Has the value-cost of vintage older Jack The Ripper books dropped over the years?

[Christian]

Have noticed over the last few decades that the value of many books from 1959 onwards has dropped is this due to a younger generation the inter-net people downsizing?? Me personally cherish the old classics and love to revisit- read them much the same with my record collection just interested in folks views on books & thinking thanks cw

[rjpalmer]

Hi CW. It's an interesting question. You're speaking of vintage books, but some recent Ripper books, hot off the press, are over-priced, some are reasonable. But if one waits a couple of years, you can sometimes pick up the same book out of the "bummer bin" for as little as $.01 + shipping. But if you wait too long, the book has a tendency to become rare, and suddenly the price sky-rockets and it may cost you $50 or more for the same title. So, if you've got time to burn, and you're looking for value, it's all a matter of timing. Some of it comes down to whether the publisher printed too many copies, and there's a glut.

The most money I ever wasted on a Ripper book was a copy of Leonard Matters. I think it cost me $60. I paid over $100 for a first edition of a Scotland Yarder's memoirs, but I don't consider that a waste. But, by and large, there is little rhyme or reason to any of it. There are some great or forgotten titles available for $3, and there is some complete trash for over $100. It's the same as your old album collection. The ways of the world and the market are mysterious.

If you have hard-backed copies and first-editions, I would suggest hanging on to them. The value is not likely to drop.

PS. What is really frustrating are academic books (Oxford University Press, etc.) on some side issue. If you snooze, and don't buy the book when it hits the shelf, you may find yourself digging deep into your wallet and paying $100 US--if you're lucky enough even to find a copy.

[Christian]

Great take on the subject rjpalmer some good and true points!!Indeed collecting books records can be very strange and often you just get lucky so to speak!!I no longer buy every book on jtr tend to cherry pick or review any book that may interest me

[Sam Flynn]

Years and years ago, I tried to make a private purchase of a certain old Ripper book, and offered the seller what I thought was a fair price, based on recent sales for a copy of the same edition. The seller almost seemed insulted, saying they'd paid far more for the book "N" years previously. I said I'd made a decent "going rate" offer, and I could go a bit higher but no more, but that was still not good enough - they'd rather put it on eBay instead. And so it came to pass that the book went on eBay... and sold for rather less than what I'd offered in the first place. Serves them right

[Ginger]

Well, I don't technically collect. I buy them to read, then keep them to have them handy. The internet, and especially Kindle, has changed my life in this regard. Not only can I carry around several hundred books on my tablet, ready to hand whenever I want them, but I also have things now that I could never have justified the expense of before. Increase Mather's "Wonders of the Invisible World", Matthew Hopkins' "Discovery of Witches", as well as complete collections of Poe, Blackwood, Hodgeson, HR Wakefield, and the major works of Baring-Gould. I don't think I paid above $3 for any of these, and many were free.

I've gone from "make a note to ask the library to order that for me", to "let's look and see".

[Herlock Sholmes]

Prices often surprise me. I’ve seen in Ripperologist that Laybooks is selling An Eye To The Future by Patricia Cory for £150! I have a copy. I’ve never payed more than around £40-50 for a ripper book. The Harlot Killer was one that I remember buying and Matters of course. I seriously regret selling three books for £250-300 around 15 years ago! Probably worth more than double now. One was limited to 100 copies which I received in error (happily for me.)

[PaulB]

The growth of the internet kicked the hell out of book prices and as booksellers saw what others were asking the prices became pretty standarised. Laybooks can cost a little bit more, but they are always (in my experience) of very good quality. I want a William Stewart, but doesn't everyone? I would find it too painful to part with what people want for one though.