I have collected many quality aviation books over the years,ex pensive in their day.....today they are worth very little on the market....Is this because the Ww2 generation is all but dead ?Youngsters only seem to be interested in a limited range of interests and self centred....
The following user(s) said Thank You: Richard Austen
Secondhand books on the likes of Amazon and eBay etc. can vary tremendously in price/value.. As an example the Guy Gibson Logbook replica was on sales for £250 and £15 on the same site at the same time. I did check and the £15 wasn't a CD of PDF copy, which do seem to crop up occasionally. I think there are a lot of chancers out there and like to think their books are more valuable than they really are and often add the word RARE in the description to reinforce this belief. If you wait long enough the book you are after will come along at a reasonable price.
As for selling them I suspect most owners are aware of which books might be sought after by collectors and enthusiasts and a selling price can be put on it that is not too high or too low. There are a number of books that seem to flood the market and Action Stations and the County series of books spring to mind. Both were popular sellers at the time so copies are ten a penny and therefore not worth that much. Other, less popular ones may fetch a good price but finding the right buyer is the key.
I do think the number of airfield history enthusiasts is dwindling but there are still up and coming historians eager to follow the subject but not in the same quantity as the baby boomers whose parents went through the war.
No Amount Of Evidence Will Ever Persuade An Idiot (probably not Mark Twain)
The following user(s) said Thank You: Bloodhound1949
You do seem to get some silly prices online, it is bit lik some of the prices you see on eBay.
There are a lot of poor quality copies of old books around. I have an original copy one of the US Navy books on the Northern Barrage that I bought years ago direct from the US for quite a modest sun. I showed it to a group researching the topic. One person had a facsimile copy. The pictures in my copy are not brilliant but he said it was far better than the facsimile.
A friend me his copy of "Ragnar's Guide To Home And Recreational Use Of High Explosives", it is just a small paperback that was originally very cheap. Amazon have it for £148!
Me too ! Don't matter how much they are worth, the pleasure is in having them.
Many think of books as disposable items, you have to be careful if you lend them a book because they are quite likely to give it to someone else or even put it in a charity shop.
Me too ! Don't matter how much they are worth, the pleasure is in having them.
Many think of books as disposable items, you have to be careful if you lend them a book because they are quite likely to give it to someone else or even put it in a charity shop.
I loaned one of my books, a paperback about some American kid who remembered where his plane crashed in WW2. In return I was loaned a book about Jack the Ripper by this friend. She loaned My book to someone else...and so-on. Never got it back, not that I was really bothered, still have the 'Ripper book. But I will Never lend any of my WW2 airfield / aircraft books to Anyone..
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