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.)
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