How to Sell Antique Books: What to Do if You Inherit or Acquire Old Books and Want to Sell

One of the most common questions I see on Facebook is about newly acquired, typically inherited, books. Most people see dates spanning back 50+ years and immediately get excited, but in reality, very few books are collectible, and those that are have often been reprinted thousands of times. Even books that are hundreds of years old may have little value. Selling first-edition books sounds fun and interesting, but the reality might surprise you.

Consequently, more often than not, I see initial excitement met with the harshness of reality, often with some denial and combativeness thrown in. It doesn’t help that many booksellers and established collectors aren’t always the most welcoming to the new kid on the block, either.

Well, if you read through the story of how Haerer Books got started, you will see that we lived this exact situation, and here are our tips based on those experiences of selling first-edition books.

How to Sell Antique Books

So, what should you do if you suddenly find yourself with a collection of books and want to start selling, maybe even selling first edition books? Here’s what you need to do:

1. Make a List of Your Inventory
2. Sell Your First Edition Books
3. Set the Price of Your Antique Book
4. Decide Where to Sell Your Antique Books
5. A Few Final Thoughts About Selling Antique Books

First, Make a List of Your Inventory

Open Microsoft Excel or another reliable database-type program and create the following columns—title, author, year of publication, printing (if listed), publisher, place of publication, number of pages, edition, printing, distinguishing features (for example, is it a limited edition, and if so, is it numbered and out of how many copies, or is it signed), and notes. Our article about cataloging describes where to find much of this information in books.

After you have filled in as much information as you can, you will want to take the title, author, and year and plug it into a bookselling website. Lots of people like viaLibri, but personally, I find myself on AbeBooks more often than not. Unless you have a super rare book (or a typo in your search), this should yield a list of on-market options.

If you happen to strike out on AbeBooks, try a general Google or Google Image search. Often, the first few hits are modern reprints or even electronic versions of books, so you may need to sift around until you find an exact match (using publisher and other info as needed).

From the descriptions for these listed books, you should be able to find edition information. Remember, some books have been rebound, and others were issued with cover variations, so do not rely on photos alone, but do use them as a guide. For example, a few famous hunting first editions were released with brown, red, blue, and green covers, and the blue and red are much more sought after than the brown and green.

Selling First-Edition Books

In the best case, your book is a first edition, but even if it isn’t, you might still have a book with some value. Then, you need to confirm the printing if you can. When it comes to the value of a book’s edition, the earlier the printing,, the better. 

Another extremely valuable thing about reading through the listings of established booksellers is learning the lingo, some of which we cover in this article about book vocabulary.

For instance, keep a keen eye out for the terms that appear in every listing, as they are the most important. These terms may be related to book parts, size, condition, flaws, etc.

Admittedly, booksellers use some odd terms at times, and while you won’t learn them all right off the bat, having a general understanding is a major plus when you start the selling process. Similarly, you won’t be a condition expert.

Conditioning books takes A LOT of practice. We talk about some general guidelines for determining the condition of a book in this article, which should give you a feel of major things to look for. The main thing is to be transparent with buyers that you are not a condition expert and are simply doing your best. The good ones will understand.

One last note regarding listings—if you copy it (info about a book), make sure you cite it, or at the very least, quote it. At this point, take the edition info and any other important notes and add them to your spreadsheet.

How to Set the Price of Your Antique Book

The last thing to do is determine a price. Be warned, current asking prices are not realized prices, and in some cases, they may not even be close. For example, there are many listings on AbeBooks that have been up for decades and never been edited, and books that might have been worth hundreds twenty years ago couple be worth a fraction of that today, as the growth of the internet, among other factors, completely changed the game for booksellers and collectors.

One place where you can find actual realized prices is eBay, where you can search for your book and then use the ‘Sold items’ filter. The only limitation with it is that it only goes back 90 days. If you end up getting really involved, WorthPoint may be a worthwhile investment ($250 annually), as it provides data for eBay, auctions, and other misc. sales dating back approx. 20 years. Personally, I rely on all of these sources when setting the price of a book, and I also factor in the current market (mainly, how many of these books are currently available).

Determine Your Range of Value

I recommend adding three columns to your spreadsheet: minimum value, maximum value, and target value. That will at least provide a reference for subsequent sales.

One of the biggest pitfalls I see so many first-time sellers make is constantly saying, “Make me an offer,” instead of setting a price. All that is going to do is drive serious buyers away and annoy established booksellers who may otherwise be interested. It is your responsibility to set a price for what you are selling, whether one book or thousands. Set the price and say that you are open to offers. Sure, you will have to weed out some lowballers, but it is better than getting no interest at all. Serious buyers are going to be transparent about how they feel about your price, especially if it is too high, and will generally justify their opinions.

Alternatively, instead of pricing the books yourself, you may want to pay for an appraisal. This can be an excellent option for small collections or if you simply don’t have the time or technical capability. Sellers that belong to the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America, the Southern New England Antiquarian Booksellers, or other established groups often have guidelines in place to ensure fairness of appraisals, and these are the folks you should hire to price your books. Most importantly, they are committed to providing unbiased appraisals that would exclude them from potentially purchasing your collection. In other words, they won’t tell you your $5000 collection is worth $1000 and then offer to buy it for $700. Additionally, an appraisal is a great idea if you plan on keeping the collection, as it may be worthwhile to get insurance, which will require a documented appraisal. On our Services page, you can find out more about our appraisal process.

Decide Where to Sell Your Antique Books

Now, you have a comprehensive spreadsheet of prices for all of your books. This will tell most potential buyers all they need to know, including things that you will likely not know, such as whether the book is a US or UK first edition.

You now have three routes to take, each with distinct steps.

Option 1: Auction Houses

One option would be to start contacting auction houses. Whether you know it or not, you probably have an auction house within 75 miles of your home that sells books. More prestigious auction houses or those that don’t specialize in books may only take certain books, generally those with the most value. However, book-centric auction houses will often take everything you have. The great thing about auctions is that you hand off the books, sign some papers, and wait for a check in the mail. However, auctions come with risks, too.

Auctions can be great for selling books, but here are some things to keep in mind. The seller’s commission at most auction houses is 20-25%, although I know of a few that are lower and others that go as high as 50%. Additionally, most auction buyers are resellers, and they are looking for a deal. Consequently, don’t be surprised if your $100 book sells for $30 or less. Remember, those resellers also pay a buyer’s commission, taxes (unless exempt), and fees. Then, they have to pay (directly or indirectly) for transport, storage, and insurance. Plus, it is going to take time to catalog it, photograph it, list it, hold it in inventory, sell it, and ship it, all of which have associated costs. Moreover, auction houses like to combine books into lots.

So, if you drop off 200 books, don’t expect 200 lots at auction—you may actually see more like 20, or even as low as 1 or 2 in a shelf sale, depending on the quality of the books. Additionally, the collection you valued at $5000 could totally flop on any given day, and you might end up with a few hundred dollars in your pocket.

Although we all love a good bidding war, they are much less common than lots that close with a single bid, and in some cases, your books may not sell at all.

Option 2: Selling in Bulk

Option two would be to sell everything in bulk. If you inherited a large collection, it can be challenging to find someone with room for hundreds to thousands of books, and you’ll need to remember that most interested parties will be booksellers. However, you’ll be able to get rid of everything in one shot, and you won’t have to take many photos, as the buyer will need to pick up the collection and can thus look things over in person.

Selling in bulk is the best option for many people. As stated above, assume that the buyer, in this case, is going to be a reseller of some sort. In reality, most collectors want to buy a few books at a time, not tens, hundreds, or more. The easiest way to find buyers is likely to post on social media, especially in Facebook groups and in forums on related websites (the few that still exist).

Groups like Vintage, Rare, and Antique Books on Facebook have tens of thousands of members from around the world and are very reputable. Others may not be as big, but you never know where you may find a buyer. Additionally, don’t limit yourself to book sites only.

For example, if you have a collection of old fishing books, you would want to post about them on sites devoted to collectors of vintage/antique fishing lures and/or collectibles as well. Be honest and transparent, and share your story and the story of the collection. That sort of information is compelling to buyers, and it is also the easiest way to find people willing to genuinely help.

Additionally, as noted above, keep in mind all the costs resellers have as you negotiate a deal.

Realistically, they may be buying some of your books knowing that they will still be on their shelves in 5-10 years or that they are going to have to pay a fee just to get rid of them at some point. Moreover, in any bulk sale, make sure that you clearly state that the buyer must take all. Many buyers will want to come in and pick through the cream of the crop. That approach may be useful in some cases, but if your goal is getting everything out the door, be firm with your all-or-nothing policy.

Finally, remember that your bulk price should be much lower than the total price if you sold everything individually. No buyer is going to pay full retail on a bulk deal and expect to get offers that are 20-40% of full retail.

Option 3: Sell Each Antique Book Individually

Option three would be to sell books individually. This option leaves the most meat on the bone, but it is a long process with lots of complicated steps. Plus, if you aren’t careful, you just might end up as a bookseller.

Selling books individually is a good option if you have 50 or fewer books, if you are a knowledgeable reseller, or if you think you might want to get into the bookselling business. However, bookselling is a marathon, not a sprint. You are starting off with zero reputation and trying to compete with established booksellers in a tough industry. Do not expect immediate success. One challenge is setting a price that gets attention while not undercutting established dealers, as that will only draw their ire. This is why a database such as WorthPoint can be useful, as you can balance sold prices with current prices based on availability.

Additionally, keep in mind that, in all likelihood, you won’t sell all of your books this way. So, eventually, you will need to decide what happens with those books. Finally, remember that selling books yourself is generally going to mean selling through eBay, AbeBooks, Amazon, or other sites, all of which have various fees and requirements.

If you go with option two or three above, you may want to consider setting up a basic Gmail account just to communicate about the books. This can allow you to provide only limited personal information and keep book-related communication separate from personal accounts. Additionally, with the Gmail/Google account comes access to Google Drive, and creating a folder for photos is the easiest way to share images with potential buyers.

Notably, you can create specific folders for different buyers and allow access only to certain people. Additionally, although you may get some offers that involve cash or checks, most transactions these days are electronic. So, I strongly recommend setting up PayPal and Venmo accounts if you don’t have them already. Both of these sites offer buyer protection (and basic seller protection), which is reassuring for many buyers.

A Few Final Thoughts About Selling Antique Books

I’ll conclude with a few final notes.

Remember to Plan for Taxes

First, don’t forget about taxes and paperwork. Regardless of how you sell the books, you may need to report these earnings to avoid potential IRS penalties, and if you do sell on your own, your state may require certain business-related paperwork depending on the extent of your sales/footprint.

Social Media & Bookworm Personalities

Second, if you post on social media, you’ll need to have thick skin. You are going to get keyboard warriors of all types swooping in to lend their opinion—some helpful, and some not so helpful. Bookworms are a quirky group, and some folks are more hospitable than others. In addition, some folks mean well but may not come across that way.

Be patient, weed out the not-so-good, and know that you aren’t the first person to have felt the wrath of a grumpy and possibly alcohol-infused bookseller/buyer at midnight on a Friday. Eventually, you will find some allies and hopefully some buyers, too.

Don’t Forget About the Customer

Above all, keep in mind that sales, in general, is a customer service-centric industry. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve waited overnight to respond to an email or message simply to avoid an adrenaline-driven, reactionary response to something that requires a finesse solution.

Connections in the book network run deep, so always do your best to treat people with kindness, respect, and understanding.

Good luck!