Determining value of used books.

I was looking for used books on the net and discovered in many
instances the same book in similiar condition and edition varied in
price from $8.00 to $100.00. So is there such a thing as a used book
price guide to narrow down the actual cost of a book?

wrote:
I was looking for used books on the net and discovered in many
instances the same book in similiar condition and edition varied in
price from $8.00 to $100.00. So is there such a thing as a used book
price guide to narrow down the actual cost of a book?

There is no such thing as "actual cost." The value of a book is what
the market will bring.

I suggest using this site to find cheap used books:

http://used.addall.com/

On Dec 14, 6:17*pm, Some Guy
wrote:
wrote:
I was looking for used books on the net and discovered in many
instances the same book in similiar condition and edition varied in
price from $8.00 to $100.00. So is there such a thing as a used book
price guide to narrow down the actual cost of a book?

There is no such thing as "actual cost." *The value of a book is what
the market will bring.

I suggest using this site to find cheap used books:

http://used.addall.com/

Excellent source. Thanks. I had checked some of the sites indivdually,
but this is better. Regards.

On Dec 14, 8:13*am, "
wrote:
I was looking for used books on the net and discovered in many
instances the same book in similiar condition and edition varied in
price from $8.00 to $100.00. So is there such a thing as a used book
price guide to narrow down the actual cost of a book?

No. Any sort of printed price guide is essentially out of date by
the time
it is published. (The only exception perhaps being a price guide to
books
so old and so scarce that they very rarely appear for sale in any of
the
large bookselling or bookfinding venues.) I have said before that if
I
go into a used bookstore and ask the price of an unpriced book and
the person behind the counter pulls out a printed price sheet of some
sort, I get out of there fast because I know I am dealing with a
dinosaur.

It is the market which tells the story: what people are willing to
pay
for something (which of course is often very different from what
someone is trying to get for something).

With many listings you find fantasy prices. Those are prices so
high that no one in his right mind, having read all of the listings
for the same book in the same general condition, would be willing
to pay for the book with the fantasy price.

On the other hand, you will find that some of the very low priced
listings are suspicious. Often they are deliberately vague, giving
you only the title but no publisher or date of publication.
Also, a lister might describe a book's condition as "good" without
bothering to explain why its condition is merely "good" as
opposed to "very good" or "used, like new".

As a general rule I will only consider buying a suspiciously
low-priced book if it is offered for sale by someone with
very high customer ratings. It needs to be described in
sufficient detail with regard to publisher, copyright date, etc.,
and the condition must be described thoroughly if the book
is rated anything below "used, like new."

[Memo from the upstairs office.]

Bill wrote:
On Dec 14, 8:13 am, "
wrote:
I was looking for used books on the net and discovered in many
instances the same book in similiar condition and edition varied in
price from $8.00 to $100.00. So is there such a thing as a used book
price guide to narrow down the actual cost of a book?

No. Any sort of printed price guide is essentially out of date by
the time
it is published. (The only exception perhaps being a price guide to
books
so old and so scarce that they very rarely appear for sale in any of
the
large bookselling or bookfinding venues.) I have said before that if
I
go into a used bookstore and ask the price of an unpriced book and
the person behind the counter pulls out a printed price sheet of some
sort, I get out of there fast because I know I am dealing with a
dinosaur.

It is the market which tells the story: what people are willing to
pay
for something (which of course is often very different from what
someone is trying to get for something).

With many listings you find fantasy prices. Those are prices so
high that no one in his right mind, having read all of the listings
for the same book in the same general condition, would be willing
to pay for the book with the fantasy price.

On the other hand, you will find that some of the very low priced
listings are suspicious. Often they are deliberately vague, giving
you only the title but no publisher or date of publication.
Also, a lister might describe a book's condition as "good" without
bothering to explain why its condition is merely "good" as
opposed to "very good" or "used, like new".

As a general rule I will only consider buying a suspiciously
low-priced book if it is offered for sale by someone with
very high customer ratings. It needs to be described in
sufficient detail with regard to publisher, copyright date, etc.,
and the condition must be described thoroughly if the book
is rated anything below "used, like new."

[Memo from the upstairs office.]



Just to add one comment. A book in "good" condition is
generally purchased for content only, not for collecting,
unless it is fairly rare.

--
Francis A. Miniter

ως ουκ αν αιων' εκμαθοις β�οτων, π�ιν αν
θανη τις, ουτε ει χ�ηστος ουτ’ ει τω κακος.

On Dec 25, 11:37*am, "Francis A. Miniter"
wrote:
Bill wrote:
On Dec 14, 8:13 am, "
wrote:
I was looking for used books on the net and discovered in many
instances the same book in similiar condition and edition varied in
price from $8.00 to $100.00. So is there such a thing as a used book
price guide to narrow down the actual cost of a book?

No. * Any sort of printed price guide is essentially out of date by
the time
it is published. * (The only exception perhaps being a price guide to
books
so old and so scarce that they very rarely appear for sale in any of
the
large bookselling or bookfinding venues.) *I have said before that if
I
go into a used bookstore and ask the price of an unpriced book and
the person behind the counter pulls out a printed price sheet of some
sort, I get out of there fast because I know I am dealing with a
dinosaur.

It is the market which tells the story: *what people are willing to
pay
for something (which of course is often very different from what
someone is trying to get for something).

With many listings you find fantasy prices. * Those are prices so
high that no one in his right mind, having read all of the listings
for the same book in the same general condition, would be willing
to pay for the book with the fantasy price.

On the other hand, you will find that some of the very low priced
listings are suspicious. * Often they are deliberately vague, giving
you only the title but no publisher or date of publication.
Also, a lister might describe a book's condition as "good" without
bothering to explain why its condition is merely "good" as
opposed to "very good" or "used, like new".

As a general rule I will only consider buying *a suspiciously
low-priced book if *it is offered for sale by someone with
very high customer *ratings. *It needs to be described *in
sufficient detail with regard to publisher, copyright date, etc.,
and the condition must be described thoroughly if the book
is rated anything below "used, like new."

[Memo from the upstairs office.]

Just to add one comment. *A book in "good" condition is
generally purchased for content only, not for collecting,
unless it is fairly rare.

I agree that is often the case. But not always. For instance,
it is not at all unusual for vintage paperbacks to have defects
which might (assuming we are talking about an ethical lister)
prevent a "very good" rating. One example might be a paperback
with quite a few reader creases on the spine, or with dust-
soiling on the page edges, or maybe with page yellowing.
It is conceivable that a paperback could have all of
those things to a certain degree and still be described as
"good." On the other hand, most people who like old
paperbacks have a high regard for cover art. Well,
a paperback WITHOUT the three things I mentioned above
might still be arguably rated as "good" with a large crease
across the cover, even though that crease would ruin the
book for most serious paperback collectors. A book with
the three flaws I mentioned above would not necessarly
prevent me from buying it, if the price was right. But with
a big cover crease ruining the effect of the cover art?
No way.

My point remains that listers need to describe why a book is
merely "good", because different defects affect some buyers
more than they affect others. If sellers are listing a good reading
copy, they, in their description,should add something like
"Unmarked and complete in all respects, this book makes
an excellent reading copy." That sort of thing, I mean. The
book might have five other things wrong with it, but at least it
is unmarked and complete in all respects, and is all the buyer
with good sense would expect of his or her purchase.

Added thought: With Google making a great number
of complete texts available, no doubt more people will
prefer to print a book for themselves rather than order
a shabby "reading copy." I don't really know which
would provide the worst reading experience: a beat
up old "acceptable" reading copy with cloth-bleaching,
cracked joints, etc. etc., or a "book" consisting of a
pile of 140 pages or whatever that the reader printed
out himself. Actually there is something
worse than both: reading a book over three-
pages in length on a computer screen...

[Memo from the upstairs office.]

--
Francis A. Miniter

ùò *ïõê *áí *áéùí' *åêìáèïéò *âñïôùí, ðñéí *áí
èáíç *ôéò, ïõôå åé ÷ñçóôïò ïõô¢ åé ôù *êáêïò.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"Bill" wrote in message
news:45f63610-996e-436f-b946-\

No. Any sort of printed price guide is essentially out of date by
the time
it is published. (The only exception perhaps being a price guide to
books

==========

Way to set those margins newbie.

On Dec 26, 6:07*am, "foad" wrote:
"Bill" wrote in message

news:45f63610-996e-436f-b946-\

No. * Any sort of printed price guide is essentially out of date by
the time
it is published. * (The only exception perhaps being a price guide to
books

==========

Way to set those margins newbie.

Excuse me, fellow, but since when have I claimed to be
engaged in any such boring-sounding activity as "setting
margins?' I stopped "setting margins" when I put my
Smith Corona out to pasture quite a while back... Whee...
Now lets talk about YOUR annoying habit of perpetually
loitering around in newsgroups where you are over your
head in deep water in ANY discussion but continually
pester your betters with stupid little flame attempts,
merely -- in your own feeble consciousness -- to validate
your rather shabby existence.

[Memo from the upstairs office]

Palmer, you are a windbag. And you screwed up.....just admit your mistakes
and move along.

"Bill" wrote in message
...
On Dec 26, 6:07 am, "foad" wrote:
"Bill" wrote in message

news:45f63610-996e-436f-b946-\

No. Any sort of printed price guide is essentially out of date by
the time
it is published. (The only exception perhaps being a price guide to
books

==========

Way to set those margins newbie.

Excuse me, fellow, but since when have I claimed to be
engaged in any such boring-sounding activity as "setting
margins?' I stopped "setting margins" when I put my
Smith Corona out to pasture quite a while back... Whee...
Now lets talk about YOUR annoying habit of perpetually
loitering around in newsgroups where you are over your
head in deep water in ANY discussion but continually
pester your betters with stupid little flame attempts,
merely -- in your own feeble consciousness -- to validate
your rather shabby existence.

[Memo from the upstairs office]

"Bill" wrote in message
...
On Dec 26, 6:07 am, "foad" wrote:
"Bill" wrote in message

news:45f63610-996e-436f-b946-\

No. Any sort of printed price guide is essentially out of date by
the time
it is published. (The only exception perhaps being a price guide to
books

==========

Way to set those margins newbie.

Excuse me, fellow, but since when have I claimed to be
engaged in any such boring-sounding activity as "setting
margins?' I stopped "setting margins" when I put my
Smith Corona out to pasture quite a while back... Whee...

==========

Exactly newbie, you hadn't set your margins, which is why your post looked
so retarded. You're new to the usenet obviously, but there are a bunch of
conventions such as line length that you'll be expected to follow. Some of
them, such as x posting (that's when you post to more than one group at a
time) you might be able to master, despite how stupid you seem. Others will
probably be beyond your limi9ted intelligence. Anyway, if you need any more
pointers I'll be happy to help you out. I am well known in the usenet for my
helpfulness and philanthropy.