QUESTION: I just started selling books online. The other day, I bought a book in a used book shop for $6, and can’t figure out how to price it. There’s a big discrepancy in prices I see at Amazon and elsewhere.
The book is A Magician Among the Spirits by Houdini. I found this link for it on Amazon.
But my copy is a First Edition. It has silver lettering and gilt edges with a purple fabric bookmark.
How much should I ask for this book?
ANSWER: Well, that’s an interesting find. But I would be very cautious about assuming you have a First Edition.
I’ve picked up some amazing bargains over the years in bookshops and resold them online for up to 10 times what I paid. I’m not an expert on First Editions by any means, but something tells me that your Houdini book is a reproduction of the original edition.
If someone out there has some knowledge about this book, I hope they’ll chime in with a comment.
Amazon does have a page for the First Edition. There’s just one copy listed at $275 with this description:
Comments: New York; Harper & Brothers; 1924; 1st Edition; Hardcover; Very Good-; tall octavo; 294pp (including index) plus black & white photo plates; no dust jacket; Very Good minus gilt-stamped blue-gray cloth; book shows minor shelf wear and light sunning; slight softening to spine ends; small white stain mid-spine; corners lightly bumped; internally clean and unmarked; spine just slightly shaken; else clean, tight copy of the first edition.
Great description, although a photo is a tremendous help when start getting into this price range. And personally, if I had the only copy, I’d be asking more than $275–people will never lose interest in Houdini. Sure enough, a search for Firsts at BookFinder shows most sellers want much more, including one chap in the UK who wants $3,000. And no, it’s not signed.
By coincidence, a copy of this First Edition signed by Houdini’s wife sold on eBay today. I can only guess that the condition held the price down:
HOUDINI MAGICIAN AMONG SPIRITS 1ST ED SIGNED
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| 11 | $265.00 | $8.00 | Jan-31 11:11 | ||||
Houdini A Magician among the Spirits Spiritualism
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| 0 | $17.74 | $22.23 | Jan-30 01:00 | ||||
Houdini Book HCDJ 1972 Magician Among The Spirits
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| 0 | $5.99 | $4.00 | Jan-23 21:32 | ||||
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HOUDINI A MAGICIAN AMONG THE SPIRITS WITH BONUS BOOK
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6 Comments
If you seriously want to get into the First edition field, you’ll need to buy some reference books.
If s/he bought the book at a used bookstore, I would imagine the proprietor of said store did not let a first edition Houdini out of their grips for $6.
The writer says, “I just started selling books online.” That book may be the publisher’s first edition… but my next question would be, “What’s the ISBN?”
And extending the above comment(s), if it does have an ISBN, it is definitely NOT a first edition (as these didn’t exist until half a century after the first edition was published). But please…this is basic stuff & you need to start educating yourself with some good first-edition guide books & other basic introductions to bookselling.
As they say here in Maine-JAIYSUS.
So you wanna be a bookseller? Why don’t you first learn about books- lots of great references out there- come back next year-and then buy some books from a good bookseller-you learn books by having them in your hands.
My price robot says $0.01
Just kidding.
Ryan
Used Is Better
“Pro’s” and their unfounded arrogance in the form of advice- you have to love them…or not.