[Daniel Buxton]

Hey there, 

I'm new to the forum- I hope I won't be begrudged for a bit of an autobiographical preamble.  I grew up reading Korman's books, like most everyone else here I suppose. I have a special affection for the books from the mid 80's to the mid-nighties, that being the era when I came of age.  I'm sure this is an familiar story, but please bear with me. Like too many people, I've been under-employed recently. As a means of supplementing my income I've begun to buy and resell used books, mostly as a hobby at first and then more seriously upon discovering I had a knack for it. 

I recently came across a hardcover of "No coins, Please" in a thrift store. Now, It's been a while since I tried to find any vintage Korman books but I remembered that even when I was a kid in the early 90's,  this one was hard to find. In fact it might have been the only one of his early books I never had the chance to read at the time. The fact that the copy in question was a hardcover seemed even more unusual. So naturally I picked it out and saw that it was signed and had an inscription from GK. Needless to say I paid the $3 they were asking and carefully transported it home. 

Upon checking the regular used book sales platforms online I was surprised to see that there were no copies with a dust jacket at all available at any price and the few hardcovers extant had prices I thought were so high as to be a little silly. So I thought that my best bet would be to post on here to get opinions on the best path to getting it into the hands of a serious fan/ collector for a fair price.

Personally, I'd be happy to own any number of more modestly valued vintage korman titles for myself, a few of my my nostalgic favourites perhaps but this particular book seems rare enough that maybe it should be a prize piece in the collection of a hardcore completist.  

Anyone have any thoughts or Ideas on what my next move should be? Just to clarify I'm mainly looking for opinions, not offers at this point. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this, 

D.B. 

[Raymond Jardine]

Hey, @D.B.

As a Kormaniac book collector since GRK came to speak at my junior high school in a year starting with 19--, I’ve spent most of my life following his books—splitting my attention between watching for news of next year’s titles and researching the early printings, cover variants, jackets, signatures, and all the other stuff that sends collectors into a frenzy.

I’d agree: You’ve found one of the big ones.

I’d put NO COINS, PLEASE in hardcover with dust jacket comfortably in the Korman collector “Top 5.” And for good reason: The story is a favorite of everyone who’s read it; the title commands a premium even in paperback; the hardcover is genuinely difficult to find; and the jacket is even scarcer than the book it’s protecting. In my own market-watching, I’d say a jacketed copy surfaces about once a year.

And scarcity aside, it’s a great-looking, substantial-feeling book—a book anyone trying to recreate a bookshelf of childhood favorites would love to have. It has shelf presence. Looking at one, I begin to understand Delancey’s parents and that argon-neon laser.

The signature is a nice bonus, although I’d call it the icing rather than the cake. GRK has always been generous about connecting with readers, so signed copies aren’t as scarce as they are for many other authors. Put it all together, though, and a signed, jacketed NO COINS, PLEASE hardcover starts getting into Griffin Bing’s Top Dog Bakery “Bambino” card territory.

As for getting it into the hands of one of those collectors: For more than a quarter-century, the best answer to that question has remained "eBay."

Since you’re already a book reseller, I’m probably not revealing the existence of eBay to you. But for this particular book, it really does give you the best shot at reaching the people who know exactly what they’re looking at.

If you already know what you’d like to get for it, a fixed-price listing will make the day of some Kormaniac trying to fill one of the stubborn gaps in an otherwise impressive Korman bookshelf. (I have a pretty good collection myself, but there are still a few equivalents of locker 205C in my lineup.)

For more excitement, there’s the eBay auction route. Your book gets a worldwide audience and the bidding countdown creates urgency, so you’ll find out what the market thinks it’s worth. Just keep in mind the buyer pool for something this specialized is enthusiastic but not enormous. A seven-day auction could produce as much excitement as the High School Band Festival’s appearance at Ontario Place—or it could happen during the week when all the deep-pocketed collectors are offline at an Oasis retreat.

And if eBay isn’t your thing—or even better, alongside an eBay listing—I’d consider posting pictures in some of the vintage juvenile/children’s-book Facebook groups. One focuses exclusively on vintage Scholastic books, another specifically limits itself to "elusive" juvenile novels. Check the individual rules, because some allow sales, some private deals, some information only. But even where selling isn’t permitted, photos of a signed, jacketed NO COINS, PLEASE should attract Kormaniacs faster than Artie Geller can turn attack jelly into a revenue stream.

[Daniel]

Hey thanks so much for your reply Raymond (Jardine=My Favourite GK Charachter of all time BTW),

I'm located in Toronto, which is where my copy turned up. I'm hoping to find a local seller if possible, do you think this is feasible? If so how would you suggest I go about finding one? Sorry to bombard you with questions, I'm a bit out of the loop when it comes to the fandom. I agree Ebay could potentially be the most profitible but since I found the book here, I sort of feel like recycling it back into the local ecosystem would be nicer. If I can't find someone local I have no problem putting it on Ebay tho. 

Thanks again, 

D.B. 

[Raymond]

Hey, @D.B.,

Well, Toronto has several independent bookshops specializing in children’s books, and some may buy used books for resale—especially a scarce edition by a much-loved Canadian author. But be prepared for an offer that basically reimburses you for the bus ride there. Booksellers’ margins are small, and they generally need to acquire books cheaply enough to leave room for resale.

Canada also has the eBay-esque site Kijiji, which gives you a much more local audience. I’ve seen some nice collectible books sit there for months, though—the pool of potential buyers just isn’t especially large. You might have somewhat better luck with Facebook Marketplace simply because it reaches more people. Either would accomplish your goal of keeping the sale local, but buyers there are also likely to expect a price substantially below what the same book might bring on eBay.

I’d still give serious consideration to those Facebook groups devoted to elusive and vintage children’s/juvenile/YA books. I know several Canadian collectors are active in them, and you’d be putting the book directly in front of the people most likely to understand both its scarcity and its appeal.

And while I’m always happy—thrilled, elated, over the moon; pick your favorite—to talk about collecting vintage Korman books here, The Forum’s traffic comes mostly from current GRK readers. Their attention tends to be on the latest release, and when they do go looking for older/out-of-print titles, they’re more likely to want affordable reading copies than collectible editions.