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Small Collection - How or When to Sell?

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 8:12 am
by Piper
Just joined, glad to be here.

My mother and I both collected Stephen King, Clive Barker, Robert McCammon and others back 25 years ago. I sold my collection after college, somewhat out of necessity, maybe more because I'm a bad collector, never satisfied. I had just about every signed limited King ever released at the time, all of Barkers, bunch of others. Seeing my mother's collection makes me wish I'd kept mine, but it is what it is. Long gone. So my mother now has dementia and I've just placed her in a permanent care facility. I've been going through her collection and there are some gems, signed limited Wastelands, First edition Gunslinger, First edition Drawing of The Three, signed Dolans Cadillac, maybe a couple others amidst mostly unremarkable trade editions. The only early first she has is a Night Shift but sadly has a library stamp in it. There are some other signed limited collections like Book of the Dead. I would rather just sell them all as a collection even if it costs me some small premium, but I have some responsibility to do the best I can for her. I saw some mention that prices on some items like the Wastelands may actually be dipping right now. Is this a bad time to be looking to sell, and is it a mistake to sell as a collection? Appreciate thoughts. Thanks.

Re: Small Collection - How or When to Sell?

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 8:56 am
by TheCollector
Hello and welcome to the forums! Although you may be beyond this, I'm going to post a link to the site's Selling FAQ page. It has some general advice on what to sell where and the different pro's and con's of selling in bulk or individually.
http://www.stephenkingcollector.com/selling.html

Now, in terms of the market as a whole, I don't think it's a bad time to sell in general. The market seems to have recovered from the great recession nicely as a whole. I think the softness in the DT books stem more from the fact that there hasn't been a new book in the series for a long time and there's no rumors of a new one anytime soon.

From what I hear in your post, it sounds like a consignment option may give you the best blend of less work without loosing too much money, but read the FAQ and reply back with any questions.

Re: Small Collection - How or When to Sell?

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 2:20 pm
by Piper
Sadly it looks like she's lost at least a couple of significant items in her moves. Her 1st edition of The Stand is nowhere to be found. I know she had a signed limited of Robert McCammon's Swan Song that I don't see anywhere either. Sad. That Book of the Dead signed limited appreciated nicely though. Wow.

Re: Small Collection - How or When to Sell?

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 11:54 am
by amd013
You could consider using someone like David Williamson at Betts Books to sell it on consignment for you. Check out his site at: http://bettsbooks.com

Re: Small Collection - How or When to Sell?

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:53 pm
by Piper
amd013 wrote: Thu Jun 14, 2018 11:54 am You could consider using someone like David Williamson at Betts Books to sell it on consignment for you. Check out his site at: http://bettsbooks.com
Thanks. I spoke to one reasonably local dealer that said 33-50% commission was the norm. I'm not in a hurry to sell so I'll just Ebay for the time being.

Re: Small Collection - How or When to Sell?

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 10:19 am
by TheCollector
Piper wrote: Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:53 pm
amd013 wrote: Thu Jun 14, 2018 11:54 am You could consider using someone like David Williamson at Betts Books to sell it on consignment for you. Check out his site at: http://bettsbooks.com
Thanks. I spoke to one reasonably local dealer that said 33-50% commission was the norm. I'm not in a hurry to sell so I'll just Ebay for the time being.
David's commission typically runs 15-20%, eBay and papal fees combine to run in the 13% range. Just FYI,

Re: Small Collection - How or When to Sell?

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 11:03 am
by Piper
TheCollector wrote: Sun Jun 17, 2018 10:19 am
Piper wrote: Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:53 pm
amd013 wrote: Thu Jun 14, 2018 11:54 am You could consider using someone like David Williamson at Betts Books to sell it on consignment for you. Check out his site at: http://bettsbooks.com
Thanks. I spoke to one reasonably local dealer that said 33-50% commission was the norm. I'm not in a hurry to sell so I'll just Ebay for the time being.
David's commission typically runs 15-20%, eBay and papal fees combine to run in the 13% range. Just FYI,
Oh outstanding, thanks. I'll be happy to call him. I just assumed, wrongly it would seem, that any book dealer offered books of this level of interest would offer a similar, competitive rate. I just assumed they'd all be about the same. I guess that was silly considering 33-50% is clearly hugely excessive. I'll take your recommendation and give him a ring.

Happy Fathers Day.

Re: Small Collection - How or When to Sell?

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 6:04 am
by Piper
Sent him an email with no response, at least not yet.

Re: Small Collection - How or When to Sell?

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 6:15 am
by jhanic
Please remember that David has a family and a regular job that take priority over Betts. He is often late in responding to inquiries, but he will get back to you.

John