Value of Set of Encyclopaedia Britannica?

Judy
Gold Post Medal for All Time! 677 Posts

September 5, 20180 found this helpful

People can ask whatever they want. Value is the price they actually get. I also saw sets for as low as $200 and as high as $800. It is what the market will bear.

cybergrannie
Gold Feedback Medal for All Time! 949 Feedbacks

September 5, 20180 found this helpful

Most sets of encyclopedias have no "realistic" value as it is just as Judy said - sellers generally ask whatever they feel the set should be worth and generally even with research (as you have seen) there is really no way to set a true value.

• The prices are all over the place for the same year/edition and of course we have very knowledge of how many sell or for how long a seller will keep a set listed and many times on more than one sale site. Many book sellers will just keep relisting a set and I know of sellers who have hundreds of books listed for years and may never sell them.
• As for the bindings, the sets have always been made in numerous bindings and that just seems to be something they do to try and appeal to different people. It seems that leather is the only real binding that makes a difference in price.
• Of course, if you read the hype that sellers put out you would think their Edition (and their binding) is really, really rare and hard to find when in fact, there are no editions that are rare or scarce.
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• All brands of encyclopedias were produced in high numbers and generally the newer editions (last edition) will sell for more than most earlier editions.
• Here are some examples that show the prices are all over the place:
• www.ebth.com/.../6034281-complete-1929-encyclopedia...
• www.ebth.com/.../5909151-complete-1929-encyclopedia...
• www.amazon.com/.../ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_used_olp_sr... (Affiliate Link)
• www.ebay.com/.../111986253584
• Here is a link to what has sold on eBay over the past several months so maybe this will give you a little more incite on the value scale.
• www.ebay.com/.../i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=Encyclopaedia...
• If your set is in very good condition and you wish to list it for sale, you might try eBay but eBay can be very tricky for inexperienced sellers and shipping is the very often the downfall of new sellers.
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• I would suggest you list your books on your local sale sites (even if you list it on eBay) such as Craigslist, USA4Sale, IOffer, Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp and lots more.
• This way you can list your set at $400 (or more) and just reduce the price if no one shows an interest.

Pghgirl40
Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 196 Feedbacks

September 6, 20180 found this helpful

There are several sold versions on eBay at the moment--if any of them from this link match yours EXACTLY, that will give you today's current market value:

www.ebay.com/.../i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=Encyclopaedia...

Never use asking price for value, as Judy says, because people can ask what they want.

Please know selling these online is a logistical nightmare, as they are heavy and postage is crazy high. You would be best to find a local source to sell them!

Wishing you happy sales!