Not ebay,but real life auctions

[Mirage]

I'm going to an auction tomorrow,and went to the viewing this morning. took along some bits and pieces that I don't want to risk on ebay as I don't want to loose them to some scammer.They couldn't value them on the spot so I've made an appointment for next month.

.So I went for a wander around town and spotted an antiquarian bookshop,one of my items is a book that I can find no info on anywhere.It appears on none of the normal book websites,although other books by the same publisher do.No one has bought or sold one from what I can see,and although there are collectors,no one has one listed in their collections.So I showed it to the guy in the bookshop who said that he knew nothing about it,but offered me £30 on the spot.I declined and he told me that it was probably worth around £80+ in the open market.he said that it was in lovely condition and collectors would be very keen to get their hands on it,and has asked me to let him know if I find out anything else about it or sell it.

He asked me where I'd got it from and nearly fell over when I told him it was 10p from a car boot sale a few weeks back. It'll be interesting to see what the auctioneers say next month.

Ohh good luck. I love it when things like this happen

Thank you.I've since found a copy for sale with a specialist dealer in Charing Cross,they have it up for sale at £250.I have emailed to see if they are interested in mine and they are,and want me to send photos.I don't intend to sell it to them before the valuer sees it,but it will be a useful guide.

DH,who like to moan about me buying 'crap' from car boot sales,was v.excited when I told him I'd been offered £30,so it'll be interesting to see his reaction after it has been properly appraised.

Oh well done! I love it on the Antiques Roadshow when someone turns up with an item bought for pennies to find out if it is genuine or not and gets a large valuation!

Of course nothing I have ever bought has been remotely valuable. Sigh!

I've put a couple of photos on my profile.I love the artwork,it is very chaotic and off kilter,perfect for Alice in Wonderland.

Oh well done you! Who was it by just so I can keep my eye out, I'm always mooching at car boot sales :)

Does the auction house do general sales or speciality sales?
If it is a book for a collector then you really need a speciality sale preferably with worldwide online bidding.

Don't discount ebay (although if you are nervous about it then it's up to you) Book buyers are generally a honest lot and if you use the correct cover re postage all will go well.
I sold a 20p book for £286 on ebay, and a book I found dumped by the road for £140.

I'd say choose your auction house well, set a reserve and work out the fees beforehand.
I go to auctions all the time. I know some people who make their living by buying from one auction house and taking it all straight to another thus making a massive profit.
It's fun!

Who is the illustrator by the way? Your photo is too small for me to have a proper nosey ;)

sixlostmonkeys you can give me some lessons! You must have a very good eye.What were your books? The auction house is a general antique dealers,but have live internet bidding. I was at a general household sale there yesterday and left empty handed because the prices were ridiculous .Boxes of misc that normally go for £2 elsewhere were starting at £25 plus.I'm going to a more traditional sale tomorrow so hopefully will find something worthwhile. I've got a painting and some china to be valued too,so am going to go to more than one auctioneers and think long and hard about it .If it means a trip to London,then that's what I'll do.

The book is 'The Mad Tea Party' illustrated by Leslie Butler,published by Powell Perry Colour books.It looks late 30's early 40's and is in fabulous condition.I'll try and post some bigger pictures. I've also got a signed first edition of an H E Todd book that was 10p from a garden fete,and a rare game keeping book that I bought last week for 75p.Oh and a lovely Edwardian storybook with colour plates which came with a load of stuff from a cattle market auction last month.I love a good deal!

Well, you seem to know what you are doing! The auction house sounds like it's a good one to sell at (but not to buy :)

My £286 book was Elsie Oxenham, and the £140 was Tolkein.

What part of the country are you at? If you don't mind me asking. I like the sound of £2 lots!
My regular general auction house starts them at £5.

I'll pm you.

How do you guys which books are worth anything? I always like the look of old looking books but they could be worth diddly squat as far as I know. I might make a little note in a notebook of the names mentioned so far, thanks guys :)

You get to know by looking around,and there are sites to check values on.Addall is very good and doesn't just give you the highest prices,but lists all copies for sale and all the different prices.At the end of the day a book is only worth what someone will pay for it,so it is all a bit subjective.

I just buy what I like and is cheap.If I've only spent pennies it really doesn't matter if it isn't worth selling on.It is one of those things that the more you do it,the more you get your eye in.My 7 year old DD2 is my 'spotter' and can tunnel to the front of stalls at fetes and car boots.She can recognise an old series Ladybird book at 50 paces,she sometimes buys stuff and I sell it for her.I'm training her up.

ha ha, love you have got your dd on the case!! I really should find out more, I might aswell, I'm always at car boots! Is it a case of the older the better or are there some newer ones that are collectible?

Ha, just dug out a book I was given at the weekend and it looks like it might be worth about a tenner if its first edition, how on earth do I find that out!

Look in the front,at the publishers details,if it says 'first published in 1989,this edition published in 1992,then it isn't. If the details say 'first published in 1989' this edition 1989,then it is.Apparently modern first editions are easily found in charity shops,and can be valuable,but I've not got the patience to check through the acres of books on their shelves.

If you are struggling,put a photo of the publishers details on your profile and we can have a look for you.

Aha, its got a list of all 5 editions so I guess its not a first edition! Is it always first editions you need to look out for or would you recommend that as a starting point while I learn what to look out for?

Not neccesarily,signed books are always a good buy and anything specialist.It depends what you are interested in,plus things go in and out of fashion.5 years ago I did very well selling old Dr Who/sci fi annuals.Now you'd think,that with Dr Who being popular again,they'd sell well now,but they don't,the bottom has fallen out of the market.Young kids interested in the modern Dr Who often don't even realise that he wasn't the first one and so the annuals just aren't wanted now.

I'm not a book expert,by any means,I buy what I like the look of and try and educate myself about it.Mostly it is vintage clothes,books,ornaments,linen,and equestrian items.For myself I like Bohemian glass,reverse print pictures and books.

Where you live can have a bearing on how well what you sell will do.Round here is big hunting country,so hunt/horse/countryside stuff comes up for sale a lot and commands a good price.Transport that stock to say,Liverpool,and it wouldn't sell,but seafaring/liner/irish interest items would probably do very well.

Good luck,and if I can help,I will,but I'm not an expert or professional.If you have a good library nearby Fiona Shoop has written some good books about buying/selling antiques.

I remember when I was first starting out (many many years ago) i too wanted to understand all the variations of detecting whether a book is first edition or not. I called in a good old fashioned bricks and mortar book shop. The owner was wonderful and I ended up chatting to him for about 4 hours! With some books it's easy to tell, with others, crikey, you really need to delve. You may think you have a 1st because it clearly says so, but a collector in the know knows that the true firsts were printed 6 months previous in France, on slightly different quality paper..... I'll stop now

I'll never forget how he showed me a small book. It was a Dickens. He told me the value was £400. He then put the dust jacket on it and.... it was worth £17,000!

Wow, great info guys, thanks for sharing. At the moment I tend to stick to what I know and pick up well known brands and sell on but I love the moment when I buy something I just think looks nice and then it ends up being an expensive make and sells really well! Do you both do it to earn money or is it just a bit of fun?

I make my living selling books and collectables. But, it's also good fun!

Buying what you like is always a good way to start, because the worst that could happen is that you get to keep it!

At the moment,dealing is just a sideline for me.I'd love to make my living from it,but realistically,I'd have to find a gem like my little book every week to make it pay,and that is very very unlikely.I'll keep at it because I love old things and the buzz you get from a really good deal.I buy what I like,so that if it doesn't sell,I can live with it,but we only have a small house so I can't keep everything.I bought 4 boxes of stuff this morning and am looking forward to having a good sort through to see what is actually in there!

Mirage, you'd be surprised. I don't work in books- just antique jewellery but when you have your eyes peeled and know the price of everything then there's more gems out there than you'd first think!

How did you start off mrscumberbatch? How did you know what to start looking for? And where you do you buy your things from Mirage? At the carboots I'd have to fight hard to get a look in past the usual vultures unpacking peoples cars!!

You'll have to give me some tips MrsCumberbatch I generally avoid jewellery as I don't know what I'm looking at,but did buy some stuff to repair as I used to do beading and have all the tools.

Do you come across much mourning jewellery these days.I love that,but it seems very popular and pricey now.Perhaps I should wait and see if it goes out of fashion like writing slopes and tea caddies.

I'd be interested to see what you've bought recently,if you have any photos.I love looking and hearing about peoples bargains and finds.

The book dealer I emailed wants me to take the book to London to show him.

Auctions,car boots,garden fetes,Charity shops and bring and buy sales are my happy hunting ground.But I always have my eyes open,I had to go to a Brownie event on Tuesday and spotted a Murano swan with it's sticker still on,on the bring and buy table.20P and now it's mine!

I never get to car boots very early,but still manage to pick up some nice stuff.In the past few weeks,I had my Alice book,a 1950's dress in perfect condition,a signed Hugh FW book,a silk and cotton blouse,a black velvet jacket and 3 old ladybird books,all for under £4.50 for the lot.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Wow I'm impressed!! I hate to think of the valuable things I have cast my untrained eye over!! I must spend more time researching what to look out for. We should keep this thread going, share what we have found and hopefully share some knowledge too!