Hobbies And Interests
Instructions
Make a note of your book's title, author, publication year, publishing company, edition, country of publication and International Standard Book Number, or ISBN. All of this normally appears within the first few pages of the book. An edition of a work is the total number of copies printed from the same setting of type, whether metal type, phototype or camera-ready copy, according to the Association of College and Research Libraries.
Make an accurate assessment of your book's condition. Buyers pay higher prices for books in excellent condition. Any of the following will lower the value of the book: price tags, water stains, warped pages or cover, stained pages or cover, odor, broken or cracked spine, folded pages or cover, sun fading, ink or cracking glue. "Books are damaged by light and by fluctuations and extremes in temperature and humidity," says the Association of College and Research Libraries, "It is best to store them in a cool, comfortably dry, stable environment with low or indirect lighting."
Search websites such as eBay, Amazon, Amazon Marketplace and American Book Prices Current, and online-accessible auction houses for a book identical to yours. "Many booksellers now have searchable catalogs and databases on the World Wide Web," the Association of College and Research Libraries says. "These resources can be very helpful in determining an approximate market value of your books, as they can be used to find out recent prices asked for similar copies. When comparing your book to a description in such a database, be careful to find as close a match as possible, not only in terms of publication details, but also in terms of condition, binding and other unique features. You can also search some auction sites to find prices realized in recent sales."
Search closed auctions to see what identical books sold for. Searching only current auctions will give you list prices, but you want to see what the book actually sold for. "Age by itself is not enough to make a book valuable," the Association of College and Research Libraries says. "The importance of the text, the condition of the book and demand for it will determine the valuation of an old book."
Make a list of the prices of the books that sold and calculate an average. The more sales you can find, the higher the likelihood you'll get an accurate book value.