The More Things Change the More They Remain the Same
- by Bruce E. McKinney
Get on board or be left behind.
eBay's growth in particular suggests the field is entering the third and final stage in its transition
from fixed prices to a market derived bid and ask. Let's look at some numbers to understand where the
market is today and start with this. Over the past six years Abe's growth in the number of listing
dealers and eBay's growth in book lot listings increased by similar percentages: 2.37 times for Abe
and 2.48 times for eBay. To that we add Abe's current published estimate of 20,000 sales a day
annualizing at 7,300,000 items, a heady number that loses some luster when compared to its total
listings of eighty million. This works out to an annual sales rate of 9.125%, nice compensation on a
triple A rated bond but a weak return on material posted to sell. eBay, by comparison based on
anecdotal analysis, seems to be selling about 50% of the books, manuscripts and ephemera posted each
week. Assuming then that its current 528,000 books are typical, that the average auction is 7 days and
the auctions never ending eBay numbers looks like this:
528,000 x 52 weeks x .50 rate of sales = 13,728,000 book lots sold in one year
This is well beyond what Abe is selling. Now let's estimate what the other listing sites are doing. I
assume that 3/4 of the listings on Abe are also listed on other sites and that other sites sell a
similar percentage:
60,000,000 x 9.125% = 5,475,000
I also believe all other sites have in total about 40,000,000 books that Abe does not have and I assume
the same rate of sales for this material: 9.125%:
40,000,000 x 9.125% = 3,650,000
Based on these assumptions the listing sites together are selling:
Thus the listing sites remain a larger seller than eBay but not by a significant margin:
16,425,000 items on listing sites versus 13,728,000 on eBay
On an efficiency basis eBay is overwhelmingly superior. Twenty-seven million book lots on eBay quickly
convert into 13,500,000 sales whereas 120,000,000 items on listing sites turn into 16.4 million sales.
So why aren't more dealers listing on eBay? It's simple. The prices are lower, often much lower than
many sellers on listing sites expect based on what they see others asking.
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…
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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. 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.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
