books: condition, condition, condition

Had a gal wander in wanting to know how much we'd pay for a copy of Sex, Madonna's erotic photo egogasm from the early 90's.

"Well, bring it in and we'll see."  I replied.

It's a book that always sells, and it's a book notorious for condition issues.  A really pristine copy in an unopened mylar bag would go for around $500.  The only time I've seen an unopened copy was when I worked at a new store & unpacked our allotment from the distributor on release day.

Alas for today's collector, people opened them and even more unfortunately read them.  The binding is seemingly designed to self destruct.   The machined aluminum covers are undeniably handsome, but connected by a flimsy wire spine, like a spiral notebook-

Coupled with solid metal covers it is guaranteed disaster- they nearly always end up disbound, mangled and compromised.

A while later she returns with her copy, and it's in the expected shape- the back cover is detached, a bunch of pages are loose and the CD is missing.  The comic is still there, which is some consolation.  But the valuation is a far cry from $500- more like $50.  It is a testament to the desirability of the title that we can even sell it in that kind of shape.

She was happily realistic about the condition and we struck a deal.
But situations like this are the reason we never, ever give price estimates without seeing the book.