The COVID pandemic crisis has forced many rare book dealers to reassess the decades-old traditional business models or face closing permanently. Pandemic-proof ecommerce sales channels, such as online marketplaces, online auction events and virtual book fairs grew as a result. According to the Department of Commerce International Trade Administration, global ecommerce had an additional 19% sales growth for 2020, and an additional 22% sales growth for 2021 to the existing 9% and 12% regular sales growth rates.1
2024, a year well past the Covid disruptions showed a mix of sorts. There were less in-person book fairs held in 2024 than in 2023, and the dealer participation in those events, such as the ones organized by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), declined considerably. . The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair (BIABF), one of the oldest and most respected antiquarian book shows in the USA, took place last November, with a total of 98 dealers participating. This was significantly less than the 108 who attended the year before and lower than the 113 who exhibited in 2022. A month before, in October 2024, the on-line ABAA 75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair broke the record with 194 dealers participating.
COVID disruptions have also caused collectors to become more comfortable buying higher priced rare books at online marketplaces such as Abebooks and Biblio. 2024 did not show an increase from the year prior in big ticket book sales as reported by these marketplaces. The total for most expensive sales of rare collectibles, dropped by 23% in 2024 from the year before at online marketplaces.
The overall performance of online book fairs which peaked during Covid, did not perform well in 2024 either. The average sell-through rates (ratio of items sold relative to the total offered for sale) remained at 7.7%. Dealers have a limited number of books on display during these events. The average for the ABAA 75th Anniversary was 20 books. The Kelmscott Bookshop exhibited the most, with 72 books. This is significantly lower than what a booth at an in-person event usually makes available. Twenty books offered for sale at a 7.7% sell-through rate is equivalent to a total of 1.5 books sold, approximately. At such ROI, it seems likely that participating dealers are using online book fairs to promote their brand name and specialty than profit.
The exception to the lukewarm performance of book fairs and online sales in 2024 were auctions. Rare Book Hub which tracks prices paid at auction for books and related collectibles reported that in 2024, 500 lots sold for $120,000 or more compared to only 270 lots in 2023. In 2023, 12 items sold for over $1 million. In 2024, that number was 29. Christie’s sold The Crosby-Schøyen Codex, written in Coptic, manuscript on papyrus (pictured above) for £3,065,000 and an annotated copy of Andreas Vesalius De humani corporis fabrica, from 1555, sold for $2,228,000
Our Rare Book Sale Monitor (RBSM) which collects sales information from various online events and marketplaces has ticked upwards only in the case of the works by authors such as Charles Dickens, J. K. Rowling and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
RBSM – Author Breakdown 2024 edition
The entirety of the last decade has seen extraordinary prices for Charles Dickens‘s works, highlighting not only their literary value, but also their appeal to collectors because of their rarity. Dicken’s sales remained very strong during 2024 at auction, as well as at marketplaces, such as Abebooks and Biblio. It usually takes decades for a book to gain significant value in the rare book market and enter ‘collectible’ territory. The Harry Potter series, with its last book published in 2007, is a significant exception. Scarce inscribed/signed copies of Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, with dust jacket in superior condition, continue to climb in price.
The value in rare books is 100% a function of what somebody is willing to pay, but also a function of availability. Collectors are willing to pay for high-valued purchases online but the supply has to also do its part. There was ample excitement on what was being offered to the highest bidders at auctions but other channels did not share the same enthusiasm. In-person book fairs are on the decline following the path mapped by brick and mortar bookstores in prior years. Online book fairs are not paying off due to the limited amount of books offered for sale and the low sell-through rates. Online marketplaces had a less impressive year for higher priced collectibles, but that seems to be due to supply availability at reasonable prices. Auctions were the big winners in 2024, with a great deal of eclectic rare books offered for sale and collectors eager to bid up winning bids.
1 eCommerce Share of Total Global Retail Sales 2015-2024
source: Department of Commerce International Trade Administration
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