Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2023 Issue

Rare Book Hub: New Services and New Pricing

Clarity in a flash

Clarity in a flash

Rare Book Hub, née Americana Exchange has been a two decade project organized around the idea to building a bridge to the new collector.  In the 1990’s my collecting ambitions were being limited by lack of market information, and the outcome was our commitment to build a worldwide database of auction records.  Knowledge would empower collectors.  It started as a modest project and has turned out larger than we envisioned.  On day 1 on September 3rd, 2002 we launched with 151,400 records that has since become Rare Book Hub’s Transactions+, providing 12,609,268 records as of 12/29/22.  Started as a modest project it has become a long term commitment to provide clarity for collectible paper for libraries, collectors, dealers, auction houses and appraisers.

 

Scale involves costs and we have today increased our subscription and services prices to reflect today’s 12,000,000 searchable records:

 

Annual Pricing

Single User: $525

Two Users: $800

Five Users: $1,250

Institution-wide Access: $3,000

 

As well we have recently added a new service called Batch Valuation that enables members to submit catalogues or collections for matching to Transactions+. Collections of unlimited size can be matched and valued, generally within a day or two, up to a week for very large collections.

 

Annual memberships include free trials to use Batch Valuation, to be used during their current membership year.

 

We are also providing 10 day and 30 day Visitor memberships:

 

10 Days:  $65

 

30 Days $95

 

You can view a brief (two-minute) video about Transactions + at this link: https://vimeo.com/77127415

 

Contact us with questions or for more information at hello@rarebookhub.com, at 877.323.7273 or 415.823.6678. We will arrange Zoom sessions for those interested in a demonstration or a more detailed description.

 

Our best wishes for the New  Year!

 

Bruce Evan McKinney

Managing Partner

Rare Book Hub / AE


Posted On: 2023-01-02 18:37
User Name: eav

Dear Sir,

I understand that a large database and new services require a new pricing, however, your database is quantity driven, not quality driven. So yes, you have many auction records, but often incomparable. The various auction houses that contribute to your database in their nature often are incomparable. Some follow the eBay format, some mainly sell prints under the titles of the books from which these prints have been taken and others are just online auctions where booksellers try to get rid of their excess - or unsalable stock. If I will have to find out the value of a certain book, then the price achieved for a very poor copy weighs just as heavy as the price realised for a fine copy. I just get the average price realised, which in many cases will not reflect the true value of a book, whether it being perfect or poor.

ABPC, history unfortunately as of last month, was a quality driven database and as such in many cases quite useful.

Also I am not interested in batch valuation. Apart from the question whether it will result in a reasonably accurate valuation, insurance companies often require a valuation by a certified expert.

As a small collector, with your new, steep price increase, I am not sure whether I will renew my subscription once it expires.

Perhaps you should reconsider your new pricing.

Kind regards,
Eric Veldhuizen


Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
  • Heritage Auctions
    Rare Books Signature Auction
    December 15, 2025
    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!

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