We Buy/Sell First Edition and Rare Books

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We buy first editions and rare books.

We Buy/Sell First Edition Books

Whether you have an individual book or an entire collection for sale, we are always interested in offering you a fair market price. Internet websites and auction houses take significant fees and we always hope to work within the space this margin affords both parties.

The reality is on many occasions, when We Buy/Sell First Edition Books we can offer a better value proposition than an auction house. Let us take a first edition copy of A House for Mr. Biswas by VS Naipaul in fine condition with a market value of £1000, at auction as an example.

The buyer would pay on average 26 percent buyer’s premium. Therefore the buyer, (before we consider any requirement for profit if a dealer) would only pay a maximum of £794. The seller would then pay fees on the hammer price. If we take 10 percent seller’s fees as a reasonable average, the result would be £715 received for a book with a market value of £1000.

Often, the scenario would be much worse for the seller as the buyer, if not a collector would have to make a profit so their maximum expenditure of £794 would have to be significantly lower, thus in turn the seller is likely to receive significantly lower than half the market value of the book. Insurances and potential listing fees further worsen the financial outcome for the seller.

We buy first edition and rare books. Giving Mr Biswas a new home could be far less lucrative than you imagine

We make the process of selling to Fine Firsts, both simple and speedy. We can often transfer payments to you within hours of a physical valuation. If you have any general questions, please fill out the simple form below. As a note, we are particularly interested in our previously listed authors, although this is by no means a comprehensive list of writers that we are interested in.

https://finefirsts.com/author-list/

Alternatively please send the following information to paul@finefirsts.com

  1. Photos of book/books including dust jacket, boards, title page – if you have a larger collection just send a photo of each shelf and we will contact you to discuss.
  2. Where possible, include a basic description of the book or collection highlighting any blemishes.
  3. When selling to Fine Firsts, we may not be able to make an offer of payment until we have physically inspected your book or books.
  4. We will require a valid form of identification, confirmation of ownership and proof of address to proceed to payment.
  5. Please add your contact number and a convenient time to call to our contact form.

If you have any general enquiries, simply use the contact form below.