Sundo Collectables
  • Home
  • Resources
    • Bones & Osteology
    • Books & Music
    • Comic Books
    • Coins & Paper Money
    • Games & Memorabilia
    • Models & Miniatures
    • Stamps & Philately
    • Toys & Figurines
    • Trading Cards & TCG
  • Deals
  • Articles
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact
Select Page

Coins & Paper Money

  • Coin Collecting Glossary of Common Terms
  • Paper Money & Bills Collecting Glossary of Common Terms
  • Guide to Determining The Value of a Coin
  • How to Read Ancient Coins
  • What Makes a Coin Valuable?
  • Guide to Types of Ancient Coins
  • Guide to Frequently Found Coins
  • Writing Systems and Numismatics
  • Guide to Coin Errors
  • Guide to Coin Grading
  • Guide to Cleaning Coins
  • Circulated vs Uncirculated Coins Guide
  • Impact of the Greek Language & Script on Old World Coinage
  • List of U.S. & Canadian Coins to Look For in Change
  • The History of Australian Coins
  • List of Coin Valuers in Australia
  • List of Australian Coin Distributors
  • A Ranking of Individual Auction Houses on Biddr
  • Guide to Large and Small Date Lincoln Cents
  • List of Currency Collecting Reddit Subs

Comics & Omnibus

  • A Simple Guide To Start Reading Comics
  • Comic Book Collecting Common Terms Glossary
  • Comic Book Collecting FAQ
  • Guide to Comic Book Storage & Preservation
  • Comic Book Character First Appearances
  • Beginner’s Guide to Omnibus Collecting
  • Comic Book Recommended Reading List
  • The Complete Marvel Reading Order Guide
  • List of Comic Book Reddit Subs

Stamps & Philately

  • Stamp Collecting Common Terms Glossary
  • How Much are My Stamps Worth?
  • Beginner’s Guide to Stamp Collecting
  • Guide to Basic Stamp Identification
  • Guide to Commonly Mis-identified Stamps
  • How to Remove Stamps from Envelopes
  • List of Stamp Collecting Reddit Subs

Trading Cards & TCG

  • Found or Inherited Bulk Trading Cards? Guide to Value & Profit
  • The Complete Visual Image Guide to Parallels, Refractors, Foil & Holographic Trading Cards
  • The Complete Trading Cards FAQ
  • Determine the Value of your Trading Cards
  • Trading Cards: Should I Hold or Sell?
  • How to Pre-Assess Your Trading Cards for PSA Grading
  • Guide to Getting Trading Cards Graded
  • Should I Get This Trading Card Graded?
  • Complete Guide to Pokemon Card Types
  • Beginner’s Guide to Pokemon Card Grading
  • How To Evaluate Your Pokemon TCG Trading Cards
  • Guide to Identifying Fake Pokemon Cards
  • An In-Depth Guide to Pokémon Card Collecting
  • Guide to Collecting Pokemon TCG on a Budget
  • Guide to PSA Card Grading
  • Guide to Trading Card Storage & Protection
  • A Guide to Common Terms for Yu-Gi-Oh!
  • An Introduction & Beginner’s Guide to Yu-Gi-Oh!
  • A List of Yu-Gi-Oh! Staple Cards
  • A List of Yu-Gi-Oh! Booster Packs
  • A Guide to Rare Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards
  • Guide to Centering on Trading Cards
  • Guide to Identifying Magic The Gathering (MTG) Cards
  • Guide to Print Lines on Trading Cards
  • Guide to Verifying Rare Trading Cards
  • Beginner’s Guide to Collecting Basketball Cards
  • Beginner’s Guide to One Piece TCG
  • Types of Trading Card Genres
  • Trading Card Collecting Common Terms Glossary

Models & Miniatures

  • Model Building & Collecting Common Terms Glossary
  • Minipainting Common Terms Glossary
  • List of Online Shops & Model Kit Companies
  • The Complete Guide to Painting Miniatures
  • Beginner’s Guide to Warhammer40k
  • Resources for Painting Miniatures
  • List of Mini Painting YouTube Channels
  • List of Recommended Tools for Working with Models
  • Guide to Model Paint
  • Guide to Getting Started in Warhammer40k
  • List of Model Brands
  • Guide to Models with Clear Parts
  • Guide to Airbrushing Models
  • Guide to Using Metal Foil for Bare Metal Effects
  • List of Model Building Reddit Subs

Games & Memorabilia

  • Game Collecting Common Terms Glossary
  • Memorabilia Collecting Common Terms Glossary
  • Board Games Common Terms Glossary
  • Beginner’s Guide to Video Game Collecting
  • Nintendo Switch Collecting Guide v1.0
  • Beginners Guide to Star Wars The Black Series
  • GameCube Beginners Guide
  • Guide to Collecting Military Memorabilia / Militaria

Toys & Figurines

  • Toys & Figurines Common Terms Glossary
  • Beginners Guide to Toy Collecting
  • Guide to Vintage Toy Appraisal and Sales
  • Spider-Man Action Figure Buying Guide
  • Guide to Vintage Star Wars Weapons
  • Guide To Neon Genesis Evangelion Figurines
  • Guide to Doctor Who Action Figures
  • The Complete Guide to Roblox Toys
  • Guide to Avoid Counterfeit Figurines on Amazon

Books & Music

  • Book Collecting Common Terms Glossary
  • Identifying & Dealing with Mould on Books
  • Beginner’s Guide to Collecting Rare Books
  • Guide to Identifying Arsenic on Books
  • Guide for New Vinyl Collectors
  • Beginner’s Guide to Vinyl Records
  • A Beginner’s Guide To Record Players
  • Guide to Collecting CDs
  • Beginner’s Guide to Collecting CDs
  • Guide to Collecting KPop

Bones & Osteology

  • Bone Collecting Common Terms Glossary
  • Guide to Processing a Carcass for Bone Collecting
  • The Bone Collecting Process: From Carcass to Bones
  • List of Comprehensive Resources for Bone Study
  • Atlas of Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
View Categories
  • Home
  • Resources
  • Books & Music
  • Beginner’s Guide to Collecting Rare Books

Beginner’s Guide to Collecting Rare Books

The first step would be to read and know what it is you want to collect and why you want to collect it.

Are you trying to put together a reading collection?

First editions of your favorite novels?

Signed books?

Association copies?

Do you want to collect books on a specific topic that interests you?

You could collect very specific things or just put together a general collection of anything that you find interesting. Once you know why you’re collecting, you’ll probably want to begin by learning to scout books (finding rare books that haven’t been properly identified or valued by the seller).

This is a much cheaper way to begin than going straight to buying from a dealer, and a good way to avoid being disappointed with your first expensive acquisition and falling out of the hobby.

Some good places to scout for cheap books are:

  1. Thrift stores (especially goodwill bins – usually less than a dollar per book)
  2. Library and other book sales (use booksalefinder to find sales in your area).
  3. Most libraries will have a permanent stock of books for sale. Just ask at the desk if they sell any books.
  4. Used book stores (this is by far the most expensive place to scout, and often the least productive since the people running the store typically have more familiarity with and knowledge about their stock than the people who run the other sales I listed. Still, many used book sellers have no knowledge about rare books, and you can find very good things. Maybe not the place to start though since you might pay $20 for a mistake here as opposed to $1 at most of the others)

Once you’re there, you’ll want to just look at a ton of books and pay close attention to their publication information. Some things you’ll want to be aware of are how to identify a first edition (differs by publisher, country, and age (note that many books may state “first edition,” but only the first printing is considered a “true first”)), how to identify a book club edition (generally worthless, but look like the first edition in many cases), how to tell condition (dust jackets are often more valuable than the book itself!), etc.

A few things to keep in mind:

Age does not equate to value. If a book is undesirable or common, being 200 years old won’t make it worth more than a few bucks.

Books printed after the author’s death are likely to be less valuable than those printed during her/his lifetime. Usually means they were already well known and had a large print run. Also, obviously, not going to be signed.

An author’s early books are likely to be more valuable in first edition than later/potentially more famous books they may have written. This is especially true for mass market novelists. Generally speaking, you can completely skip over books by authors like Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Stephen King, etc. as most of their later books were so printed they’re worthless even in first edition (you can always check them anyway for signatures if that interests you).

Most paperbacks are worthless except as a cheap reading copy (that will likely fall apart after a few reads). There are exceptions – poetry books, foreign language first editions, old sci fi and other pulp novels, etc. – but it’s a good rule of thumb that these books aren’t collectible.

The location where you’re scouting matters. You’re a lot more likely to find interesting literature and scholarly works donated at a library or thrift store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, than in Topeka, Kansas. Similarly, the quality of donations can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood even in your own region.

The vast majority of people selling books online have absolutely no idea what they’re selling. Don’t blindly trust internet prices unless the description very clearly elaborates justification for pricing (does the seller know what a number line is? do they realize there was a limited private printing that was separate from the retail edition? Do they know what the book club edition looks like? Do they know how to differentiate the first edition from later printings in cases where it isn’t explicitly stated?)

All these things matter enormously, and I can’t tell you how often I see books selling at the wrong price for what they are or, more commonly, what they’re described as. Seeing that a first edition of a book only sells for $5 on ebay means nothing if the person selling it listed it as a “true first” despite the fact that the number line goes down to 17 (indicating a seventeenth impression).

I recommend the website vialibri as a tool for pricing, just remain wary that the price you’re seeing may not be what the book is worth. Definitely go in to rare book shops and talk to owners and employees/ask questions!

The internet is full of misinformation on books, and, while that misinformation is often put there by lousy book sellers, it’s at least easier to tell if they know what they’re talking about in a face to face conversation than in a seller’s description on ebay.

‎

Identifying & Dealing with Mould on BooksGuide to Identifying Arsenic on Books
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
© Sundo Cards & Collectables 2025 • Privacy