Selling Vintage Children's Books on eBay

Today's post is by Trish of Birdhouse Books. Trish's niche is vintage children's books.

Vintage children’s books are a fun and interesting niche market on eBay. I have collected vintage children’s book for years (Eloise Wilkin, Lois Lenski, Maud Hart Lovelace, Carolyn Haywood, Wylly Folk St. John), so selling the books was a natural progression. One of the things I really enjoy about selling vintage children’s books online is emailing with buyers who love the books as much as I do.

A few authors who sell consistently well are older editions of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Maud Hart Lovelace, Lois Lenski, Dare Wright (The Lonely Doll series), and popular illustrators like Eloise Wilkin, Richard Scarry, Garth Williams, and more.

A variety of children’s books do especially well online. These include:

Pop-Up Books. The pop-ups should all be in good working condition. I always photograph the pop-ups in detail for listings.

Early (original price 25¢ - 29¢) Little Golden Books. With these again, condition is key. Be sure to note any marks or writing in the book.

1930's - 1940's vintage illustrators including Fern Bisel Peat, Eulalie, Masha, and more.

Vintage books about Halloween. (I also sell vintage ephemera, and Halloween is a hot category there as well.)

Vintage picture books prominently featuring a popular dog breed. I usually try to squeeze the dog breed into the auction title, along with the title of the book. A good example is the Marjorie Flack series of books about Angus, which feature the adventures of a Scottish Terrier dog.

Baby boomer vintage school readers including the popular Scott Foresman Dick and Jane series, Ginn readers, Singer readers, and the Alice and Jerry series of readers. These are prized by collectors as well as homeschooling families, who use the books in home classroom settings. Buyers will want to know the grade level of the reader. This can sometimes be found on the spine (Scott Foresman) and sometimes in the notations for teacher at the end of the book.

My best children’s book sale online – so far! – has been a beautiful oversized linen picture book featuring Fern Bisel Peat illustrations on each page. It sold for a little over $300.

It gives me great pleasure to connect readers and collectors with books they remember from childhood. You can visit my store at Birdhouse Books and my blog at Birdhouse Books Blog.

Thank you, Trish for this great post!

Now, think about how many people out there have valuable vintage children's books in their home and they need an eBay seller to turn their items into cash. That could be you! Make sure you are listed in my eBay Seller's Consignment Directory so these folks can find you.