On the pricing of used Ligotti books

[Ascrobius]

Gotta be quick, man! I am someone who checks his email constantly so I lucked out many times, but there are a lot of people looking for Tom's stuff and get the emails as well, so like I said, you have to be quick like Ninja! I almost don't care anymore because there really isn't anything I want that I don't already have, especially with Tom's stuff. I've been doing this long enough that I am running out of room as well. I probably have a couple hundred books that are on the very long, short list of "books to read".

[Runez]

Hi all, just thought I would ask the question to put my mind at ease slightly.

I just attained a signed copy of SOADD, the Robinson Publishing copy (paperback 1989) for £52 (about $80). Near perfect condition with some slight creasing. I'm quite pleased with the deal, since it's at least £65 for TNF in this country. SOADD is usually more. The only downside is that it's not the hardback edition with the cool dust jacket.

Does this seem a reasonable deal?

[Ascrobius]

It's an OK deal. The Robinson TPB edition of SoaDD, while not plentiful, per se, is a somewhat "common" on the market, and because it is a TPB, as far as editions of SoaDD, it may be the least desirable to own for many collectors. Obviously the highly regarded and scarce Silver Scarab variation is the king, and with other editions such as the C&G hardback and the newly printed variation (with revised stories) and Aeron Alfrey artwork, the Robinson variation has kind of taken a back seat more than ever before. The same can be said of the C&G HB, which can be gotten for a reasonable sum, though some ask ridiculously high prices for copies, which I doubt they ever get. All worth owning for the completist, for sure, but you paid about as much as I'd be willing to pay for a mint copy. In fact, I purchased one several years ago that was signed, inscribed, and came with a note from Tom to the reader, who was a co-worker of his back when the book came out, for 50$, but that was kind of an anomaly. The problem, like I said, is that when the work is replicated several times over, "lesser" (and I use that term loosely) versions of the book that were produced in higher numbers generally lose value, which I think is true with the Robinson version. It's still a cool book to own, though, as is all of Tom's stuff.

(By the way...it was one I bought on Ebay, just as an FYI).

[Dr. Bantham]

Quote Originally Posted by bendk

Ouch! The secret is out. Sometimes this doesn't work, though. I was notified about Carnage Hall #3 and went to order it, and someone had already beaten me to it. His name was Brian something or other.

Alas, my scandalous days of book hoarding have been greatly diminished. In fact, I will soon resort to offering various extra copies for purchase. I will have to inventory the lot, which may take some time in and of itself. The core collection shall always remain intact, of course. A kidney might not fare the same fate if dire circumstances prevail, however.

[Ascrobius]

Yeah, I feel as though, with the exception of certain limited edition books that may come out throughout the course of the year that I snatch up, that I have a substantial book collection that is pretty much everything I've ever wanted or wanted it to be. I spent many years accumulating this collection and buying all the rarities that I have, and again, look at it as nearly complete. Like I said; there will always be new editions by authors I admire and put out by small publishing houses that I will definitely grab, but going on spending sprees just isn't necessary or warranted at this point. I love what I have, and I have almost everything I want. I sometimes tell my wife and daughter, "If anything ever happens to me, DON'T give the books (or artwork) away or sell them!", understanding that they have little knowledge of the value and rarity of many of those items. Someday, after I am gone, my daughter will have a book collection that will be rather different than those of her contemporaries. ;)

[Lichen]

Quote Originally Posted by Runez

Hi all, just thought I would ask the question to put my mind at ease slightly. I just attained a signed copy of SOADD, the Robinson Publishing copy (paperback 1989) for £52 (about $80). Near perfect condition with some slight creasing. I'm quite pleased with the deal, since it's at least £65 for TNF in this country. SOADD is usually more. The only downside is that it's not the hardback edition with the cool dust jacket. Does this seem a reasonable deal?

Guess I got lucky but I paid 6£ + pp for the same edition (almost mint) on british amazon about a year ago. Wasn't signed, though.

[Runez]

Quote Originally Posted by Lichen

Guess I got lucky but I paid 6£ + pp for the same edition (almost mint) on british amazon about a year ago. Wasn't signed, though.

Bloody hell. Now that's a bargain. The cheapest I can find SOADD for now is £40, and that's imported from the USA with a two week delivery time. TNF is even more.

[slayn666]

The trick to finding any of Tom's books for a reasonable price is patience. You're always going to see the same grossly overpriced copies on eBay, abebooks, and Amazon because no one is every going to pay that price for them. However, if you check those sites a few times a week, you'll end up getting what you want. I paid between $25-30 (each) for my C&G copies of SOADD, Grimscribe, and Noctuary, and I've often seen them for less.