Becoming a rare book collector is an exciting thing that you can do in today’s world. You will fall in love with all the experiences that would come on your way while you are working as a rare book collector.
While working as a rare book collector, it is important for you to determine whether the price associated with a specific book will increase in the future or not. Then you can go ahead with your investments accordingly to purchase rare books. Based on that, you can transform your business into a profitable one as well.
There are some important factors, which you need to consider in order to determine whether your rare book will become more valuable or not. Below mentioned are those factors. Based on the findings to these factors, you can determine whether a specific book will become valuable in the future or not.
Status of the author
Author will contribute a lot towards the success of a rare book. If the author is becoming a prominent literary figure or if the author has already become a one, you can expect the price associated with the book to rise. This is something difficult to predict. For example, nobody thought that J.K. Rowling will be able to become a successful author when the very first edition of Harry Potter book was published. Therefore, you will need to pay your attention to numerous factors and learn more about the status of the author.
Number of copies printed
The value of a rare book varies in between supply and demand. If the supply available for a book is low, but the demand is high, you can expect the value associated with it to increase. However, this will not happen to all the books. Only the books that go viral will be subjected to this.
If you can find a certain book in thousands of copies, it is worthless to go ahead and invest your money in purchasing a book. That’s because there is a surplus demand and you will never be able to sell it at a higher price. But if you can sense that the price associated with the book will increase in future, you can think about investing your money on the book accordingly.
For a book to have a value, it is important to have a demand that outmatches the supply. You can do a simple research and figure out more about this. You will be able to seek the assistance of websites such as Alibris and AbeBooks in order to see how the books are getting sold. Based on the facts, you can determine whether the book will have a high demand in the future. On the other hand, you can also get to know more about the prices that buyers are looking forward to pay for the books as well.
Edition of the book
Edition of a book is something that can directly increase its value. However, this is only applicable for the first edition books. You should understand that not all first edition books can hit the premium price. It’s the first printing of first edition books that are associated with the highest value.
It is better if you can do a bit of a research on your own and understand the differences that exist in between first issues, first printings and first editions. In addition to that, you should also learn more about concepts such as earliest imprints and first appearances. Based on them, you can understand the true value associated with a book.
If you have a first printing first edition book, you need to understand the potential associated with it to become a valuable book in the future. You just need to take a look at the stats and see how the value is increasing along with time.
Specialty of the book
Different books are associated with different specialties. The exact specialty of book that you own will contribute heavily towards its popularity and success in the future. For example, the Wizard of Oz Book Series is special. Value associated with books that belong to this book series is increasing along with time.
It is better to invest your money, energy and time to get books that have a high specialty. Then you will be able to understand what books will become more valuable in the future and not. You can keep an eye on the book trends and support the decision you make.
Condition of the book
Last but not least, you need to understand that the condition of book you have will help it to get more valuable in the future. Mint condition books have the highest potential to appraise in value. If your books are in mint condition, you don’t need to worry too much about it. The value associated with your books will increase along with time. This is the main reason why you should be extra mindful about the protection of mint condition books that you have.
If the book has missing pages or if t the binding is not correct, you will have to end up with selling it at a much lower price. You can think about restoring the book to increase its value. However, you should not go through the restoration process on your own, unless you have a clear understanding about it.
At the time of purchasing a book, you should be careful to go ahead with the best condition copy. Then you will be able to sell that at a later stage for a higher price tag.
Final words
You should ask all these questions and see whether your book has a potential to increase its value in the future. If there is a potential, you can think about spending your money to get the book. Or else, you can keep the book in your collection and sell it at a higher price in future.
