, the 1st edition, 1st printing was signed by Haruki Murakami. The same US seller sold #5.

#2
Battlestar Galactica Crew Yearbook
180315270581

A Canadian seller saw 21 bids for the limited edition crew yearbook. The seller ntoed that "these books [are] made a gifts to the cast and crew who took part in the series."

#3
Suttree
Cormac McCarthy
270313877397

McCarthy's signed 1979 1st edition and dust jacket was described as in very good condition. It received 3 bids.

#4
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K. Dick
320322245750

20 bids took this science fiction classic to $2,252. The ex-library copy was described as a "true first printing."

#5
Hear the Wind
Haruki Murakami
280292675861

Sold by the seller of #1, this 1st edition/1st printing was signed by Murakami.

#6
Twilight
Stephenie Meyer
270319825351

Though the seller misspelled Stephenie Meyer's first name [as Stephanie] in the auction title, buyers found it. 48 bids were placed for the signed first edition in like new condition.

#7
The Stand
Stephen King
190269053583

A single bid won #1209 of 1,250 copies. It is a signed leather-bound copy "housed in the 2 piece wooded (Coffin) box with red velvet lining" and was signed by both King and the artist, Bernie Wrightson.

#8
Twilight
Stephenie Meyer
110329815239

Another copy of Twilight sold as BIN. The 1st edition, 1st printing was described as very good in a very good dust jacket.

#9
Dark Carnival
Ray Bradbury
120347134616

A 1947 Arkham House publication, the signed 1st edition of Bradbury's 1st book was among the 3000 copies printed. It is described as in fine condition.

#10
Twilight
Stephenie Meyer
260334054495

Twilight appears on the list for the 3rd time, selling as a BIN. It is described as an "unread, first edition/first printing" in excellent condition.

 

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