Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0005054, Fri, 5 May 2000 19:21:35 -0700

Subject
Fw: Prices on VN collectibles
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary Bellino" <iambe@javanet.com>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (26
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> Prospective collectors should know (if they don't already) that Barnes
> and Ignoble takes a substantial markup on stuff sold by dealers through
> the B&N site. On one (non-VN) book that was being offered by a shop that
> happens to be near where I live, the in-store price was just a little
> more than half what it was on the B&N site. Of course this is just my
> opinion --lawyers take note! But in general your own prized VN first is
> not likely to fetch you anything like the prices listed at B&N, so hang
> on to it.
>
> Of related interest, a copy of VN's Three Poets (Juliar variant b,
> hardcover but with the dust jacket glued on) recently sold on eBay for
> $66. I believe there were only two bidders, and I dropped out at $65.
> That doesn't mean the other bidder wasn't willing to go much higher; in
> fact I suspect he or she was, because my early bid-ups were topped
> instantly by proxy, and I went back to my hunt for cheap software for my
> editing business.
>
> Of unrelated interest, used and rare book prices on the net seem to be
> going up -- the days of the great bargains are over, as far as I can
> tell. Dealers are getting a much better idea of what stuff is going for
> in the national market, and the newer mega-sites like B&N and A Libris
> do seem to mark prices up and/or tack on a big commission, more so than
> the older sites like ABE and Bibliofind.
>
> Mary Bellino
> iambe@javanet.com