A question about sets...
 

I would appreciate some pricing advice. I am about to put a five volume
autobiographical set on ABE. These books came out over a period of nine years.
Mine will be the only complete set of these particular books listed on ABE
that is made up entirely of firsts. The same books in similar condition sold
individually on ABE are going for, on average, $50 per book. Is a realistic
price for my set.5x$50? Or should I be able to ask more?

I suppose the question I'm getting at: is a set, in general, worth more (or
less!) than the sum of its parts?

I realize that my first question in particular could be more easily answered if
I identified the books under consideration...but I don't want there to be the
appearance that I'm using this ng to try to sell my set.

Thanks, as always, for your thoughts.

Jonathan

"Jbrodie1750" wonders:

I suppose the question I'm getting at: is a set, in general, worth more
(or
less!) than the sum of its parts?

Over the years I've found that selling titles individually will get you more
money but takes more time.

--
Bob Finnan
The Hardy Boys Unofficial Home Page
http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon
New & Out Of Print Books, Books-On-Tape, Videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs For Sale
http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/hbsale.htm
To reply: replace nospam with fwdixon
.................................................. ....................

On 22 Feb 2004 17:52:22 GMT, (Jbrodie1750)
declared:

I would appreciate some pricing advice. I am about to put a five volume
autobiographical set on ABE. These books came out over a period of nine years.
Mine will be the only complete set of these particular books listed on ABE
that is made up entirely of firsts. The same books in similar condition sold
individually on ABE are going for, on average, $50 per book. Is a realistic
price for my set.5x$50? Or should I be able to ask more?

I suppose the question I'm getting at: is a set, in general, worth more (or
less!) than the sum of its parts?

I realize that my first question in particular could be more easily answered if
I identified the books under consideration...but I don't want there to be the
appearance that I'm using this ng to try to sell my set.

Thanks, as always, for your thoughts.

personally, i would price a set higher than individual volumes.



Robert

The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto, I've lived all over this town
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around

"MindElec" wrote in message
...

I suppose the question I'm getting at: is a set, in general, worth more
(or
less!) than the sum of its parts?


personally, i would price a set higher than individual volumes.



I've purchased a number of such sets online--both as sets and as individual
volumes, so I can speak from my experience. I would not pay a premium for a
set if--big IF--I could get ALL the component parts in comparable condition
individually for the same price. That rarely happens, though, so some
premium for a complete set (which will ship together and thus save some
small amount on shipping) seems appropriate. If, however, all the
components are available, I would charge something close to the average
price * total # of volumes.


My problem, more recently, has been completing broken sets. I've been able
to do it quite easily with some sets that were issued in individual parts:
e.g., the new 12-volume revised edition of *Butler's Lives of the Saints*
(Liturgical Press, 1998-2000). When I unpacked boxes of books recently I
discovered that I had purchased or found 9 of the 12 volumes individually.
It was a simple (and cheap) matter to get the last 3 off Half.com.

On the other hand, sets that were issued altogether are more difficult to
complete when broken. I have the last 3 volumes of a 4-volume Oxford
historical encyclopedia. I've searched for Volume 1 for years. Finally I
found a seller who has just the first 3 volumes for sale. I offered him a
premium over his per-volume price (= his total price/3) for Volume 1, but he
wouldn't bite. Months later I'm still without Volume 1 and he's still got
his broken set for sale. Hmm.


William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com

On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 18:41:54 -0500, "William M. Klimon"
declared:

"MindElec" wrote in message
.. .

I suppose the question I'm getting at: is a set, in general, worth more
(or
less!) than the sum of its parts?


personally, i would price a set higher than individual volumes.



I've purchased a number of such sets online--both as sets and as individual
volumes, so I can speak from my experience. I would not pay a premium for a
set if--big IF--I could get ALL the component parts in comparable condition
individually for the same price. That rarely happens, though, so some
premium for a complete set (which will ship together and thus save some
small amount on shipping) seems appropriate. If, however, all the
components are available, I would charge something close to the average
price * total # of volumes.

my logic is that someone will pay extra for the convenience of not
having to assemble a set.

My problem, more recently, has been completing broken sets. I've been able
to do it quite easily with some sets that were issued in individual parts:
e.g., the new 12-volume revised edition of *Butler's Lives of the Saints*
(Liturgical Press, 1998-2000). When I unpacked boxes of books recently I
discovered that I had purchased or found 9 of the 12 volumes individually.
It was a simple (and cheap) matter to get the last 3 off Half.com.


On the other hand, sets that were issued altogether are more difficult to
complete when broken. I have the last 3 volumes of a 4-volume Oxford
historical encyclopedia. I've searched for Volume 1 for years. Finally I
found a seller who has just the first 3 volumes for sale. I offered him a
premium over his per-volume price (= his total price/3) for Volume 1, but he
wouldn't bite. Months later I'm still without Volume 1 and he's still got
his broken set for sale. Hmm.

so you offered him his 3 volume price for just one? why not just buy
all 3 and sell the other 2?


Robert

The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto, I've lived all over this town
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around

"MindElec" wrote in message
...

my logic is that someone will pay extra for the convenience of not
having to assemble a set.



I guess it depends. If a 5-volume set is available for $150 and all 5
components available for $20 each, I'll go for cheaper. If the set is $110,
then I'd go for it.



On the other hand, sets that were issued altogether are more difficult to
complete when broken. I have the last 3 volumes of a 4-volume Oxford
historical encyclopedia. I've searched for Volume 1 for years. Finally
I
found a seller who has just the first 3 volumes for sale. I offered him
a
premium over his per-volume price (= his total price/3) for Volume 1, but
he
wouldn't bite. Months later I'm still without Volume 1 and he's still
got
his broken set for sale. Hmm.

so you offered him his 3 volume price for just one? why not just buy
all 3 and sell the other 2?



No, I offered him a bit more than his per-volume price (calculated by
dividing his total price by the number of volumes) for the one volume I
wanted. I can't see him selling his broken set as a set for the same reason
that I can't find just the single volume I want: these sets are not often
broken.


William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com

On Tue, 24 Feb 2004 23:14:03 -0500, "William M. Klimon"
declared:

"MindElec" wrote in message
.. .

my logic is that someone will pay extra for the convenience of not
having to assemble a set.



I guess it depends. If a 5-volume set is available for $150 and all 5
components available for $20 each, I'll go for cheaper. If the set is $110,
then I'd go for it.

a longer wait, but for a complete set a better pay-off.

On the other hand, sets that were issued altogether are more difficult to
complete when broken. I have the last 3 volumes of a 4-volume Oxford
historical encyclopedia. I've searched for Volume 1 for years. Finally
I
found a seller who has just the first 3 volumes for sale. I offered him
a
premium over his per-volume price (= his total price/3) for Volume 1, but
he
wouldn't bite. Months later I'm still without Volume 1 and he's still
got
his broken set for sale. Hmm.

so you offered him his 3 volume price for just one? why not just buy
all 3 and sell the other 2?



No, I offered him a bit more than his per-volume price (calculated by
dividing his total price by the number of volumes) for the one volume I
wanted. I can't see him selling his broken set as a set for the same reason
that I can't find just the single volume I want: these sets are not often
broken.

ok, now i understand. in his case, he'd be better off selling them
individually anyway. an incomplete set is a very hard sale.



Robert

The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto, I've lived all over this town
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around

The value of sets depends on which side of the transaction you are, right?

I would pay more for a complete set than the volumes may bring individually.

However, if I am selling...more than likely I would ask less just to move the
set out.

I am talking about BIG sets: 48 Volumes of Horace Walpole's Correspondence, 17
volumes of Baedekers, 11 Volumes of Rollo's World Tour, etc.

Periodically someone will offer a good price for a single volume, but I never
bite. My goal is to sell the set. It gets harder as the set is nibbled away.