The number of books and paper collectibles sold at auction was up significantly in 2024. The number of dollars generated was up even more, the result of a combination of more lots being sold and the average sale price going up. This represents a change from last year. In 2023, the number of lots sold also increased, but the average price dropped so much that the total dollars generated took a dive. In 2024, the rebound made up for last year's decline and more.
Here are the numbers. For 2024, 712,773 lots were offered at the auctions we are able to trace. That represents an 8.15% increase over 2023. The number of lots sold went from 525,664 to 568,593, an increase of 8.17%. The almost identical increase in lots offered and lots sold reflects the virtually identical sell-through rate. In 2023, the sell-through rate was 79.83% vs. 79.77% in 2024.
However, the dollar sales increased by almost double that rate. After dropping below $1 billion to 979,312,000 last year, the total dollars for 2024 rose to $1,137,186,000. That represents an increase of 16.1% in dollars over 2023. The larger increase in dollars generated compared to lots sold is a result of a significant increase in the average order. The average order in 2024 was an even $2,000 compared to $1,863 in 2023. That is an increase of 7.4%. An increase in both the lots sold and average price per lot is a sign of a healthy market for books and related collectibles at auction. There must have been some happy auction houses and sellers last year.
Interestingly, the one place there was a decline, albeit a small one, was in the median price for books and paper. That number dropped from $293 in 2023 to $288 in 2024. That implies that the big gains in prices came at the upper end of the market, while the lower half was flat to slightly down. Last month, we published the Rare Book Hub Top 500 prices paid at auction in 2024. Of those, 29 sold for over 1 million dollars. In 2023, only 12 sold for over $1 million. In 2024, 500 lots sold for $119,700 or more; in 2023, only 382 lots reached that height. Clearly, money was flowing more freely at the highest end of the market in 2024. To put it another way, the rich keep getting richer, and the poor, well... the lower end of the market has been struggling for quite a while.
As is typically the case, auction houses tend to underestimate the selling price. Of all lots offered, 47.5% sold for over the high estimate. Of those lots that did sell, 60% sold for over the high estimate. Of all lots, 17.0% sold for under the low estimate, while 20.2% did not sell at all. Only 15.3% of all lots ended up selling for a price within the auction houses' estimated range.
The number of auction houses where the average sale exceeded $1,000 is too long to list, so here are the houses that offered at least 250 lots and achieved an average sale of over $5,000.
1. Sotheby's (New York) $43,116.
2. Christie's (London, King Street) $42,050.
3. Christie's (New York) $31,919.
4. Sotheby's (London) $28,714.
5. Christie's (Paris) $16,630.
6. Arader Galleries (New York) $14,085.
7. Sotheby's (Paris) $13,532.
8. Artcurial (Paris) $7,930.
9. Freeman | Hindman (Philadelphia) $7,359.
10. Peter Arnold (Melbourne) $6,368
11. Bonhams (New York) $6,280.
12. Bonhams (Los Angeles) $6,203.
13. Ketterer Kunst (Hamburg) $5,985).
14. Tajan (Paris) $5,703.
15. Freeman | Hindman (New York) $5,665.
16. Poster Auctions (New York) $5,469.
For those who collect at a more modest level or are just beginning, there were eight auction houses offering 250 or more lots where the average was $100 or less. However, a more meaningful number here is the median price since it means half their lots sold for under $100. There were 32 auction houses meeting that requirement, with eight of them having a median price of $50 or less. At all auctions, 118,239 lots, or 21% of all lots sold, sold for $100 or less. There is plenty of room for the beginner to participate in book collecting.
As for total number of lots sold, there is no contest. Heritage Auctions of Dallas has developed a model that draws in an enormous number of sellers (and buyers) in the books and paper field. They sold 18 times as many lots as the second highest house. Heritage sold 219,542 lots. Runner-up was Catawiki with 12,135. No one else surpassed 10,000, though four houses exceeded 9,000 lots - Holabird Western Americana Collections - 9,930, PBA Galleries – 9,673, Forum Auctions – 9,377, Tessier & Sarrou – 9,202, Potter & Potter – 8,112, Trillium – 8,081.
You can follow upcoming auctions on this site, either complete auctions through the auction calendar or by searching for individual items in the search bar found at the top of most pages. Select “Upcoming Auctions” for your search and enter your keywords. You can also use our Matchmaker service to automatically find items you want by keyword daily. It is available with any level of membership, including free. You can also check out the advertisements on this site for more interesting items and don't forget the e-catalogue section where you can find many more interesting items offered by dealers. There is a world of opportunities awaiting the collector.
