Folio edition out of print - Is it worth it?

Only you can answer whether or not it is worth it for yourself.

Hi Bob. I think, at the end of the day,only you can answer that. Is it worth it to you? Personally, I feel it’s an awful lot of money for what it is. Will it hold its value - the jury is still,out on that, as far as FS books are concerned. But then I’ve overspent on things in the past that I really want. Curse of the collecting mentality, I’m afraid.

>1 Bob_Reader: if its the 2012 Vampyre and other Macabre Tales I would say its a very nice book, but not worth what must be about 8 times its original price. the artwork and binding are high quality, some of the stories are just OK.

The world's a very odd place lately, but if it weren't I would expect this volume to be changing hands for around £20 / $25: I think I bought my copy in a sale for something like that. The Polidori tale only occupies 20 pages, after that it's Walter Scott, Bulwer Lytton, Hawthorne, LeFanu, Poe and others. There's little further overlap with the Oxford World's Classics "The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre". It's agreeably presented, but quite a modest volume as standard Folio books go.

No way. I've seen this one pop up for anywhere from $40-$90 USD several times on the usual websites over the past year, and on the Facebook buy/sell/trade group as well.

Sounds like you are considering paying a great deal too much money.

Once the buyer whoever they are has opened and read the book what will it be worth then?

>1 Bob_Reader: I'd counsel patience. I don't know whether or not you're on Facebook, but a lot of books change hands in the collectors' groups. Here's the Folio Buy/Sell group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/foliosocietybst

A lot of good and fair deals can be found there, especially if you're in the UK. There are a good number of US & Canadian sellers, also. If you're in AU/NZ, there is actually a small dedicated group for those folks, though most sell in the main group, as well. There are also quite a lot of people there who are pretty on top of what various books sell for, and they can often help you determine what fair prices are.

>1 Bob_Reader: A quick search of sold items on ebay shows 4 copies were sold in March, suggesting it's not too rare. Two were listed at about $200 but best offers were accepted. The other two sold for $35 and $15. The $15 one said "like new" but at least the slipcase was either dirty or scuffed. Hard to tell from the photo, but the book itself looked OK.

ETA: If you are looking for a unread/brand new etc. copy of a book that didn't just go out of print and get flipped (another pricing nightmare) you are probably going to pay a premium for it, and I guess it depends on whether that is worth it to you.

>9 wdripp: as a side note for anyone interested, you can figure out the offer that was accepted by looking at the sold item page html source (search for “taxExclusivePrice”).

>9 wdripp: Regarding the two Ebay sales where a best offer was accepted - the one in the U.S. sold for $145, and the one in the U.K. sold for £140.

And silly me for not reading all the way through the thread - abysswalker pointed out how to do what I just did.

>10 abysswalker: Great tip! Thanks. :)

no :)

No

>15 Bob_Reader: It all boils down to what I said in my first post. Is it worth it to you? Objectively speaking - no way is it worth that money. I don’t see it as one of the most sought after FS books - it’s not an LE. I would hold out for a more reasonably priced copy to become available. But if your desperate to get it and not too bothered by the overspend, go for it.

Have you checked on ABE or with Ardis Books for a cheaper copy?

Most would be in agreement the answer is no.
The answer you seem to be looking for is yes. So yes. Go and buy it.

Nope

>15 Bob_Reader: I see that I bought this from FS in 2012 for £20 ($34) - possibly in a sale. The current asking price is nearly 12 times that. Is any book worth such a mark up? Personally I would say no, especially for a nice but let's be honest fairly standard Folio edition. However you seem very keen on it, in which case fire away.

No. You can buy mine for $350 :)

Joke asside. I see the attractiveness and collectability with this volume. But that is a bit rich. This seller hopes for the Jules Verne effect.

Give it a few months.

Cheap and or normal priced sold expensive. Jules Verne effect is probably not an actual effect when it comes to pricing of books :)))

It is one of the latest normal volumes sold quite expensive. Worth it or not only the buyer can decide.

Some real spiced up pricing during lockdown days. Nice book. Why does it matter if it is unsealed?

>25 Bob_Reader: I asked Customer Service a couple of months ago and they said that a re-release wasn’t planned currently.

.. why not. Nobody can blame you. Decisions decisions we all make them. Congrats to you and the seller!

>25 Bob_Reader: I’ve seen many who have said that FS have no plans to, sadly. I’m the opposite - I never knew that FS released 20,000 and only found out after I bought 80 Days. I bet it was pretty cheap last year :(

>28 caesarofcaesars:
On the contrary, Twenty Thousand Leagues has been soughtafter for a while, but granted it's only in the last year or so that it's reached silly money territory. I remember about 18 months ago, it was usually selling for around £70, but I scored a new and sealed copy on ebay at that time for only €10 plus a small amount of postage, as bizarrely, no one bid against me on the auction so I got it for the starting bid. I was pretty chuffed! (Is this a good time to mention that I got a new and sealed copy of the Vampyre at the same time from the same seller for €5...? And the combined shipping only compounded my savings. Starting to feel like I owe the seller a letter of apology or something.)

I would not spend $400CAD on that book. That seller is still stinging from the Mort and Small Gods they sold last fall for cheap.

It sells in the Facebook BST group for $180 to $200 USD if I remember correctly, though it doesn’t appear often or last long if it does.

But if it’s something you really want, try negotiating him down $50 at least.