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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: For item numbers of auctions featured in Top 10, subscribe to our free email list by writing Editor Craig Stark at editor@bookthink.com.
Are the rich different? When it comes to eBay, they are. Many of the high-end books that hang out in the Antiquarian & Collectible category are featured in lavish auctions showcasing them in dozens of photographs. Classic works of the 15th or 16th century are more typical than limited editions by Stephen King.
This month, Top 10 on eBay expands to cover the top 5 in the Antiquarian & Collectible category. They aren't included in By The Numbers; you'll find them on page 3 of this article. As usual, live auction items are excluded.
In the Top 10 Fiction and Non-Fiction lists, May was a month of ties (10) and NARUs (5 with 2 by one "buyer").
*Non-registered buyer so sale not completed and final value not validated.
#1
Each of the 4 titles is a limited edition #642 published by Donald Grant, is in a slipcase, and is signed by both Stephen King and the artist. There are a total of 7 volumes with the last three in shrink wrap. Condition and slip case condition are described as very fine. Listed for 7 days with 5 photos by a US seller, the auction ended with 1 bid. The same seller sold #7 (1st listed among those tied for #7).
#2
Listed by a US seller for 10 days with 16 photos, the book is described as a "true first edition …[in a] first issue jacket. Points are listed in detail, including 'that fool Red Cross woman' on page 9, lines 12-13." Described as "very good+/very good condition" with a good condition dust jacket in Mylar, the book attracted 6 bids and sold for $2,214.89.
#3
A US seller with 6 feedbacks listed the 5-title lot for 7 days with 12 photos. 2 of the books are described as very good/good; 2 are very good/very good; and 1 is fine/near fine. Listed in a 7-day auction with 12 photos, they attracted 3 bids and sold for $1,700.
#4 tie
The Sirens of Titan
Uncle Tom's Cabin or Life Among the Lowly*
In a 3-way tie, King and Vonnegut tied with an 1852 2-volume set by Harriet Beecher Stowe. King's Dark Tower was listed by an Australian seller and sold as a Best Offer. It's described
as a very fine copy of the first trade edition with "an original, signed Remarque by Michael Whelan. Vonnegut's The Sirens of Titan is a first hardcover edition with the original
dust jacket. It was offered by a US seller and sold as a BIN. Uncle Tom's Cabin sold as a BIN to a buyer with 0 feedback who is no longer a registered user.
#7 tie
Heart-Shaped Box*
The Talisman*
Another 3-way tie is at #7. Salem's Lot is #19 of a limited edition of 300 signed copies. It was signed by both King and Jerry Uelsmann, bound in Japanese cloth and in a slipcase.
The US seller listed it in a 7-day auction with 3 photos and points to the significance of the #19 for King fans. It sold with 1 bid. The same seller sold #1. Joe Hill's
20th Century Ghosts and Heart-Shaped Box in deluxe signed editions received 1 bid from a seller who is no longer a registered user. The same NARU repeated the offence with the duo by Stephen King.
#10
Called "extremely rare," the 1970 adult paperback is generally credited to Dean Koontz writing as Amber Gracie though he has not confirmed the pseudonym. The US seller listed it in a 7-day auction with 3 photos and describes the only flaw as the "tiniest amount of cover edge wear." After 10 bids, it sold for $1,380.55.
*Non-registered buyer so sale not completed and final value not validated.
Signed by Bill W, the 1st edition, 13th printing of Alcoholics Anonymous was described as in good condition with the original dust jacket. Book flaws include a slight slant; the dust jacket has tears and chips. Listed in a 7-day auction with 8 photos by a US seller, the book received 26 bids and sold for $5,692.75.
A NARU caused the charity sale of Diary of the American Revolution to go awry. Listed by a US seller to benefit the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont, the listing closed with a BIN.
A 1549 German publication in 2 volumes with the original bindings, the polyglot New Testament contains 12 languages. Described as in good condition, they were listed by a US seller with 4 photos.
A US seller listed this 1776 rebound/repaired Bible in a 7-day auction with 12 photos. Pages 3-4 are missing. After 4 bids, it sold for $2,500.
It Works
In a rare outcome, the seller of this unnamed book went NARU. The auction ended on April 4, and after puzzling over the book's identity, BookThink emailed the seller 8 days later but received no response. A quick double check of the auction in late June revealed the seller, who has 81 feedbacks and a 96.6% positive rating, is now NARU. In the auction, the seller told of an early Westchester County NY house, long in the same family. When it finally sold, the new owners set about renovating only to uncover a cache of items sealed in a wall. This book is said to have been among them. At the time BookThink first viewed the auction, only a photograph of a drawing remained online.*** The buyer from the Netherlands had 3 feedbacks at the on April 12. For this transaction, the seller left positive feedback for the buyer but did not receive feedback from the buyer.
Sacred Hymns and Spiritual Songs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Le Corbusier et P. Jeanneret
Tied at #7, a book on celebrity card, a Mormon hymnal, and a French architecture book, each selling for $2,000. Stars and Their Cars closed with a BIN from a no longer registered user.
It was listed by a US seller with no photos. Sacred Hymns and Spiritual Songs… a 1854 Morman title, was listed with 5 photos by a US seller. It sold as a BIN. The third listing was a "complete series of 5 rare, 1930s loose leaf, hardcover wraps with cloth spines." The volumes are in fair condition. The lot sold as a BIN.
New and unread, Margin of Safety's flaw is light dust jacket shelfwear. Listed by a US seller in a 7-day auction with 2 photos, it received 23 bids to sell as $1,775.
19 sellers were from the USA
*feedback is noted at the time the auction is viewed by BookThink.
*Non-registered buyer so sale not completed and final value not validated.
Listed by a seller in Provo, Utah in a 5-day auction with 12 photos, the "Actual first edition 1830 Book of Mormon in its original binding" sold after 2 bids for $85,000 to a buyer with 2 feedbacks. As of 3 months after the sale, neither buyer nor seller had left feedback for the other. The item was for pick-up only and was described as in good condition with no markings and 3 missing pages. Payment was specified as by wire transfer fund or cashiers check when picking up the book. A $500 deposit by PayPal was required immediately upon winning.
The 3-volume "large folio leather bound books" date from the 1840s and have "colored/tinted plates, all drawn on stone by Louis Haghe after David Roberts." Bound in Moroccan leather with gilt page edges, the condition is described as "good, considering the age; restorable." 2 volumes have a detached front covers. The 10-day auction with app. 82 photos was listed by a US seller. It attracted 36 bids and closed at $29,254.64.
Called "Very extraordinary and rare," the c1450 book of hours originated in the eastern Netherlands and contains 8 "illuminated historiated initials," as well as other illumination. Bound in "nineteenth-century red morocco," the book is "handwritten and handpainted on real vellum." The US seller listed it in a 10-day auction with 26 photos. Payment was limited to bank cashier's check or money order with shipment after payment cleared. After 33 bids, the auction ended at $21,500.
The first issue, first edition of Chapman's Homer was listed by a Canadian seller in a 7-day auction with app. 45 photos. It sold as a BIN for $15,000. Published in 1611, the folio includes "the unsigned sheet of sonnets ... of which previously only six copies had been traced." The seller cited Pforzheimer as the source for the number of extant copies containing the sonnet. Calling the title "strictly contemporary, early 17th century, English sheepskin binding, which is in completely original …condition," the seller noted strong hinges.
Pauli Veneti Logica
The 2-way tie at #5 features a 1639 Bible and a late 15th century set of three works in 1 volume. Featured in 12 photos, the pulpit folio Bible was listed by a US seller in a 10-day auction. It was recently rebound in full speckled calf. In a detailed description, the seller notes it is 16.5" talk and 4.75" thick. Shipping is set at $65 and is by Express Mail for overnight delivery.
The 3 volumes-in-1 set dates from around 1500. A UK seller listed it in a 7-day auction with 37 photos. Called a "very rare and important work," the volume is 340 mm long and 70 mm thick. It attracted 9 bids and sold for $12,000.
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