Price clipped - how much difference does it make?

Hello bibliophiles,

I have read the FAQ but it doesn't give an idea of how much difference
price clipping makes to the value of a book.

I'm not very experienced in book collecting and I've been told it's not
worth buying if it's price clipped.

Is it true?

..pd.

".pd." sez:

I'm not very experienced in book collecting and I've been told it's not
worth buying if it's price clipped.

Is it true?

Well, a price-clipped copy is worth more, as a rule of thumb, than no
copy at all. I personally don't care much about price-clipped
jackets, and my library certainly reflects that, but I also paid less
for otherwise nice copies than I would have had they been pristine.

Some collectors cannot *stand* a price-clipped book, and will pay
almost any amount to obtain a perfect copy, and they're absolutely
correct. Others, like me, might prefer a perfect copy but will settle
for a clipped, cheaper copy. Which is also absolutely correct.

It might also depend on the book in question: if it's rare enough,
even the most stringent collector will bite the bullet and buy it, if
only to plug that hole until they find a perfect one.




"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that
English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow
words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways
to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
--James D. Nicoll

On 30 Jul 2003 22:08:11 GMT, (Jonathan Grobe) wrote:
In article , .pd. wrote:

Hello bibliophiles,

I have read the FAQ but it doesn't give an idea of how much difference
price clipping makes to the value of a book.

A major point is that this varies with the area of collecting:
the difference is probably greatest in quite recent first
edition literature.

What I don't understand is why "price-clipping" is a common enough
practice that it needs a specific name. Do people think we don't know
how much a book generally costs?

-David

If you find a price-clipped Gutenberg Bible it might be worth the risk to
buy it if you can get it for less than a couple bucks.

--gary
".pd." wrote in message
. 102...

Hello bibliophiles,

I have read the FAQ but it doesn't give an idea of how much difference
price clipping makes to the value of a book.

I'm not very experienced in book collecting and I've been told it's not
worth buying if it's price clipped.

Is it true?

.pd.

David T. Bilek wrote:
On 30 Jul 2003 22:08:11 GMT, (Jonathan Grobe) wrote:

In article , .pd. wrote:

Hello bibliophiles,

I have read the FAQ but it doesn't give an idea of how much difference
price clipping makes to the value of a book.

A major point is that this varies with the area of collecting:
the difference is probably greatest in quite recent first
edition literature.


What I don't understand is why "price-clipping" is a common enough
practice that it needs a specific name. Do people think we don't know
how much a book generally costs?

It's a hold-over from the days before amazon.com and UPC code blocks on
the backs that have the price in them. People thought of it as removing
a price tag.

--
Evelyn C. Leeper
http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
Dred Scott
Plessy v. Ferguson
Bowers v. Hardwick
RIP

On 30 Jul 2003 16:11:32 GMT, ".pd." declared:


Hello bibliophiles,

I have read the FAQ but it doesn't give an idea of how much difference
price clipping makes to the value of a book.

I'm not very experienced in book collecting and I've been told it's not
worth buying if it's price clipped.

Is it true?

depends on the person, however it should always be noted in the book
description.


robert

"I've been long, a long way from here
Put on a poncho, played for mosquitos,
And drank til I was thirsty again
We went searching through thrift store jungles
Found Geronimo's rifle, Marilyn's shampoo
And Benny Goodman's corset and pen"

My worry is always that "price clipped" is really "Book Club Edition"
clipped. Sometimes, the book club edition is otherwise hard to tell
from the regular edition.


Francis A. Miniter


David T. Bilek wrote:

On 30 Jul 2003 22:08:11 GMT, (Jonathan Grobe) wrote:


In article , .pd. wrote:


Hello bibliophiles,

I have read the FAQ but it doesn't give an idea of how much difference
price clipping makes to the value of a book.


A major point is that this varies with the area of collecting:
the difference is probably greatest in quite recent first
edition literature.



What I don't understand is why "price-clipping" is a common enough
practice that it needs a specific name. Do people think we don't know
how much a book generally costs?

-David

Francis wrote

My worry is always that "price clipped" is really "Book Club Edition"
clipped. Sometimes, the book club edition is otherwise hard to tell
from the regular edition.


thank goodness for UK book club editions which are so easy to identify from the
spine alone!!

Stan