Because these search engines don’t search exactly the same sites it’s important to compare the results when they do. This is a better way to understand their performance.
Listing Site
UsedBookSearch
Bookfinder
AddAll
WFA
JGJ
PAP
WFA
JGJ
PAP
WFA
JGJ
PAP
Alibris
171
3
3
16
3
2
89
3
2
ABE
262
6
7
15
6
6
100
6
7
Biblion
6
1
1
6
1
1
6
1
1
Total
439
10
11
37
10
9
195
10
10
If you are looking for an inexpensive book hundreds of matches may be irrelevant. On the other hand valuable books are rarely available in large quantities and each search engine does a similarly effective job when the book is rare. With rare books the principal difference is in the sites they search, not the completeness of the searches and no one searches every site.
Both AddAll and UsedBookSearch provide 3 fields to do general searches on their primary screen: Author, Title and Keyword while BookFinder provides the same choices in its advanced search. Bookfinder also provides a “Classic Search Screen” option in its advance search that is a single continuous presentation of search results – a better choice than opening many files. In every case with each search engine, if you find an interesting copy you can go into the listing site and conduct the same search again to confirm a copy’s relative merit.
All the search engines are heavily dependent on ABE because they have something like 50% of all book listings in the world. All the other sites have an unduplicated additional 50%+ divided into a patchwork quilt of listings. Because many of the businesses and individuals who list do so on more than one site (some more than 5) the searches engines find a great many matches that are actually duplicates. To test this we evaluated all the results found when searching for “Life and Confessions of James Gilbert Jenkins: The Murderer of Eighteen Men (searched simply as “James Gilbert Jenkins”), Napa, 1864. Of the 7 copies found Abe had 6. Given that the total matches of the three search engines was 61, ABE look looks very concise and efficient. It is also the fastest.
The sites charge different fees and structure their sales in different ways and you can see this using search engines. Sites such as Alibris, Chapters.Indigo, and BiblioQuest sell the book themselves and pay the bookseller a percentage but most sites simply list the book, receive a listing fee and an occasional transaction fee. As well, sometimes the same book from the same dealer is offered for different prices on different sites. Without looking very hard you will see that there are price differences. With search engines we are still in the “wild west” stage.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
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Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
