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#1: Cost of CS books Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 4:17 pm
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I've got all the hbs except Problem (GGB) and most of the fillers and as I do a read through I'm making a note of how much I spent and what it would cost to replace them now. I'll let you know the total when I've finished (up to Barbara now, so I'm getting there)

#2: Author: Lisa, Location: South Coast of England

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:20 pm
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Ooh Dawn, that will be really interesting (and probably quite shocking!)

#3: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 12:29 am
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Ok - deep breath time

I've just done the totals for all the CS books, La Rochelles (except Head Girls Difficulties) and all the fill ins up to and including Kenya. All the CS books are HBs of varying ages and conditions, nearly all have D/Ws, but most are photocopied. The La Rochelle's are almost all GGB

I've put a £0 for the ones I've been given as presents, but that really is only a couple of them. The cost to me to buy that little lot worked out at ..

£1042.99 (including postage where applicable)

and the approximate cost of replacing, based on a need it now, but not the silliest prices is..

£1852.00 (including postage on everything)

There are 52 books (2 copies of School At - 1939 and a GGB for all the extra information), so they have so far cost an average of £20.06 each and would cost £35.61 to replace

Excluding fill ins, I have only 4 firsts in the collection. but all these figures will change as I finish my re-read.

#4: Author: joyclark,

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:53 am
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WOW . . . makes one think doesn't it? Not a bad investment at all. I hope they're insured!

Are they (the ebay books) going to be split and sold or kept and loved, I wonder.

#5: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 10:53 am
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Golly! I added my half-collection up once (got bored half way though Embarassed

) and it came to six hundred euro. I am franky scared to finish the adding up.

#6: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 12:35 pm
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joyclark wrote:

WOW . . . makes one think doesn't it? Not a bad investment at all. I hope they're insured!

Oh yes! and well photographed as well for proof, plus as I'm re-reading I'm doing a spreadsheet which lists lots of details including condition. And I'm intending to do the spreadsheet for all my books as I read them - not just the GO ones. It will be interesting to see which are the last to be read!

#7: Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 12:47 pm
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Dawn wrote:

I'm doing a spreadsheet which lists lots of details including condition.

Gosh, what a sensible idea. Sounds like a good time for me to learn how to use Excel. I haven't got my CS etc books mentioned on contents insurance, but probably should. I have a complete set of paperbacks and about 40 hardbacks plus lots of GGBP and Malcolm Saville hardbacks.

*off to look at contents insurance documents*

#8: Author: joyclark,

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 1:11 pm
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Insurance is not the sort of thing one would necessarily think about until something likew this makes one realise.
I wonder of the whole collection would be counted as one item for insurance purposes or whether each book counts separately (thinking of own comaratively meagre collection here)

#9: Author: Squirrel, Location: St-Andrews or Dunfermline

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 1:13 pm
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I think that that depends on the book and each individual valuation.

#10: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 1:29 pm
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You have to ring your insurance company to check

Some insurance companies will count all books by an author as 1 item, others will count each book as an item.

this has huge implications - very often there is a single item limit - so it may be that you can only claim a maximum of eg £250 for 1 item, unless you have previously told the insurance company

Another thing to be very wary of is the way that insurance companies will apportion values to areas of the house.
If the whole of your downstairs contents were destroyed (eg through flooding), then you would be unlikely to be able to claim 95% of the insured contents value as they would point out that it was only half the house that was damaged. Obviously it's not set in stone, but a lot of people are under insured and rely on not having to make a claim for their entire contents (eg house fire) and then run into problems if they have a major incident.

I used to sell buildings and contents insurance (can you tell Wink

) - so am now very wary and if in doubt I ring and check with the company before changing my policy.

Taking photos and having real proof of the value of your books/cds etc is a good thing to do. If you can show evidence of the collection, it is much easier to get them to agree to replace it all. Friends were burgled and they took their absolutely massive CD collection - the insurance company were a bit dubious about the size of the claim, until they saw the photos she had recently taken.

My spreadsheet has details of book, author, series, genre, what the first edition was, what my edition is, condition of books, D/W or photocopy, whether it's a first, any special things (eg signed - sadly no signed EBDs). And in the case of GO books, what I paid for it (including postage if applicable) and what it would cost to replace immediately (inc postage)

And in case you're wondering, the difference between buildings and contents is reasonably simple. Imagine picking up your house and shaking it firmly upside down, anything that falls out is contents, the rest is buildings (carpets usually come under contents, wooden floors are buildings)

#11: Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 5:03 pm
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Thanks Dawn, it's useful to know.

#12: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:32 pm
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Yes, that kind of info is literally invaluable Dawn. Am saving your post, thanks Very Happy

#13: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 7:56 pm
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Thanks Dawn - now, please may I have your address and details of which flowerpot the spare key is kept under ... Laughing

#14: Author: Dawn, Location: Leeds, West Yorks

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 8:43 am
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LizB wrote:

Thanks Dawn - now, please may I have your address and details of which flowerpot the spare key is kept under ... Laughing

Chris and Jess are home alone this weekend, and it will actually just be Chris at home on Saturday night after having been to a party - he may just be susceptible to bribery and corruption Confused

BUT I shall know who to blame Wink

#15: Author: Lexi, Location: Liverpool

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:05 pm
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Some lucky ebay seller is going to be a lot better off in a week's time! She's got about 60 EBD books listed, some GGBP but a fair few hardbacks and they're not all CS titles. Apparently she's got no room for her other books so these are being sacrificed Shocked

*fingers very tightly crossed that the prices on Carola and Gay don't go too high cos I'm trying to persuade a friend to get me some for my birthday. The cheaper they are, the more he can get me...*

#16: Author: Eilidh, Location: North Lanarkshire

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:21 pm
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I catalogued all our books in Excel when I unpacked them after we moved. As we are both book-mad, it took me two days to list title, author, genre, and HB/PB. We have been trying to keep it up to date as we buy new books, so at the moment we have about 910. I have no idea how much they're worth, though, and wouldn't know how to go about finding out.

#17: Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 10:43 pm
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Lexi wrote:

*fingers very tightly crossed that the prices on Carola and Gay don't go too high cos I'm trying to persuade a friend to get me some for my birthday. The cheaper they are, the more he can get me...*

Just FYI, Gay is one of the next books to be brought out by GGB... halo

#18: Author: Elbee, Location: Surrey

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 11:01 pm
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KB wrote:

Just FYI, Gay is one of the next books to be brought out by GGB...

oooh! any more inside information about future GGBP publications?!

#19: Author: vililee,

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:47 am
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Topsy-Turvy give their customers updates on what is coming from GGBP inbetween catalogues - they announced Gay and Head Girl's Difficulties.

http://www.topsyturvychildrensbooks.co.uk/ and follow the link to GGBP/Fidra on the first page.

#20: Author: Lexi, Location: Liverpool

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 12:08 pm
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KB wrote:

Just FYI, Gay is one of the next books to be brought out by GGB... halo

Oooooh!

I don't have any GGBP books so far. I've need three more normal paperbacks to complete my set, then I have to start replacing the very tatty and ex library ones.

After that I either start collecting GGBP versions of the really cut books or a few of the hardbacks (just as a treat for myself cos I don't think I can afford them all!) Decisions, decisions. I only really want Carola and Gay in hardback for now cos they're my favourite two books.

#21: Author: Katherine, Location: London, UK

Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 5:53 pm
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Ooh, Gay's such a good book. I may have to send GGB a cheque.

#22: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:41 am
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With regard to the insurance, check just how your insurance company pays out; a certain company over here has been known to proffer vouchers made out to a large department store on the theory that the insured individual has claimed for books and these stores sell books....

I rather think it comes back to the need for documentation and photographs. And then there's the issue of making sure that if you do have specific intentions with regard to your books, they are mentioned in your will.

#23: Author: JoS, Location: South Africa

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 6:38 pm
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Gay was the very 1st hardback I acquired. With DJ too. Purchased from a second hand bookshop - a great find. I have a very soft spot for that book!

#24: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:46 pm
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I love Gay too. It was the first wartime economy HB I encountered - I didn't know they existed before then.

#25: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 8:26 pm
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I always used to wonder why my Jo to the Rescue was small until I found out what wartime economy books were!

#26: Author: Liz K, Location: Bedfordshire

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 9:33 pm
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I went to Hay-on-Wye last year (stayed a couple of nights in a B&B so I could spend the whole day there). I ended up in a childrens' bookshop and found 8-9 CS books and WOULD have bought them all had the shop assistant not told me it was going to cost me £200+. Fortunately the first two titles in the series were there so I bought just them.

There were some lovely books there that were in glass cabinets where you couldn't touch them; I should imagine they were from the late 1800s/early 1900s that were brought out for Sunday afternoon reading only. I dread to think how much THEY cost.

I was talking to someone at the same B&B and she was saying how an elderly relative had stacks of all these childrens' books (i.e. EDB, Angela Brazil etc) and when the relative died, they were sent to bookshops such as this one in Hay. I've just GOT to go there again, properly armed with saved-up money.................

#27: Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:01 am
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If you're thinking of cataloguing your books, I can recommend the Readerware software (www.readerware.com). It's not free, but it's a huge improvement over doing a spreadsheet for lots of books.

You can catalogue books by entering the ISBN code (with optional barcode scanner if you want), and it looks up the information on the web, using Amazon and various other bookstores, UK ones included. You then get a nice searchable database with cover art thumbnails, current value, publisher, publishing date and copyright format, number of pages, and can enter things like genre, book condition, what series it's a part of, if it's a first edition, where the book is stored, etc.

You can also print catalogues and shopping lists, and export the data to palm pilot or iPod for portability and use while in bookstores. You can get a discount if you buy the three program package, with the companion programs for CDs and DVDs/Video Tapes. It's also handy for printing out an HTML list for family to look at to see what you already have at Christmas time. Very Happy

I've got about 2000 books, so this is really useful for keeping things straight.

#28: Author: Liz K, Location: Bedfordshire

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 11:18 am
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jennifer wrote:

If you're thinking of cataloguing your books, I can recommend the Readerware software (www.readerware.com). It's not free, but it's a huge improvement over doing a spreadsheet for lots of books.

You can catalogue books by entering the ISBN code (with optional barcode scanner if you want), and it looks up the information on the web, using Amazon and various other bookstores, UK ones included. You then get a nice searchable database with cover art thumbnails, current value, publisher, publishing date and copyright format, number of pages, and can enter things like genre, book condition, what series it's a part of, if it's a first edition, where the book is stored, etc.

You can also print catalogues and shopping lists, and export the data to palm pilot or iPod for portability and use while in bookstores. You can get a discount if you buy the three program package, with the companion programs for CDs and DVDs/Video Tapes. It's also handy for printing out an HTML list for family to look at to see what you already have at Christmas time. Very Happy

I've got about 2000 books, so this is really useful for keeping things straight.

Ooooooohhhhh, this sounds an excellent idea, I've got loads of books; I'll try this. Thanks.

#29: Author: Maeve, Location: Romania

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 2:18 pm
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jennifer wrote:

Quote:

If you're thinking of cataloguing your books, I can recommend the Readerware software (www.readerware.com). It's not free, but it's a huge improvement over doing a spreadsheet for lots of books.

You might also want to check out http://www.librarything.com/. You can catalog 200 books for free, as many as you like for $10 (year) or $25 (life). It's a fun site to play with.

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