Collectible books: The secrets of finding Rare and Collectible books
"Where did you get all these collectible books?" someone asks me on a weekly basis. "Oh, I would just love to get some myself!" or "I have these wonderful rare books that I inherited and would love to sell them but do not know where to start!"
Most people do not realize how much work is involved in both collecting and selling rare books, nor do they realize how much they need to know before they can become book collectors or sellers of rare books, thus proving the adage "A rare book dealer is just a collector with duplicates."
This ebook addresses the issues and challenges that many collectors and book sellers face on the daily basis, and hits head-on at one of the most daunting ones:
Some of you may say: that is easy since places like Ebay or craigslist are full of reasonably-priced books. Yet you have no way of knowing if you are buying what you think you are buying. Places with a more solid reputation, such as Abebooks or auction houses may provide you more assurance but as a rule, sell at a higher cost.
In this ebook, I am outlining ten distinct channels for obtaining rare and collectible books. I then explain the strategy for each of these channels, the advantages and disadvantages of each, and the specific criteria that I have been utilizing over many years as collector and seller of rare books when looking for rare books. My specialty is the Wizard of Oz books and over the years I acquired over 3,000 Oz books, each in the average of over $100 and carry about 1,000 Oz titles in my current inventory (If you are interested, visit the Inventory Section of my
collectible books at www.RareOzBooks.com
).
You may think that there are thousands and thousands of Wizard of Oz books on the market and that 3,000 does not sound like an enormous number, but in reality there are only a few hundred copies of each title that survived as of today since the publisher printed under 20,000 first editions of each Oz title.
Take, for example, the Abebooks.com, a place where over 13,000 booksellers pay a monthly subscription fee to list their books and which features more than 110 million used, rare and out of print books across the world. To illustrate my point, I performed a search on Abebooks for the random Oz title "Lost Princess of Oz". The 1st edition of this title was printed in 1917 by Reilly & Britton Co. Since Reilly & Britton was renamed to Reilly & Lee in 1919, the chance that Reilly & Britton' copies not being first editions is quite small.
At the time of my search in early July, 2009 there were only 5 books found out 110 million listed. Below are my search results:
Over the years I handled over 20 first editions of this particular title. I sold over 10 copies in the past, and one from my personal collection is presently on loan to Oz exhibit in Geppi museum in Baltimore and the remaining 10 can be seen in the photos below.
The above photo proves my point, and the same concept applies to some other Oz books in my inventory. As far as the rare book example, I can think of another Oz title, "Marvelous Land of Oz". There is not a one single copy of the true first edition available on Abebooks, but I have two copies now and sold two other copies in the past.
You might wonder why would I be willing to part with the valuable knowledge that I accumulated over the years? The answer is simple. I specialize only in the Wizard of Oz books, but there are thousands of other collectible and rare books. Strategies that I use for obtaining Oz books are equally applicable to other collectible books and may be utilized in conjunction with other book series. By following the strategies that I outlined in this e-book you will be on a way to improve your chances of finding rare and collectible books and making solid investments.
This Guide is a digital download - You will be able to download your guide INSTANTLY following PayPal payment where you can also use Visa and Mastercard. How to purchaseDigital download price of this guide is $19.99. The easiest way to obtain this Guide instantly is through PayPal. Even if you don't have a PayPal account you can use your credit card or bank account. Purchase digital Guide e-book 
If another payment type is desired, then please use Contact Form. Soft cover color copies are also available. They are priced at $45 to cover costs of color printing, binding and priority shipping anywhere in US. Outside of the US the price is $50 ( please contact me first).
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