Big Books Big Business on EBay
Big Book catalogs may be over, now that J.C. Penney has decided to kill off its giant catalog. But old holiday Big Books remain hot sellers on eBay, according to a release from eBay market research firm HammerTap.
In the past 30 days, 153 of these Big Book catalogs were placed up for bid on eBay; 73% of them successfully ended in a sale. Vintage Sears Roebuck Christmas catalogs from the 1950s and 1960s were the top sellers, HammerTap says.
Not that anyone’s getting rich auctioning off old Big Books: The average selling price was $45 for each catalog. The highest-selling book was 176-page Wish List Sears catalog from 1943, which sold for $305.
But if you have any old Sears Roebuck catalogs lying around, keep in mind that listings that included the word Roebuck increased the average selling price from $45 to $96—a $50 increase in selling price.
HammerTap says 100% of listings with the word Roebuck in them ended in a sale. (And we though everyone had forgotten about Alvah C. Roebuck.)
Now I wished I’d saved our old Sears Wish Book catalogs from the ‘70s, dog-eared as they were, with certain toys hopefully circled. (I never did get that Barbie Dream House—thanks for nothing, Santa!)
Maybe it’s time to start stockpiling copies of Penney’s last Big Book catalog.
