Yesterday’s Featured article, Selling Taunton Press Magazines On eBay provided information on a few specific magazines that are relatively easy to find and sell well on eBay.

Selling magazines on eBay can be a profitable eBay income stream. If you have little, or no, experience selling magazines on eBay here are some general guidelines regarding buying and selling magazines that will, hopefully, help you make more profits from the magazines you sell on eBay.

Why People Buy Magazines

The people who will be buying the magazines you offer on eBay will usually be doing so for one of several different reasons. Having an understanding of why most people magazines will allow you to make better buying decisions regarding what to buy and what to pass up.

Most people who buy magazines on eBay do so for one of the following major reasons.

They are interested in the subject of the magazine - They may either collect magazines about one particular subject or it may be that they collect magazines associated with another collecting interest they have. Some of the more popular subjects people collect are various sports, airplanes, automobiles, boating, farming, medicine, model building, railroads and model railroading, architecture, interior design, furniture, movies, pets and animals, science, automobile and other forms of racing, science fiction, art, etc.

Authors – Over the years, the first appearance of many well know, and collectible, authors have been in magazines. People who collect books by these authors are often also interested in obtaining magazines that contain the earliest works of these authors.

Illustrators – Many highly collectible artists either got their start by providing either cover illustrations for magazines or illustrating stories in the magazines themselves. The works or other illustrators, who are now highly collectible, appeared almost exclusively on or inside magazines.

Advertising – Coke and other soft drink ads, automobile ads, motorcycle ads, Cream of Wheat ads, Wrigley’s Gum, firearms, etc. – these are examples of some of the advertisements that were found in magazines and have become highly collectible today.

Paper dolls and cut outs – Many of the earlier children’s and women’s magazine regularly featured paper dolls and other cut outs that have now become highly sought after. Some examples would be Betsy McCall, Dolly Dingle, Kewpie doll cut outs, the Sun Bonnet Babies, the Dionne Quints, etc.

Historical events – The Revolutionary War, assassinations, women’s suffrage, the moon landings, World Wars I & II, the Civil War, etc. There is always interest in historical events that have shaped world history.

First issues – It’s surprising how many people collect the first issues – Vol. 1 No. 1 – of magazines. In many cases the value of the Vol. 1 No. 1 of a magazine is three to four times that of other issues including the second issue, which, while it may have significant value, seldom reaches the prices obtained for No. 1. (It should be noted, that some magazines don’t have a Vol. 1 No. 1 because they came about through a name change to an existing magazine, and the numbering system was continued from the previous title.)

Where To Find Magazines

Magazines can be found almost anywhere, but here are some of the best sources along with an idea of what you are likely to find and what to look for at each one.

Garage sales - Garage or yard sales are a great source of current magazines that are still being published and those that only recently ceased publication. Expect to find good size lots, often 50 or more issues of the same publication, priced cheaply. They are a great source of many different “subject” specific magazines that will sell well on eBay in lots or runs.
Thrift shops – Some thrift shops don’t bother putting magazines out, but if they do, they can often be an excellent source for anywhere from one to five or six year runs of magazines that sell well on eBay. Prices are normally cheap – many times only $.10 an issue.

Book sales – Friend Of The Library, American Association Of University Women and other book sales put on by private organizations won’t normally have a wide selection of magazines, but you will be surprised how often you can find good-sized runs of both mainstream and strange magazines at them. Normally at cheap price that will allow you plenty of profit.

Estate sales – You never know what you may find at an estate sale. Lengthy runs of vintage magazines from the 20s to the 50s are just as likely to show up as are runs of more recent publications. While it’s quite possible the asking price will be higher than at garage sales, there are still many good buys that can be found here and it never hurts to bargain if possible.

Auction sales – What kind of magazines you will find at auction sales is often pretty similar to estate sales and another good place to buy large lots. Due to the different sale format and the likely presence of antique dealers prices tend to be somewhat higher for well-known mainstream magazines. However, you can often buy great magazines by just being a little more knowledgeable then most antique dealers are. While they may drive the price up on boxes of old Saturday Evening Post and Life magazines, they usually show little, or no, interest in the specialty magazines – boating, wrought-iron applications in architecture, etc. – and you can often get these quite cheaply. The nice thing is they are often the ones that sell the fastest and for the most money.

Flea markets – Flea markets are a good source for not only large lots of a particular magazine, but also for individual magazines that may be money-makers. However, at this level of the seller food chain, you are beginning to deal with people who at least think they have a better knowledge of values so again the better known, and more widely collected, magazines may priced such that you can’t make a decent profit. Flea markets though are still a great source for large lots of less well-known magazines that sell for plenty of money but aren’t as well known. They are also a good place to cherry-pick individual issues of well-known magazines. A dealer with boxes full of old Life magazines may have a rough idea of their value per issue, but won’t be aware of specific covers or articles that make certain individual issues much more valuable.

Antique shops and malls – You won’t find many lengthy runs of current magazines at antique shops or malls, but they are an excellent source of individual issues of vintage magazines. What I said about flea markets pretty much applies here also. These are excellent places for cherry-picking individual issues of well-known magazines such as LIFE, Saturday Evening Post, etc. and for buying single issues of lesser-known magazines at cheap prices. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve bought individual magazines for $5 or $10 out of antique shops and malls and been able to turn around and sell them for $100 to $200 or more on eBay.

From the general public – Using this approach to finding eBayable magazines can require some time, and you will see plenty of junk along with good magazines, but very often simply running a small ad under the “Wanted To Buy” section of your local classified can turn up some interesting finds. For those with the time and patience to try this approach, over time, the rewards can be significant.

NOTE: When considering the purchase of a magazine always insure that all pages are present. You will be surprised how many vintage magazines are complete except for one or two pages that have been torn out for their illustrations, advertisements, or paper dolls.

Grading Magazines

Obviously, as in most collectible areas, the condition of magazine plays a factor in what you can reasonably expect to get for it. Most runs of common magazines you pick up at garage sales, thrift shops, or book sales will be in decent condition, but condition is still a factor. However, when you get into the area of individual issues of older vintage magazine it plays a very important part. Below are some generally accepted guidelines for determining the condition of magazines.

MINT – Not really applicable to vintage magazines. For new ones they would pretty much have to be in original plastic mailers.

NEAR MINT (NM)VERY FINE (VF) – The cover looks virtually flawless and it has clean, flat interior pages. Cover should have full gloss if printed on glossy paper. Binding should be tight with untarnished staples. Should look like it has never been read, but may have one or two minute defect from being shipped or shelved such as small rug (scuff) spots or very minor wear at the top or bottom of the spine.

FINE (F) – The most often seen collectible grade. A flat, tight, solid magazine with minimal signs of wear. May have some beginning loss to cover gloss, some minimal spine wear, Cover corners may show some slight bumping and covers will show more signs of scuffing.

VERY GOOD (VG) – Probably displays some loss of cover gloss, some light creases to the covers, noticeable scuffing or rubbing to the covers, some dog-eared or creased inside pages. Some very light soiling, one or two pages may be starting to come loose. There still will not be any torn or missing pages or pages with holes in them.

GOOD (G) – Shows wear, creases, and some small tears to the covers and the interior pages. Staples may be beginning to discolor or rust. May have minor water damage to a few areas and center pages may be loose from the binding (but still present). The magazine is still complete, and in reasonable condition, but is definitely shows signs of being read and handled.

FAIR (FR) – Overall still a solid and complete magazine, but it definitely shows signs of wear and having been read several times. There may be considerable water damage, loose covers, considerable creasing to the cover and interior pages, large tears to interior pages, or highlighting or hand written notes on the pages or the covers. At best, this is probably a reading copy.

Guidelines For Selling Magazines On eBay

Here are a few suggestions regarding listing magazines on eBay. These aren’t hard and fast rules, but simply ideas from my experience selling these on eBay over the last few years.

In general, magazines should almost always be listed in the Books>Back Issues category. However, there are a few exceptions such as:

• Hobby related magazines (model railroading, model building, etc.) often do better when listed under the appropriate hobby category
• Magazines that are primarily sources of patterns for sewing, knitting, crochet, needle-crafts, cross stitch, etc. often sell better in the sub-category of patterns under the appropriate bigger category

When selling runs or lots, be sure you indicate exactly what issues are included in the lot.

When selling individual vintage and/or obscure magazines it’s usually a good idea to provide prospective bidders with a complete list of article/story titles, authors, and the company of any full-page advertisements present. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen bidding wars develop between two, or more, people because they are interested in an article about some obscure topic, or by some obscure author. If these hadn’t been listed, the magazine may never had sold or would have sold for a much lower price.

Photo by Maulleigh

Popularity: 62% [?]

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!