Anyone here work in the rare book trade?

[luckyjimm]

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In your attempts at breaking into the industry, how much did you learn, cause I have some questions. Specifically, how much value do you lose off of a first edition if the dust jacket is slightly damaged (e.g., small part of the front cover torn away)? I have a copy of the first boxed set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy ever released, including the box, and all three dust jackets, with the above damage on two of the three dust jackets. Profit?

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Dust jackets are super-important, I'm afraid. Bin it.

[JackCase]

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I also saw that the only people who make any money are those who buy and sell the books, not the people who work for them who are in effect well-educated shop assistants.



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Retail is retail, whether you are selling rare books or jeans or sporting goods. There is rarely any money or future in retail selling.

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Should I try to get any job with any kind of antiquarian store, no matter how badly paid or menial or far from my interests, knowing I can then move into a more suitable role a year late?

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No, you can't move into a more suitable role in a year. You might be able to move up to a relatively better job, but you will still be in retail sales.

The only reason to work in a rare book business is to learn enough to start your own business. On the other hand, working for a rare book business, you will never save enough money to start your own business, because of the high overhead of inventory.

One option to consider would be to stay in your current job, working partime in the book business to learn the business and to develop contacts. Once you get to know the people in the business, look toward working with/for one of them in an ownership arrangement, with the idea of building partnership equity and eventually buying them out when they are ready to retire.

[wdcbooks]

From about 1997 to 2002 I worked as a dealer of rare books and still maintain an interest although I don't actively work in the trade. I started by buying a first of 'Fellowship of the Ring' for $5 and selling it for $500. From there I scouted local bookstores for items to resell on Ebay. Much like a poker player moves up, I started to realize that it was far more lucrative to buy high end merchandise and resell it than to buy $20 books and resell them for $50.

At the time I was in college and was going to school full time and working full time. I was dead broke, but I was paying bills in the thousands to Christies, Cheffins and Grain and Bloomsbury. I would buy lots at auction and have the books shipped from the UK to my home in Massachusetts, where I would resell them on ebay. I specialized in early travel literature, but I sold just about everything at some point. It was essentially arbitrage, books in the UK were priced lower than those in the US, and US buyers were less finicky about condition. After time that opportunity dried up as did my time. The price differentials weren't there anymore and I didn't have the capital to sustain the business. In the time I dealt though, I made a decent living and it allowed me to pay my child support and maintain a pretty good lifestyle.

I see two ways to enter the business. The first is to accept a shop assistant position and start to learn the position. You may need a second job to pay the bills, but you can start to spot value and buy and sell on your own. If you can get a job with Buddenbrooks or Heritage, the ideal job would be a subject expert with them, but there are few stores that are large enough to have a staff that is paid beyond that of a retail assistant.

The second is to become expert in a couple of areas by reading everything out there and scout for underpriced volumes and be very very selective about what you buy. Rigorously segregate your book funds from your spending money and track your progress. I found auctions and poorly run bookstores that hadn't discovered the internet age to be the most lucrative buying venues.

I had some incredible books pass through my hands and I only wish I had done a better job at treating it like a business. I found the Ebay stuff and the packing and shipping to be tedious. I would be happy to answer any questions if anyone other than Jim has interest.

[wdcbooks]

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In your attempts at breaking into the industry, how much did you learn, cause I have some questions. Specifically, how much value do you lose off of a first edition if the dust jacket is slightly damaged (e.g., small part of the front cover torn away)? I have a copy of the first boxed set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy ever released, including the box, and all three dust jackets, with the above damage on two of the three dust jackets. Profit?

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I also have this. This would be the first printing of the second edition. Last I saw it is worth a couple of hundred dollars. With Tolkien condition matters less as the dust jackets were fragile and many people who start collecting start with Tolkien. Still I can look it up if you would like, but the true firsts are the real gold mines.

[Hey_Porter]

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[ QUOTE ]
In your attempts at breaking into the industry, how much did you learn, cause I have some questions. Specifically, how much value do you lose off of a first edition if the dust jacket is slightly damaged (e.g., small part of the front cover torn away)? I have a copy of the first boxed set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy ever released, including the box, and all three dust jackets, with the above damage on two of the three dust jackets. Profit?

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I also have this. This would be the first printing of the second edition. Last I saw it is worth a couple of hundred dollars. With Tolkien condition matters less as the dust jackets were fragile and many people who start collecting start with Tolkien. Still I can look it up if you would like, but the true firsts are the real gold mines.

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Yea, I looked it up, and realized I was either wrong about it being a "first" or I was sitting on something worth 45-60k.

[PokerAmateur4]

Are there garage/estate sales in London or wherever you are Jim?

You can get a PDA which connects to the internet easily like a Treo, go to such events and look up books you are unsure of at Ebay, Abebooks.com, etc. to get an idea of the value. Then buy if you think you can make a profit. I found Ebay was of little help selling, however.

I got some books very cheaply off estate sales and even better was organizations like churches that get stuff for free from donors and sell to the public. I unloaded them on Abebooks and such for a few months until the fee there was approaching my sales per month when the books I had that moved were basically gone.

[centaurmyth]

I'd like to see LJ writing on the various book-worn academic degenerates and characters of the rare book trade. Servants of the ivory tower literati, tattered with concepts and commerce, using old paper to profit from inspiring immersion in deeper experience in modern day baron wannabes/ self-actualized men. Could be good...

LJ's text may be embittered by the author continuing his own self-destruction condemning his own work to be destined for similar space amongst the dusty shelves of his collection. Or he could go Ford Madox Ford meets Dostoevsky meets Sebastian Horsley with the experience, who knows?

As far as the gig, meh, got anything to lose?

[diddyeinstein]

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This company looks pretty cool, maybe I will move to Beverly Hills and work for them:

http://biblioctopus.com/catalog34/catalog34.htm
http://www.biblioctopus.com/pages/html/about.html

Now who's gonna stake me $65,000 for a first edition Ayn Rand?

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No first editions but somehow I got two copies of Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, I'll ship you one on Stars.