"Why are used books so expensive?" Topic

I'm not talking about an autographed first printing of For Whom the Bell Tolls.
I'm talking about shabbily bound (I know. My copy is.) vanity press monographs.
Such as:
link
When it came out, I paid ~$10 at a local book store. To me it was worth $10 USD because I'm an AWI fan, and I live 3 miles from the events. It helped me to develop my Wyoming Massacre scenario. I've run it at least 5 times.
Plus it covers the whole Wyoming Valley. It encouraged me to buy the excellent Conquest mounted Woodland Indians for a tiny scenario.

Anyway.
Some friends wanted a book recommendation on the subject.
I was stunned to see the price.
Glickman's other book was on collecting Depression Glass. So it can't be the author.
And I'm not questioning the quality of the research.

I'm simply wondering if charging such a price doesn't guarantee that it will be dead stock that never moved.
Is the economics of used books different? Do dealers simply pay $.50 USD or a bulk purchase at an estate sale, and then advertise sky high because one sale at $120 USD makes his day?
What would happen if I emailed one of those sellers and offered $20 USD?

I've seen books still in print on Amazon and in used bookstores at prices higher than a new copy easily obtained.

One piece of it I observed at a library bookcase recently. People with hand scanners reading the book bar codes and if their valuation service shows value they get a notification. Some at least go and sell in their stores, eBay or Amazon usually without a clue what they were buying.

With one local bookstore they bought some ospreys and a mollo for 50 cents each at this booksale then marked all up to 12.00 regardless of printing or topic etc…I

I'm sure there is more to it but that my small piece

Meanwhile used book stores close, and I see books being *given away* on amazon (priced at $0.01 USD they just want you to pay postage).

"A sucker and his money…"

I occasionally see rule books I publish on Ebay or Amazon listed as "Rare" and marked up above MSRP!

Realistically, the cost of holding inventory of low-volume used books is significant. They're not going to be selling them to people who just say, "Oh, that looks interesting!" Instead, sales will be to people like Winston, who are looking for that specific book for research and are fairly price-insensitive.

You have to remember books have very low print run anymore. I bought a book on New Mexico Volunteer regiments in the ACW. It was $75 USD but only 1,000 were printed, it now on amazon for $125 USD,7, and $240. USD Many Libraries are selling off there books for more computers and 3-d printers. So Many interesting books come out and then disappear.

Wackmole9: +1

Booksellers are under no obligation to sell at what you or I would consider a fair price. I assume that they now have access to a lot more information on the going rate for particular books, although I'm guessing that a lot of pricing is based on "follow the leader", rather than actually reflecting supply and demand. If you want the book enough, you have to pay the price. Of course, it may be better for a bookseller to actually sell a book for $40 USD, rather than price it at $80 USD and be stuck with it for years, but that is their decision to make.

You should see some of the prices for Christopher Duffy's "Instrument of War", which is out of print at the moment. Four or five hundred dollars for a book that originally sold for around $75 USD! (I think that Helion might be doing a reprint of the book which should bring down the prices on the secondary market).

There are lots of books that are out of print, but are reasonably priced. I wonder how book dealers figured that the Duffy book should be in demand?

Another point to consider is that when companies borrow money they use inventory as collateral for loans.

Higher prices inflate the value of the inventory making the business seem like its worth more than it is, making it easier to convince someone to loan you money.

If you sell the company, the starting price is inflated and sets a higher initial start for negotiations.

Apparently because some people think that that book they have is a real treasure – and apparently some people will pay the price.

For giggles just did a quick search on 'The Armour of Imperial Rome' by H.Russell Robinson. It is the definitive source on Roman helmets and is quite good on the rest of the armor (first real look at the then recent discoveries of loricae segmentata). Robinson died and for various reasons the book was never reprinted – oversized book with lots of pictures and estate concerns).
-

A number were offered at $200 USD a few years ago when last I looked (paid about $30 USD in 1974 when it came out). On Amazon and Abebooks it is going for $150 USD to 325 used in various conditions -

link

link

In that first link one seller has a new copy for $595.84 USD (how that odd 84 cents showed up is a mystery) with free shipping.

Now using an online inflation calculator that $30 USD dollar book would sell for about $154. USD Not as many around now as then and with re-enactors and others wanting a copy, demand makes a difference.

However for real sticker shock there is this seller on Amazon -

link

who only wants $11,089.40 USD (+4.99 shipping) for his copy…

P.S. As per other comments, when picking up a copy of 'Convoy Will Scatter' a while back I was able to get the PSRP $50 USD book for about $15 USD new from a seller on Amazon while other sellers wanted $85 USD or more for used copies.

Caveat emptor.

Look at my link above in the first post.
The first seller is asking $59. USD The last one is asking over $600. USD
Amazon is obviously the go-to place for books.
Who in their right mind would pay $600 USD, when the same page shows one for $59 USD?
To be honest, I'm not sure I would pay $59 USD either.

What's the reasoning here? A silver dollar has obvious scrap silver value. An 1883-O is worth more than a 1926.
But a book? Why the price fluctuation?

On the other hand, many out of print books are very cheap. The internet has been a great boon for the purchaser of out of print books. I collect Custer. I remember the time before the internet when books like a Keogh, Comanche, and Custer could only be seen maybe once a year in a catalog. It might have been $1,400.00 USD. Now I have seen half a dozen on the internet at the same time for around $600.00 USD.

As to why the variation in prices, some dealers get them cheap and want to turn them over fast. Others want to get top dollar, but they may never sell them.

Tom

I remember try to sell a bunch of books at Cold wars I saw some out rages prices on ebay. I don't remember what the book was but I think it was one of Charles Grants book, a Brit came up to my table and told me I could sell it for $300. USD I said well take it back with you for 25 and you'll make a nice profit, he then decline stating he had no room in his bags and crept off.

If people demonstrate that they will pay stupid prices for books, they will charge stupid prices for them.

I remember when people wanted stupidly huge amounts for the old GW Chaos books (and others.) I just bided my time on ebay until I found them for the original MSRP (or even less.) If I ever sell them, I'll put a stupidly huge price on them… ;-)

Also, a good place to look is your local library clearance/book store. I recently found a 1912 masonry/brickbuilding book for .50 (that shows how to do nearly everything and puts modern books to shame.)

As far as Amazon, I use it as a reference while shopping around. You can often find the same things cheaper elsewhere (Amazon is keyed toward the impulse buyer… ;-)

Been getting Patrick O'Brien Aubrey/Maturin series for $5.50 USD- 7 each at a used book store. I see on line wild difference prices for used books often dirt cheap somewhere and more than new at others.

I used to be involved in this a bit.

If there is a steady demand, an undisputed copyright, and you only want the text, you've got no problem. The book will stay in print or be reprinted regularly, and the used price for a good clean copy is half the current new price--down from there for library discards, book club editions, and excessive wear.

The absence of steady demand means the used price is going to keep going up until it's so high some publisher will take a chance on a whole new printing. This is especially bad if the original plates are gone and there's artwork or maps involved. The set-up costs are a killer. Not as much of a problem with anything which exists digitally, but a lot of our stuff doesn't.

Artwork generally is a mess. The rights are not usually connected with the rights to the text, and I honestly think half the time the publishers can't remember where they bought it. I own a Gnome Press printing of Anderson & Dickson's EARTHMAN'S BURDEN--the original Hoka stories. It's beat up and acid is eating away at the cheap paper--but no subsequent printing has the Edd Cartier illustrations. Replacement copies would start at $78.99 USD, and the acid will be eating at their paper, too.

And disputed--or just flat unknown--copyright is never going to get better in my lifetime. The Mickey Mouse Copyright Extension pretty much ended public domain. (The last of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories are only now going out of copyright.) Three quarters of all works in English are still under copyright, but are out of print, and the Justice Department killed the Google settlement, which offered an out. If you own a house, a farm or a factory, you pay taxes on that property, so there is a public record of ownership, and if you aren't using it, you want to sell it to avoid said taxes. Neither is true of copyright. There is NO central record of who owns what and how to contact them, and no penalty--other than "opportunity cost"--for sitting on the copyright. It's 90 years, so unless the copyright was specifically left to an heir, think "divided among the children." Think divorces, remarriages, taking the husband's name. Try to imagine tracking down who might have a claim to part of all of a copyright after two or three generations. I take very good care of certain 50+ year old paperbacks, because I don't think I'll ever be able to replace them.

But the outlier prices--an EARTHMAN'S BURDEN at $300 USD while the others are running $80 USD, for instance--means someone is buying lottery tickets. It costs little or nothing to post it at that price, and maybe someone will be stupid or desperate. If the price looks preposterous, it's always a good idea to wait a few months, and see whether that single price was someone's dream vacation.

While I was putting this together, I ordered a paperback reprint of RED ADAM'S LADY for $15. USD It was running better than $100 USD for any copy at all last year.

We have book sales at the local library where one can purchase books at .50 or special occasion $1 USD for a bag full. Several weeks ago this book plus another which accompanies it showed up link
How these books in brand new condition show up is beyond me. However, individuals do show up with scanning devices and check every book on the shelf, so I'm sure they run off and immediately post on Amazon and Ebay for an exuberant price.

I read about the one cent books. Large companies buy books in bulk by the pound, even by the ton. They sort them and they get separated into expensive, worthwhile, and the dregs. The dregs get offered at one cent, plus postage and handling for $3.99 USD on Amazon. They are able to sort and pack and ship for less than the cost of the shipping and handling and so make about a dollar per book. So a book that cost them essentially nothing, the get a dollar for it. Sell ten thousand of them a year and it's free money from the dregs.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

You should see some of the prices for Christopher Duffy's "Instrument of War", which is out of print at the moment. Four or five hundred dollars for a book that originally sold for around $75.00 USD USD!

Glad I bought mine when published!

paid about $30 USD USD in 1974 when it came out

And with inflation, that's about $240 USD now. So inflation is part of the answer.

If a book is out of print, it's usually supply and demand at work. If the supply is great but the demand is not, you'll see that book for little money. If the demand is great but the supply is not, that cost will skyrocket. While there might be gougers out there, simply supply and demand is in effect for out of print books.