Any book appraisers out there?

Question

A possess a collection of about 98% of all first-edition hard cover novels (and the full original soft-cover Dark Tower and The Green Mile series)released by Stephen King (this also includes all works written under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman). Any idea about the range of its worth? Not that I would ever think of cashing in, just out of curiosity. None of them are signed, no limited editions, and most of them are in "well-read" shape, except those purchased in the past 15 years which are in excellent condition. Thank you.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Since King's early novels' runs were all at least 5000 copies (pretty much the standard) at a minimum, with later runs much, much larger because of his popularity, there are going to be lots and lots of first edition copies out there.

Unless you have something quite rare, which it sounds like you don't, the collection's value is probably less than what you paid, assuming you bought them new.

Sorry not to have better news.

? · Answer

Cheffy, the way to find out what the current market would value them at is to check the prices on completed eBay auctions. 

As an example:
http://search-completed.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&catref=C6&guest=1&from=R10&saobfmts=insif&_trksid=m37&satitle=first+edition+Dark+Tower+&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=05450&sabfmts=1&fis=2&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1&fsoo=2

And then AbeBooks:
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&an=Stephen+King&tn=Dark+Tower&pn=&fe=on&sortby=1&x=20&y=11
Now those prices look very hopeful! Get your insurance company to give you an official appraisal for insurance purposes!

Johan from Sweden · Answer

The prize depends on how badly the Stephen King fans wants them and how many copies there is. I guess that there still is many of his works out so my guess is that the worth is very low. Johan

debbi b · Answer

check at alibris.com
they sell books, used, new and rare. You can sell through them and get an idea of the value of each individual book before listing it and without the risk of auctioning them off.

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Any book appraisers out there?

4 Answers