Sleuthing at eBay for Nancy Drew #8

More eBay commentary on what's up for auction every once in a while to help educate collectors and--well, have snarky fun too:) So, I'll highlight a few interesting finds, crazy listings, and eBay Nancy Drew flubs and the like. Chime in, in the comments section with your thoughts or questions! Copy the item number and go to http://www.ebay.com and enter it into the search box to view the following auctions:

(Disclaimer: No offense meant to any seller or bidder/potential bidder--I'm sure you're all lovely people:)...)

Auctions:

Sorry, It's no Mystery, It's Just Not Rare...

Item Number: 380030651804 Description: NANCY DREW HAUNTED SHOWBOAT #35 1957 W/DJ 1958A-1// VERY RARE 1ST EDITION BLUE TWEED GRAVEDIGGER NO WRITING

(Ends: 05/03/08) - Not rare. The endpapers are not of a "gravedigger." They're called Digger endpapers and the scene of the digger is from Twisted Candles where the villain was burying items he was stealing from an inn, Nancy peering out from the tree is from Red Gate Farm. No graves being dug. Would spice it up a little more, though wouldn't it!?

Item Number: 230254294663 Description: NANCY DREW Nancy's Mysterious Letter BLANK BACK RARE!

(Ends: 05/26/08) - Sorry, not rare!

Surprising Ending Price:

Item Number: 120257617481 Description: 1932A-1 NANCY DREW MYSTERY 7 Clue in the Diary FIRST!

(Ended: 5/10/08) - This first printing of Diary is very scarce--only printing with the format 1--very scarce indeed! I've seen this book sell for upwards of 5000.00 before at eBay. Prices are really down, it went for only $1650.88. Considering (see below) that a white private eye diary sold for $1400.00 recently, this figure for a 1932 first printing/first edition of Diary is rather sad.

Item Number: 200223996055 Description: Nancy Drew Private Eye Diary RARE WHITE! with KEY!!!

(Ended: 5/20/08) - Wow, I'm almost at a loss for words:) So the auction started out with a buy it now option of 1500.00. An offer for 1400.00 was accepted. I think that's extreme. I've seen this sell for upwards of 500.00 on a good day. I purchased my Harriet Adams signed edition for around 250.00 several years ago. The greatest thing about this auction is that it had the key--that's rather uncommon, usually the diaries come up missing the key. I've seen half a dozen to a dozen of these sell at eBay in the last 10 years--and that's just auctions I caught. I let the seller know that this wasn't as rare as he claimed it to be, but they didn't revise their info describing it as a once in a lifetime collectible or "rare." It's not rare, it's semi scarce at best.

Bidding Mania:

Item Number: 230250937421 Description: Nancy Drew Ski Jump Vintage DIGGER Tweed / DJ

(Ended: 5/18/08) - This one is a good example of 2 bidders bidding something up way past its value--or at least paying a lot more than they have to. eBay is a buyer's market right now, you can get stuff for good deals! There were 3 bidders--1 of whom bid once. The other 2 bid more, and 1 of the bidders bid the most, really running up the price. People get a clue--bid at the last minute and you'll save a few bucks:) I learned that the hard way when I first started out. The price for a 13th common printing of Ski Jump: $92.99.

A check of recently ended auctions for other Ski Jump books reveals a more reasonable selling price of between $29.00-$31.00 and even one selling at $12.25. See, no need to go hog wild, there's plenty of them out there! Just tell yourself, another will surface again and you won't feel like you have to snap everything up no matter the price.

Jenn:)