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Bargain Humidors

I've watched many an Easton Press volume go for extremely high prices on eBay auctions.  Part is due to people getting caught up in the "gaming" nature of eBay in competing for a volume.  Part is due to not really understanding the true value of a volume.

Any volume that is not out of print should be selling at or below the Easton Press issue price.  I make an exception if I want to accelerate the purchase of volumes, Easton Press may be temporarily out of stock, or the satisfaction of finishing off a series in one fell swoop.  The highest premium I will pay for a volume that is not out of print is 5%.  Once a book goes out of print, then you are working in the true supply/demand of the secondary market and volumes can go for significant premiums over what their issue price was.  You also have to be careful with the Easton Press volumes.  Some volumes appear in more than 1 series and sometimes dramatically different prices.  "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is in both the 100 Greatest Books and The Books that Changed the World.  Same book, but when it comes as part of the Books that Changed the World, you pay an additional $5.55 for the volume.

One of the worst offenders on pricing is on the Anne Rice set and the Nelson Mandela signed volume.  I have seen the Anne Rice collection sell for $1000 on eBay.  I know it is tempting, don't try it.  You are only going to succeed in making someone very mad when they find out they could have purchased nearly 4 collections for what they paid for 1.

Additionally, many have the misconception that for some reason signed volumes should carry a high premium.  You normally see this with the Nixon, Carter, and Ford volumes in the Library of the Presidents.  I've seen prices for them range to about $250.  If all you are buying is that signed volume, then the premium is worth it.  If you are buying it as part of the entire library, you've just wasted a pile of money, because Easton Press will ship that volume as part of your subscription for the issue price of $54.75.  The only signed volume that fetches a heavy premium is the signed Ronald Reagan volume, because it is no longer available and was extremely limited.  I've seen this volume sell for as high as $1750.  I have personally sold one of those volume for in excess of $1500.

Below is pricing on current series from Easton Press as of their Late Spring 2001 catalog.  You can also cross reference values on an excellent book dealer exchange at abebooks.com.

 

Michael R. Hotek