"Book Collection Problem" Topic

I have roughly 18 boxes of military history reference, books and novels that I really don't know what to do with. I inherited most of it, and to sell of them I would have to go to shows, which I don't have time for. Does anyone know of a dealer in Midwest US that would be a starting point for me to contact? I would also sell them to anyone here in the US if they would like to take on a collection. Any ideas, would be appreciated.

Jay

I donate mine to the local library and take the tax write-off. They sell them on line.

You can also look on sites like abebooks.com to get a good idea of the value of your collection.

Put them on here in blocks of 6-10 books on the same subject. Go by shipping weight so you know the fixed shipping cost. They would move very quickly on here, use PayPal.

I know someone who used Half.com to sell his large collection like you are talking about. You would most likely need a list of titles though and I don't know if you want to go through that trouble. You might get someone to take it off your hands without the list though.

I just went through this myself. If you have a lot of time sell them here or on Amazon or Half.com. They will sell slowly but steadily if you price them well.

Libraries will take and sell them in their $1 USD book sales to raise funds.

In the end I donated my collections (64 boxes of books) to a place that picked up.

Talking to some dealers the value of used books is falling very, very fast. If you look on amazon a lot of books are priced at a penny – basically free if you'll pay shipping.

You could donate them to the local Rotary/Lions/Shriners book sale, or hospital fund book sale? Get a Tax write off.

What era/eras?

Book Rate/Media Mail via the USPS is still a pretty reasonable way to ship. Since you're supporting member, why not use the TMP Marketplace to sell what you can? Then donate what doesn't sell.

Thanks for the input. It is overwhelming :) I counted the boxes again and there are more than I thought. It is a mixture of pre-WWI up to the cold war. I inherited them from someone who did research so there are a lot of good books in the boxes. I will just have to plod through it all.

Some of them might be rare, so it's definitely worth checking the older ones, and the more unusual titles, online.

I donated nine cases of hardcovers to the local historical society when I moved. Libraries could use them for book sales. Definitely, check online book dealers first.