Rare Book Valuation. How I Do That. Part Three. "Lightheadedness"

'Rare Book Valuation

How I Do That

Part Three

"Lightheadedness"

            After the lightheadedness of discerning that nearly all the books there be... may be determined too; what valuation they are by using internet book valuation search engines that present actual copies of ‘your old book’ “for sale “ NOW... as one stands old book and smart phone in hands before me...:

            After that lightheadedness... is worked through

            (It never fully ‘clears’)

            By you

            Away from I and your old book (a good bye)

            Wishing you a good buy

            Upon your sought book.

            Or is it (a) “good sale”

            Of your old book ‘sold’.

            I sell a lot of old books and I prefer to cut that amount down (see ‘waste of time’ in Part One) as low as possible substituting sales of actual rare books as be my “worth it”; the doing all this ‘internet book search’... stuff.  For that is what that is:  Stuff (fodder) (cardboard box filling of old books valuation ...fodder).  Until you sell your damn old book all of this comes to naught.  I sell all my old books and all my rare books too.  As a dealer that is my goal; to sell them all... and then go find more ‘good old rare books’... and do this again

            And again.

            Decades ago I wrote a poem that I still read to myself about selling a (any true) rare book.  The poem may not make sense to you until you have... ahhhh.... “done that” ‘a few times’ “OUT”.

Selling a Rare Book

Up all night

Feeling the spite, mite.

Knock down moving

Too pay moving

Preparing the act actor

Put the tie on

Put the head on

Fly

Fly by the port saying

“Yes it is possible to land”

“Why”

“Come on man; tighten your clamp

Do a revamp

Lick the stamp

Paste it in the book

Book nook look

Why me when all the food is floating fancy

            Fly

“Hey man I didn’t want to be here

But at least I can put my tie on

So it sits straight.

Like I said: “After the lightheadedness” is worked through

            And

            You’ve done this a number of times... especially noting that the learning curve goes much faster with the ‘more money’ you sell the ‘rare book’ for.  For example, a fifteen thousand dollar rare book sale coveys well what ‘fly by the port yes it is possible to land’ is all about.  It ‘conveys well’ is as opposed to a three hundred dollar rare book sale conveys well.  But that’s okay too for selling a three hundred dollar rare book has its ‘lick the stamp paste it in the book’ tie on straight too.  How do I know that?  I sell rare books ANY chance I get.  When you pull off a three hundred dollar rare book sale ‘FIRST TIME”... your gonna want to sit down and rest... especially if your “not quite clear on what I sold”.  Don’t worry; that last is pretty common form of rare book lightheadedness.  It also explains why the dealer who bought the book from you made a side comment to me of “best book they ever had”.  That’s a free summary for you of your current position in the rare book marketplace (“valuation”):  You don’t have any rare books anymore so are ‘not a player’.  In fact you just sold the

            “Best book” your ever gonna have... unless you

            Find another ‘rare book’ AND sell that “TOO”.

            You think (should be ‘feel’) it’s that easy?

            I am always going to the “next rare book” I have for sale right away.  I mean right away as then... NOW.  The NEXT rare book SOLD.  Too.  Okay?  You get it?  Multiple lock and load rare book sales don’t just happen.  It’s about the rare books.  That’s the first stumbling block.  I can’t go anywhere without rare books for sale.  I NEVER DO.

            Turning to look back to where this chapter comes from (Parts One and Two)... did I just qualify the valuation process again?  Yes.  I first qualified it (Part Two) with notice that when I look up a rare book’s valuation I... actually... do not want to find a copy of the book listed (for sale) ANYWHERE.  And further... I proceeded without explaining the ‘why’ of that.  NOW I have turned on my stool again by... did I say the ‘valuation’ is what one actually sells a copy of the rare book in hand for?  The hard dollar – cash on barrelhead valuation of any rare old book?  Yes.  Am I proceeding without explaining the ‘why’ of that... too?  YES.  But somehow I believe these movings of the valuation line is making subtle sense to the reader.  THIS ‘subtle sense’ helper allows me to go forward and then come back to ‘touch things up’.

            If ‘what a rare book is’ is another set of ground rules ‘over there’ (Part One); away from the ground rules of valuation, it should not be a surprise that ‘sell’ a rare book also has ground rules over there... too.  And I will not get into those for, stating again, this essay is about rare book valuation.  Let me say though that one should keep in mind ‘sale’ when plotting a valuation.  The plot of valuation is thickening:  I have to have an actually true and recognized rare book and actually sell it... to ‘find out’ that book’s ‘valuation’.  And both of doing those have ground rules over there not further spoken of.

            At this rotary I amend further.  MY working policy is that once I determine that I have a ‘good enough sort of’ actual rare book at hand AND have buttressed that by ‘looking it up’ and finding it for sale for a rare bookish price... let me say two thousand dollars... what does that actually mean to my ‘valuation’ using what I have shown?  Well... since I DID find the book for sale; a listed copy for sale for two thousand dollars... that is actually going BAD for me for I said I wanted to find NO copies for sale.  With one copy for sale my copy is ‘capped’ by the for sale copy being ...for sale... for the two thousand dollars.  Right there I also am valuation capped by ‘Whose gonna buy this at any price anyway’; the ‘sell’ ground rules ‘over there’.  At one listing for two thousand dollar ANYONE... CAN... ‘buy one’.  My copy is ‘capped’ at... selling for less... and STILL facing the ‘to whom’ ground rule.  So I’ve had to come up with a ground rule for this situation; a ground rule that trumps the conundrums.  The ground rule is brutal.  But it works.

            The ground rule is ‘divide by four’; divide the price for sale of the ‘found one’ rare book by four to get a street corner market value; a true ‘that’s what you can get’

            “NOW”.

            Maybe... sort of... most of the time

            Maybe.

            As a jest I often advised an old ‘rare’ book sale seeker to ‘divide by sixteen’.

            Anyway... a listed for sale two thousand dollar book  I DO find buyers around (yes more than one ... but not many more.) at five hundred dollars.  AND I... DO SELL the book for that.  The ‘why’ of that is that... that is the shortest route to ‘getting this done’ with this (not so rare) rare book including factoring in ‘waste of time’ aspects of ‘trying to get more’ (a ‘waste of time’).  This is a brisk selling that DOES SELL.  It may seem brutal but is, in fact, the actual market.  AND at a ‘one quarter’ price... THAT MAY NOT BE LOW (cheap) ENOUGH.  So I go lower.  I do this: I make that call.  Based on subtle feel of various ground rules.  It takes me about fifteen or twenty seconds to ‘come up with a price’ after I find... ONE COPY of the ‘just like my rare book’ for sale.

            Restating the presented seller ground rule for valuation:  “Divide By Four”.

            At this junction I turn back to my earlier development of bringing in the specimen true rare book that has been already modestly introduced (Part Two).  I wish to bring this rare book; again... it is a true rare book... into this ‘sell’ rotary and, well... seeing how that does as ‘valuation’... after seeing how it does as a true rare book... and how that all is done... in rare book seller circles (lightheadedness and rotaries).