If they have a really good collection, I put the books online for three months. If they don't sell, I call on my friend at PBA and he looks them over and picks the books he feels will sell for the best price. I sometimes accompany the books to the auction and monitor them. I do charge a per diem for that, but it is reasonable and so far, this has been quite successful for my clients and for me.
I also do a lot of searches for book collectors, but I get very nervous about buying books online unless I spend some time researching the seller or buy from someone from whom I have bought successfully in the past. I live in a bookstore wasteland. There are no really good bookstores here, so I have to turn to the net or travel (which we do frequently) to do research at fairs and stores in "bookish" places.
I try to pay attention to the online dealer's personal pages. How long have they been online, are there many negative ratings? Is it really in "very good condition"? Do they understand the difference between fine, very good, and good? Is this seller competent to quote the edition correctly? Does s/he really understand how to describe a book? Do they know a book club edition when they see one?
When buying for a customer, I always try to email the seller and find out if their return policy is just hokum or if they really do take the book back if it is misrepresented. I have found that trying to send back a misrepresented book usually costs more in time, irritation, and money than selling it myself or pitching it into the bin at the Goodwill. But, I pay almost no attention to the fulfillment rates on the sales sites such as ABE and Alibris. First of all, they tend to make an uneducated buyer think that the seller is incompetent. They really have no bearing on whether the book seller is competent or the book is good or not, as far as I'm concerned. Unless one has state-of-the-art computer equipment and an inventory program that is automated, it is easy to forget to delete a book, to not delete it quickly enough, or, if you are busy, as most of us are, to not turn over inventory often enough. I have to delete by hand, so I'm familiar with the syndrome.
Above all, I keep really meticulous records of my customer's appraisals and consignments. I am mathematically challenged and Excel is a foreign language to me, so I have a good bookkeeper; consignment selling leaves a lot of wiggle room for a dishonest book dealer. In my years as a bookseller, I have only once run across a book dealer who was dishonest. I think, basically, those of us who are experienced and well trained are honest and care about books and our bibliophile clients.
What Bruce McKinney said last month about "...what often used to be considered unobtainable is now available in multiple copies..." is SO true. The trick is how to sift through the trashy books and find the ONE that is in truly collectible condition and will make my client come back again and again when s/he wants another book.
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.
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: 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…
![<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.")
