looking to sell some first editions

[Mrbarfly29]

Hi, new to the forum, hope this is ok,
I'm looking to sell a few of my Bukowski first editions, I have -

War all the time, signed (with small cartoon doodle of man with bottle) first edition, numbered 26/400, fine, slight Mark on inside first page, with dust jacket.

Play the piano drunk like a percussion instrument until the fingers begin to bleed a bit, signed first edition, numbered 126/300, fine, slight dust stain on fore edge of pages, with dust jacket.

Bone palace ballet, first edition, with serigraph, numbered 351/426, near fine, slight dust stain on top edge, with dust jacket

Post office, 1974 London magazine first uk edition, near fine with some dust staining on fore edge of pages, and slight knock on one corner, with dust jacket, slight age related damage to top of dust cover.

Factotum, 1981 W H Allan London first Edition, near fine, with dust cover.

I'm looking for advise on prices, I have rough ideas of price but been out of the market for a while, checked on a abes books and the prices vary a lot, any help would be appreciated, I'm uk based, thanks in advance for any help. :)

 

[Purple Stickpin]

Abebooks is not a very good place to establish market, although many people use it. Not only does it represent asking rather than actual sale prices, the prices themselves are typically high by 25-50%.

I also note that you use the terms "good" and "very good." In bookseller terminology, "good" is awful and generally not acceptable except for very old, rare items that can't be had for less than a kidney elsewhere. So you might want to revisit those terms using this site as a reference.

As for prices:

War - perhaps $300 or a bit more
Play the Piano - assuming the condition is better than good, perhaps $275
Bone Palace - being posthumous, there won't likely be much interest here, but $75-$100 is a possibility. But "dust staining" sounds to me like foxing, which is a definite drawback.
The UK editions you cite are an odd duck. They are often for sale with asking prices well over $100, yet I scored very clean copies of Post Office, Life and Death in the Charity Ward and Factotum several years back for $120 for the lot. I'm not suggesting that each is only worth $40, but $100+ each just doesn't seem realistic. There's just nothing particularly special about these. And, if anything, the market has gone down in recent years, what with PBA auctions that have flooded the market to an extent and ~2005-2006 seems like it was something of a peak.

 

[Mrbarfly29]

Hi, thank you for the advice, I shall change the descriptions, many thanks.

 

[Mrbarfly29]

Post Office.