Q&A: Should I sell my book collection in big lots or in smaller groups?

QUESTION: In your book, you recommend staying away from fiction and "pop culture" books. However, I have some older fiction books that I see are selling quite well on Amazon and Ebay.

There's a popular teen series. The original series, its spinoff, and references in other fiction teen books comprises about 160 books total. Surprisingly I have nearly all 160 books from my childhood collection, donations from friends and a few from library purchases. These books are no longer printed, but there was such a mass production when they came out, that even today, 15 years since the series ended it's easy to get a copies of these books. Individually these books sell for only $1 or perhaps $2.

However, I noticed in an auction of an eBay lot of 16 or more, the price of the lot can skyrocket due to bidding wars. Should I break it all into different lots? Or should I try and sell all 160 books together at a fixed price or auction? I had hoped to get 75 cents to $1 per book, but I can't see a teenager or even a parent willing to spend $150 on a lot.

ANSWER: You are right, there is a big market in "nostalgia" books that aren't necessarily thought of as "collectibles" by the more snobbish among us. And I think you're on the right track, you need to sell it as a "collection." Since the books aren't individually worth a great deal, selling the whole lot as a package deal is the way to go.

So this pretty much limits you to eBay. The auctions on Amazon draw virtually no bids these days, and since they're phasing out zShops, it really limits your options.

One thing I'd recommend when you sell something like this on eBay is upgrading your auction to "Featured Plus." It costs an extra $20, but it puts your listing at the top of the search results in the category. Selling something like this, having more eyeballs hitting your listing will definitely increase the bidding and could pay for the extra $20 fee several times over.

Also, you should do a bit of research to decide which category is best. The Rare/Antiquarian category is probably best for traditional collectible books, but for this series your best spot on eBay may be in the actual category that new books in that genre are listed under.

You might also want to check out this list of eBay lot selling tips at Elaine'’s Bookseller Blog. As Elaine notes, large lots don't always bring in the highest per-book prices. Sometimes it's best to sell in smaller or medium-sized lots, it depends on the type of book.

And be sure not to miss this follow-up comment by one of Elaine's readers.