Need advice about pricing an out of print book that, if amazon is any indication is quite pricey.

[snagglepuss]

Someone in my building tossed a book about Prestressed Concrete as while as other books. The other books which were textbooks I was able to sell according to prices I found online but the price I see for this book seems unbelievable. The lowest price is $975.00 at Abe Books, the highest just under $8000.00.

Any idea how to price something like this? Thanks.


http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?st=xl&ac=qr&src=dir&isbn=013691635X&ref=bf_uu_fac_1

[grasswire]

1. have you checked abebooks.com?

That's the place where most sellers of collectible/antiquarian books get their pricing info. Powell's Books, the largest independent bookstore in the world, uses it, I know. And I routinely use it when trying to price books.

What Powell's does is shoot for the middle of the range of prices on abebooks.com. In other words, they don't take into consideration the highest and the lowest prices, but calculate in the middle of those.

OOPS SORRY....I see that you did check abebooks.

[snagglepuss]

2. It's hard to believe a book that can now be downloaded can fetch so much money.

Do you think these sellers are just wishful thinkers?

[grasswire]

3. some of them, yes

We don't have the luxury of seeing which books they actually sell and for what price. I see a lot of wild pricing, and I know from experience that actually getting a wild price for your item is unlikely.

[snagglepuss]

4. I really appreciate your feedback. I just found out the author still teaches. Do you think

he'd be insulted if I contacted him to ask he thought what it is worth?

[grasswire]

7. hmm

considering the fact that you will be making money off his work and nothing goes to him in the transaction, it might be sensitive.

If you sell it at an auction with reserve, you might get a satisfactory price.

[snagglepuss]

9. Would an author feel sensitive if a book was no longer in print?

[PoliticAverse]

5. Do what the pricing robots do... Keep the price $1 less than the lowest other online offer. n/t

[TeamPooka]

6. that's what they list for. What's the price of the last one that acually sold?

[snagglepuss]

8. That's what I'm thinking but where can one find out how much someone

paid for a book?

[TeamPooka]

10. ebay has completed listings search feature for such a purpose. dont know about Abe

[snagglepuss]

11. Thanks.

[Vinca]

12. Thanks a bunch, snagglepuss.

After reading your post yesterday I searched every yard sale this morning for concrete books. Forget the fine art, pottery and jewels . . . I'm now on the hunt for concrete.

[snagglepuss]

13. LOL. Isn't it shocking. I thought it would sell for about $80. It's hard not to think that

people asking these prices aren't delusional. I think I will contact the author since it's no longer and print and ask him why used copies are selling for so much. That said I have since read that science books can be extremely lucrative.

[Vinca]

14. Was it a textbook?

I told my husband to keep an eye out at the book recycling place at the dump. He spotted something that had to do with steel, but didn't bring it home. Just for the heck of it I checked and books about working with steel go for a ton of money, too (hope the book is still there tomorrow, LOL). I plan to spend some time today checking out ebay and what books are selling for high prices.

[grasswire]

15. I was looking up some cookbooks today on abebooks...

.....and found crazy stuff. The highest priced listing would be nearly a thousand dollars. The next highest would be under a hundred. It was that way for the half dozen books I was checking. So, yeah, what is the deal with this? Are some sellers just hoping for an idiot to come along and pay a ridiculous price?

[Vinca]

16. I've been having a really difficult time pricing books.

On one hand you've got some total fool asking $50,000 and on the other hand you've got another fool selling it for 99 cents and free shipping. It's driving me nuts.

[grasswire]

17. my method isn't working

I've been going to the middle of the price range found on abebooks, and halving that price for an opening bid. And yet about 60 percent of my listings get no bids at all (at 50% of the median price).

This is happening even on rare items. Some civil war stuff, some rare historical pictorials.