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neadodsA look at ebay shows deflatingly that 1st Amer. Ed. Harry Potters are being sold for $100 and under. (They also show some Nancy Drews for seriously under value.)
While bearing my parent's dictum about collectables in mind ("Only buy them if you like them for themselves. Because the worth is not what's put on paper, it's what someone will put in your hand.") I'm still going to talk to book dealers - the people who would really know if there's someone out there willing to pay up to 5 figures for it. At this point, I have nothing to lose. If I can't get rich off it, I keep it, hooray. If I can get rich off it, I sell it - HOORAY!
I can't lose. I like bets like that.
In other news, I feel oddly rudderless. I still have a few odds and ends to do before Shore Leave (like, say, pack) but other than that, I'm done. The awards are done. The carbonless forms are done. The database at long last is done, tested, *and* burned onto a CD. I'll only have to enter 10 fields of information (4 of which are rarely used), and it turns out that I do have the ability to both edit the data and to sort it. (This is a surprise because I bailed on learning Microsoft Access or relearning Filemaker Pro and am instead perverting the uses of Word's mail merge feature.) This means that I can enter the data all day long as it arrives, sparing myself a blort of typing all at once - I can enter and sort by entry number well after initial data entry.
I'm... done. Aside from the point of actually doing, but y'know what I mean. The prep is over. The con itself is nigh.
I don't really know what to do with myself now!
Aside from read. Current book: Wee Free Men, because Terry Pratchett is inevitably good for what ails ya.
While bearing my parent's dictum about collectables in mind ("Only buy them if you like them for themselves. Because the worth is not what's put on paper, it's what someone will put in your hand.") I'm still going to talk to book dealers - the people who would really know if there's someone out there willing to pay up to 5 figures for it. At this point, I have nothing to lose. If I can't get rich off it, I keep it, hooray. If I can get rich off it, I sell it - HOORAY!
I can't lose. I like bets like that.
In other news, I feel oddly rudderless. I still have a few odds and ends to do before Shore Leave (like, say, pack) but other than that, I'm done. The awards are done. The carbonless forms are done. The database at long last is done, tested, *and* burned onto a CD. I'll only have to enter 10 fields of information (4 of which are rarely used), and it turns out that I do have the ability to both edit the data and to sort it. (This is a surprise because I bailed on learning Microsoft Access or relearning Filemaker Pro and am instead perverting the uses of Word's mail merge feature.) This means that I can enter the data all day long as it arrives, sparing myself a blort of typing all at once - I can enter and sort by entry number well after initial data entry.
I'm... done. Aside from the point of actually doing, but y'know what I mean. The prep is over. The con itself is nigh.
I don't really know what to do with myself now!
Aside from read. Current book: Wee Free Men, because Terry Pratchett is inevitably good for what ails ya.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 02:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 04:39 pm (UTC)First editions or galley runs (I know someone who snagged those and THAT made me gnash my teeth) from the first book in Very Good or better shape - yes, I can see that. Especially the British firsts with the varied covers (the brits had two versions for the first couple of books as I recall).
But the way the books took off after that and the size of the subsequent initial runs for Chamber, Prisoner, Goblet an Phoenix - much bigger pool of available copies in Very Good Condition or better are all over the market already.
The Nancy Drews have been going up slowly but steadily in price for years and people who have collections with groups of printings (various incarnations of The Secret of the Clock for instance) are seeing tremendous return on them.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 05:49 pm (UTC)The Nancy Drews have been going up slowly but steadily in price for years
Hmmmm - not on ebay. And I've got 3 or 4 of them that were seriously worth something back in the late 90s, when I was collecting them. Ive done nothing with them since, not even read them - If I'm going to sell "valuable collectables," then I might as well cash out all the ones that I know are worth something.
Which makes it all the more imperative to find a reputable dealer who can handle children's books.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 05:43 pm (UTC)MHO, anyway.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 05:50 pm (UTC)