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#1
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lookiong to start a collection
just wondering if anyone could give me a couple hints on how to start
up a collection? |
Ads |
#2
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lookiong to start a collection
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#3
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lookiong to start a collection
Scot Kamins wrote:
In article .com, wrote: just wondering if anyone could give me a couple hints on how to start up a collection? Is this a serious question? If so, you're going to have to provide a lot more information. Assuming it *is* a serious question, and answering in very general terms, I think one way to do it would be to follow eBay book auctions, watching auctions that you think are interesting (for whatever reason) for weeks, or even months, *without* bidding on anything. And without bidding means without bidding! Really. Even if you think you've found the bargain of the century and no one else is bidding. Just watch the auctions. Use ABE (http://www.abebooks.com) and Addall and Amazon marketplace, etc., as a cross-reference, and try to pick up a sense of what makes one copy worth more than another (apparently similar) copy. The other thing is, *specialise*. No one can be an expert in every field. Find a niche that you feel comfortable with (sci fi, Victorian novels, whatever), and within that niche find a smaller niche (sci fi featuring clones, Victorian novels that touch on the topic of illegitimacy, whatever), and start to make yourself an expert in that. And, finally, collect stuff that matters to *you*, stuff you want because you want it, not because you think it's a clever way to get rich quick. John |
#4
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lookiong to start a collection
"John R. Yamamoto-Wilson" wrote in message ... Scot Kamins wrote: In article .com, wrote: just wondering if anyone could give me a couple hints on how to start up a collection? Is this a serious question? If so, you're going to have to provide a lot more information. Assuming it *is* a serious question, and answering in very general terms, I think one way to do it would be to follow eBay book auctions, watching auctions that you think are interesting (for whatever reason) for weeks, or even months, *without* bidding on anything. And without bidding means without bidding! Really. Even if you think you've found the bargain of the century and no one else is bidding. Just watch the auctions. Use ABE (http://www.abebooks.com) and Addall and Amazon marketplace, etc., as a cross-reference, and try to pick up a sense of what makes one copy worth more than another (apparently similar) copy. Hi John Yamamoto Wilson. You just advised someone who wishes to start a book collection to start collecting books by not buying any books. You might want to rethink this, as buying books is an integral part of book collecting. |
#5
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lookiong to start a collection
foaddoc wrote:
"John R. Yamamoto-Wilson" wrote in message ... Scot Kamins wrote: In article .com, wrote: just wondering if anyone could give me a couple hints on how to start up a collection? Is this a serious question? If so, you're going to have to provide a lot more information. Assuming it *is* a serious question, and answering in very general terms, I think one way to do it would be to follow eBay book auctions, watching auctions that you think are interesting (for whatever reason) for weeks, or even months, *without* bidding on anything. And without bidding means without bidding! Really. Even if you think you've found the bargain of the century and no one else is bidding. Just watch the auctions. Use ABE (http://www.abebooks.com) and Addall and Amazon marketplace, etc., as a cross-reference, and try to pick up a sense of what makes one copy worth more than another (apparently similar) copy. Hi John Yamamoto Wilson. You just advised someone who wishes to start a book collection to start collecting books by not buying any books. You might want to rethink this, as buying books is an integral part of book collecting. The same kind of advice is often given to people who want to undertake speculation in commodities and securities. When a person has no experience, dry runs can be very informative. It also teaches discipline. All to many people get hyped up in a bidding frenzy. Francis A. Miniter |
#6
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lookiong to start a collection
"Francis A. Miniter" wrote in message news:464350dc@kcnews01... foaddoc wrote: "John R. Yamamoto-Wilson" wrote in message ... Scot Kamins wrote: In article .com, wrote: just wondering if anyone could give me a couple hints on how to start up a collection? Is this a serious question? If so, you're going to have to provide a lot more information. Assuming it *is* a serious question, and answering in very general terms, I think one way to do it would be to follow eBay book auctions, watching auctions that you think are interesting (for whatever reason) for weeks, or even months, *without* bidding on anything. And without bidding means without bidding! Really. Even if you think you've found the bargain of the century and no one else is bidding. Just watch the auctions. Use ABE (http://www.abebooks.com) and Addall and Amazon marketplace, etc., as a cross-reference, and try to pick up a sense of what makes one copy worth more than another (apparently similar) copy. Hi John Yamamoto Wilson. You just advised someone who wishes to start a book collection to start collecting books by not buying any books. You might want to rethink this, as buying books is an integral part of book collecting. The same kind of advice is often given to people who want to undertake speculation in commodities and securities. When a person has no experience, dry runs can be very informative. It also teaches discipline. All to many people get hyped up in a bidding frenzy. And the same advice is given to tyro horseplayers. It's ********. In the first place, if you don't have a minimum amount of disposable income, you shouldn't undertake the activity. In the second place, no matter how meticulous you are with your fantasy investments, real money in real time creates different pressures that people react to differently. Third, winning and losing have their own psychologies, to which people react differently. Paper trading doesn't teach that. Fourth, much book knowledge is tactile: you learn with your hands. For my money the guy'd be much better off going to a library sale and buying $20 worth of books that he thinks collectible and bringing them home and examining the jackets and the binding and the number lines and all the rest of it, and then seeing if his intuition as to value was correct. Not to mention he'd have something to read. Finally, the guy's never going to know if he enjoys collecting books without collecting them. It may be that JYW is enamored of Ebay because of the peculiarities of his situation: collecting arcane subjects written in English while living in Asia. Personally I rarely use ebay, except when searching for gems such as my recently acquired Mary Ann's Gilligan's Island Cookbook inscribed by Dawn Wells, Tina Louise, and Bob Denver. Much of the joy of the actviity, or my joy anyway, comes from browsing through the stacks. I do not discount the interweb, but to confine yourself to it, especially as a neophye, is silly. Francis A. Miniter |
#7
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lookiong to start a collection
You might find it useful to go to the library, and take out a book or
two on book collecting. This will cost you nothing, and will give a vague idea of how rich the field is. |
#8
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lookiong to start a collection
foaddoc wrote:
And the same advice is given to tyro horseplayers. It's ********. In the first place, if you don't have a minimum amount of disposable income, you shouldn't undertake the activity. In the second place, no matter how meticulous you are with your fantasy investments, real money in real time creates different pressures that people react to differently. Third, winning and losing have their own psychologies, to which people react differently. Paper trading doesn't teach that. I see what you're saying, but I'm not thinking of it so much as a form of gambling as a body of knowledge. Getting some sense of what makes a valuable book valuable and finding out how the whole market works seems to me a reasonable way to begin. Fourth, much book knowledge is tactile: you learn with your hands. For my money the guy'd be much better off going to a library sale and buying $20 worth of books that he thinks collectible and bringing them home and examining the jackets and the binding and the number lines and all the rest of it, and then seeing if his intuition as to value was correct. Not to mention he'd have something to read. Yes, that's a good suggestion. I don't know that it has to be either/or, though. He could learn a lot from doing both. Finally, the guy's never going to know if he enjoys collecting books without collecting them. I guess one does tend to think in terms of one's own position, so I'm assuming he owns and reads books (it would be a bit odd if he didn't). What I suppose he doesn't do, or hasn't done until now, is buy books with a view to their collectible value. I may be wrong, but I think he might stand a better chance of enjoying buying collectible books if he knew just a tad about it before pouring a lot of money into what may be a costly mistake. It may be that JYW is enamored of Ebay because of the peculiarities of his situation: collecting arcane subjects written in English while living in Asia. Again, yes, my own position may make a difference, and I guess a well-rounded set of tips should include advice to browse regular bricks-and-mortar bookshops. But I was just throwing in my five cents, not writing a comprehensive introduction to book-collecting. If other people (such as your good self) throw in their own five cents' worth it'll all make a muckle that the OP can pick and choose from as he pleases. Personally I rarely use ebay, except when searching for gems such as my recently acquired Mary Ann's Gilligan's Island Cookbook inscribed by Dawn Wells, Tina Louise, and Bob Denver. Much of the joy of the actviity, or my joy anyway, comes from browsing through the stacks. I go through phases on that front. There have been times when I've come home loaded with books from book fairs and bricks-and-mortar stores, and other times when all I've got from a day's slogging around concrete streets is sore feet. Conversely, I've gone through patches of total disillusionment with eBay, getting cramped shoulders from sitting in front of a computer monitor and despairing of ever finding anything worth having. I do not discount the interweb, but to confine yourself to it, especially as a neophye, is silly. Yes, I can go along with that, but it's still a good way of finding out about books and how the book market works. John |
#9
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lookiong to start a collection
thanks for youre help i didnt even think about being to broad with my
topic and all that everyone has said has helped in a way but i gess i was thinking more along the lines of where would i go to find good books of the collectible sort, what kind of books would make a good collection, with the books i pb books i already have and love should i go for the FE hardcovers of them, and how do i figure out what genre/ author/age books to collect |
#10
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lookiong to start a collection
On May 9, 4:54 pm, wrote:
just wondering if anyone could give me a couple hints on how to start up a collection? Yes, buy Hardy Boys books. Buy many Hardy Boys books. Buy nothing but Hardy Boys books. |
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