Rare Book Monthly
Articles - February - 2009 Issue
Book Prices Plunged Over 20% in 2008
One of the auction charts compiled by AE.
Near perfect sell-through rates were achieved by two auction houses which offered over 1,000 lots - Profiles in History (which conducted Hollywood's Collector's Book Store sale) and National Book Auctions of Ithaca. As always, New England Book Auction was close at 99%. Bonham's in Rome was the lowest at 41%, though most Bonham's offices had above average sales rates.
Four percent of the lots sold went for over $10,000. The leader here was Christie's in New York with 1,378 such items. However, there was plenty available for buyers of more modest means, with 11% of the lots selling for under $100.
The fourth quarter of the year is normally the busiest, but the worsening financial crisis later in the year must have caused some sellers to hold back. The percentage of lots offered in the fourth quarter dropped from 38% to 34%, making the second quarter, with 36% of the lots, the busiest. Likewise, the most active single month was May, with 17% of sales. The past four years, November was always the busiest. Sales, as usual, were slowest in August, with under 2% of the total lots offered.
In total, we tracked 476 auctions, with over 220,000 lots offered for sale. The most expensive item was Abraham Lincoln's response to the "Little People's Petition," sold for $3,401,000. In total, the sales at these auctions came to $375 million. In 2007, that total was over $500 million from slightly fewer lots.
The complete set of seven auction charts is available to all Research and Premium members of the Americana Exchange. If you are already a member, log in. If not, click here to sign up for a Research or Premium membership. You can always reach these charts from the "2008 Auction Results" link under "Subscriber Services" on the left side of this page or by clicking this link.
