5 Best Venues for Finding Collectible First Edition Books

In my previous posts, I shared with you some important clues for identifying collectible first edition / first print books. I introduced you to several important works published in the 20th century that shaped American life. In this post, I’ll point you in the right direction for finding collectible first edition, first print books—1sts/1sts — that will allow you to start your book collecting adventure without breaking the bank. Remember my first post? I “predicted” you might get the itch to collect books. This post will help you scratch it.

Finding a 1st/1st is not that difficult: Pay a visit to at least three Goodwill stores, rummage through their bookshelves, and there’s an excellent chance you’ll find a 1st/1st. Looking for old books? Take a trip to the nearest flea market, sort thru the tables of dusty tomes, and you will find some old books. But, in these endeavors, your “finds” will probably lack that all-important characteristic: collectability. Goodwill managers know what books are collectible and they hold them back. Savvy flea market vendors don’t put the collectible stuff out on the tables.

So, where do you go to find collectible 1st/1sts that are affordable? In this post, I’ll feature 5 venues that are good bets for finding those elusive books. Keep in mind, the COVID-19 pandemic will require that you reconsider attending large gatherings or clusters of people in compact spaces, e.g., bookstores. So, view these venues with an eye towards post-pandemic shopping trips.

1. Estate Sales

Remember the last time you had to pack up and move to a new home? Did you wonder—after hoisting the 25th box of stuff onto the truck — “Why did I keep all of this?” Well, imagine what it would be like to manage or store a lifetimes’ worth of accumulations? Daunting, huh?

That’s where Estate Sales come in. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines an estate sale as “a sale of the possessions of a person who has died or is moving to another house.” An estate sale can be professionally managed or not, usually dependent on the dollar value of the possessions being sold. A professionally managed sale, handled by an estate liquidator, will deliver fewer book bargains to the shopper. The liquidator gets paid a percentage of the total proceeds from the sale and, usually, but not always, will be knowledgeable about the market value of the items he’s enlisted to sell.

The best estate sales are those organized by the owners of the goods or the heirs of same. Many times sales held by the latter are events where possessions just need disposed of and getting top dollar for an item is not the principal focus. Especially promising for the book collector are estate sales of deceased elderly people who lived in the family home for years. They had a long time to build up their library. An excellent resource for finding estate sales in the area where you live is EstateSales.org.

TIP: Consider visiting the estate sale on the first day to look for and inspect any books offered, but come to purchase on the last day. The sellers may dispose of them for a song then, rather than pack them back up.

2. Antique stores

If you’re like me, you may have thought antique stores an unlikely place to find a bargain in books, or anything else. For me, visits to antique shops when I was younger prejudiced my opinion of them:

beautiful things to behold, but unattainable by the common man. You know the scenario: you walk through the door of a beautiful shop; the tinkling bells signal your entry to the shopkeeper who looks you up and down; you wander carefully, oh so carefully through the tables covered with crystal, porcelain and brass objets d’art. You marvel at the massive mahogany chifferobe to the left of the aisle and the exquisite French Provincial seating ensemble to the right—the set with the four-figure price tag — and you sigh, realizing that you can’t, or won’t, afford it. Then you carefully, oh so carefully make your way back to the door, bidding adieu to the shopkeeper who doesn’t look up, and you step outside into the real world.

Well, we’ve come a long way since those days. The shopping mall phenomena of the 50s and 60s transformed many antique stores from the stodgy enclaves of the well-to-do into welcoming, shopping venues for the average treasure hunter. That means, with a sharp eye, you can find collectible first edition book treasures there.

Antique dealers who adopted the mall model to sell their wares went from the expense of a brick and mortar shop to paying rent on a space inside a community building. In most cases, less overhead equals lower prices. Booksellers have adopted the mall model to sell books exclusively, or with other ephemera.

Sometimes, an online bookseller will offer books in an antique mall setting rather than online to save on shipping costs or selling fees. Both these scenarios are ideal for the shopper on foot. Lastly, if you’re looking for books by local authors or books on local history, many antique mall booksellers specialize in those. An excellent resource for locating antique mall booksellers in the area where you live is Antique Trader.

3. Friends of the Library sales

Public libraries are essential institutions for the public good. Being an essential service, organizations emerged to support and advocate for them. Usually made up of volunteers from the community, these organizations became known as “Friends of the Library”. Since 1922, when the first organization so

named began in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, “Friends of the Library” groups have helped libraries thrive. [1]

One way these groups raise money for libraries is through book sales. Most books offered in these sales are donations from local patrons. Some sales offer publisher overstocks, and in some you may find retired library books, but in all you will find excellent books at deeply discounted prices. Occasionally, book collections from an estate are willed to the library. These book sales are particularly inviting and shouldn’t be missed.

As mentioned in venue #3, if you do your homework you can find a collectible 1st edition book or books at bargain prices. But you also have to arrive early and be quick on your feet. You may be competing with experienced book scouts, who are paid by dealers to find the collectible 1st editions in the mountain of books. An excellent resource for locating book sales in the area where you live is BookSaleFinder.

[1] Wallace, Sarah Leslie. Friends of the Library, (Chicago; American Library Association, 1962), p. 3

4. Auctions

Anyone familiar with eBay is familiar with auctions. In the actual world—not the virtual one—they work a little differently. Not only does a prospective book buyer have the opportunity to view the items up for sale in a catalog prior to the auction, but also to physically inspect them. This is helpful with the purchase of personal property such as books. Not all sellers post photos of a book or describe its condition with the eyes of an experienced bibliophile. More than once, I’ve had to return a book purchased through eBay because of flaws not obvious in the photos or inadequate descriptions of same.

Foundations or churches may use auctions to raise money. Courts may use them to sell the personal property of an estate. Trustees in a bankruptcy might liquidate a business via an auction, and individuals sometimes use them to sell collectibles. Keep in mind that in an auction, unlike an estate sale, once the reserve is met, prices paid are set by the bidders, not the sellers—a perfect example of supply and demand.

Know how much you’re willing to spend for the book or books you’re interested in and don’t exceed that bid. Factor in the buyer’s premium—the commission paid to the auction house—with the total price you’re willing to pay. If you do your homework, you can snag a book bargain at an auction. An excellent resource for locating auctions in the area where you live is AuctionZip.

5. Ebay

Up to this point, we’ve been focusing on traditional venues for book shopping where you physically inspect the item you’re interested in, agree on a price with the seller, pay the man, pack it up and take it home. But we can’t forget eBay. As of the 2nd quarter of 2019, eBay had 182 million global active users. [1] That’s a lot of potential book sellers using the internet to offer their wares. It would be foolish to disregard this online venue.

There are good deals on books here if you’re patient, attentive to details, and not averse to asking questions. As stated back in venue #2, not all sellers post photos of a book or describe its condition with the eyes of an experienced bibliophile, so caution is required. If the description of a book and/or the accompanying photos are unclear or incomplete, contact the seller and ask for clarification. As always, do your homework about the book you’re interested in and know what to look for to determine if it’s legit.

Another thing to consider when book hunting on eBay is the cost of shipping the book from point A to point B. Most sellers don’t offer free shipping on books. But you can keep the cost of shipping down by accepting Media Mail rate, or requesting it from the seller if it’s not offered. It’s a tradeoff: cheaper rates for slower shipping. Media Mail can take a week or more for delivery, so be patient.

Last, when you find a book that interests you at a good price, check to see if the seller has other listings or a store. Sometimes, they’ll have other similar books purchased from an auction or estate that they’re willing to discount for a bundled sale. To begin your eBay search for books, access this link.

[1] eBay Press Release (California, 07 July 2019), p. 1

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post and that you’ve come away with some information you can use. These recommendations are enough to get you started on your book collecting journey. I didn’t include the most obvious venue for finding collectible first edition books—an independent bookstore—because of price concerns. There are pros and cons for bookstore shopping.

PROS:

• If you’re looking for a specific title to start your collectible first edition library, call around, there’s an excellent chance you’ll find an independent bookstore that has it.

• If you would like to collect the first edition works of a particular author, an independent bookstore will most likely be able to locate those books for you.

• If you’re not sure of your ability to determine if a 1st/1st from other venues is legit, an independent bookstore, especially one belonging to a professional bookseller organization, will offer the real deal.

CONS:

• Price. In most cases, you will pay more for a collectible first edition book purchased from a bookstore.

So, if price is not the primary consideration for you, then an independent bookstore affiliated with a professional trade organization will be the easiest and least stressful option for finding that collectible first edition. If you enjoy the thrill of the hunt, then the 5 venues we covered should be on your radar. Whichever method appeals to you, do your homework, decide what you’re willing to pay, and good hunting!