Golden Opportunity

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Being like most people, having extra money wouldn't be terribly objectionable to me.

I decided to see how much some of my little treasures are worth. I have a lot of books, some quite old and possibly collectors' items.

I did my search on eBay since this is the be all and end all of flea markets.

First I looked up The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments. There were numerous listings, many with the keyword rare in them. It seems to be worth about $2.79 on the open market (maybe a copy autographed by Mr. Wizard would fetch more).

Next I looked up Practical Electricity, a wonderful volume from 1923. Hmmm ... no luck.

Next I tried a few titles I am sure set off alarm bells at Homeland Security Headquarters: Shrapnel Shell Manufacture, High Explosive Shell Manufacture, and Cartridge Manufacture. Three volumes dating back to World War I (published between 1915 and 1916). There were no listings.

Then I tried a Science Fiction anthology originally published in the 1940s (although my printing is from the 1950s) titled Adventures in Time and Space. This one did better, being listed at $14.99.

I would appear that just because a book is old, doesn't mean it is terribly valuable.

My STARDATE magazines by FASA seem to be fairly valuable - I see issue 1 being listed for $19.99 on eBay. I have all the issues (except for the final one renamed StarDrive - which I did not know about until just a few minutes ago).

Then I checked if any of the antique computer hardware I have might have any resale value. I searched for a 5Mb Tape backup system (this goes back more than 20 years), but had no luck. I guess no one is interested in such museum pieces.

My conclusion is that selling your junk on eBay is not quite as simple or lucrative as the hype might lead us to believe.

Comments

tin-tin said…
you love reading textbooks. are you a chemist? hehe ;p
May 08, 2007 9:51 PM
Mother of Invention said…
I agree but many still do it just to collect the nickels and dimes..likeselling old blue jeans! I can't believe what people say they sell! Of course, I've never even been on e-bay and don't understand a thing about how you list things and get pay pal accounts etc.!!
May 08, 2007 10:49 PM
Richard said…
tin-tin: I was planning to be, but changed to electronics, since I did not want to work in a pulp and paper mill.

MOI: I occaisionally browse it, but have never participated in any bidding. A lot of stuff on it seems to be for sale, rather than for auction.

Sofia had tried bidding a number of times for stuff, but was unsuccessful. I don't know if she has a PayPal account or not.

Nickel and diming is not the way I want to get rich. Much better to find that rare baseball card, put it up for auction and get the big bucks :P
May 10, 2007 6:23 PM
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