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#1
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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 |
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#2
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"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 .................................................. .................... |
#3
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#4
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"MindElec" wrote in message
news 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 |
#5
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On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 18:41:54 -0500, "William M. Klimon"
declared: "MindElec" wrote in message news 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 |
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#7
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"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 |
#8
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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 |
#9
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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. |
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