There is still good stuff to be found if you keep your eyes peeled. I picked up a box of books for about $10 at a local rummage sale and found this Chicago Bears - An Illustrated History. I was a little disappointed to find that it was not going for much on Amazon or eBay. Generally under $10. On top of that, it didn't have a dust cover. So I set it aside to list it later.
Once I got through the box, I was even more disappointed. I had a bunch of gold books that were pretty worthless. I finally got back around to the Bears book and opened it to get the ISBN. Then I saw the names inside. Here is the lesson for buyers of books: don't assume every name is the former owner's name. I thought, "Oh great, not only is it not worth much, it's got the name inside too." Then I looked a little closer, and saw "Best Wishes..."
It turned out to be Mike Ditka's autograph. On the other page was the signature of former Bears quarterback, Jim McMahon. Wow! Maybe the $10 I spent will pan out after all.
Can You Increase Your Item's Value?
I still had one problem. The book didn't have a dust jacket. That really reduces the value of the book for collectors. Then I thought, "Well if they're not going for much on eBay, I may be able to fix that." I found the same book with a nice dust jacket for about $5.95 plus a few dollars shipping. I won that auction and once the book arrived I took the dust cover off and put it together with my autographed copy. Now as you can see, I've listed it on eBay.
Amazon or eBay?
I picked eBay because I cannot figure out how much this would be worth at a fixed-price. If it wouldn't have been for the signatures, I would have listed this on Amazon for about $5. But eBay is still the place for collectible items. I will let the market do its job. Add my item to your Watch List and see how it goes.
Check out the Bears book on eBay!
Popularity: 6% [?]
