A lot of the hardcover books like PH and DMG do not bring in much money unless they are early printings.  Although the DMG you just purchased looks like the D in the top left yellow banner is clipped off, I don't think it is a first print of the book.

With the PH and DMG, if you played D&D you probably had these books so there are lots of them out there.  The other trouble is that they are fairly heavy to ship.  At one point I had about 40 hardcovers and at the price that they go for on Ebay, it was better for me just to bring them in to a used bookstore and get some credit.  

Still though, $6 after shipping is a good price.

Yep, all the hardcovers are readily available on ebay. Just wait and watch for one in the condition you want.



$6 is perfectly fine for any of the books (shipping included). To save some more money, watch for groups. This happens often. You can find the core 1st ed. books in groups of three or more, often in great shape, for less than $10 with $5 media shipping fairly frequently.



The key questions to always ask are: is there any writing (including names on inside covers which most sellers fail to divulge) and loose pages for Unearthed Arcana and Oriental Adventures. Consult the Acaeum research section for more great info.

khartsfield wrote:I just bought a DMG off eBay for $5.99 ($1.99 for the book, $4.00 S/H). The price list says it should go for about $6-$8 for the book alone. Here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... RK:MEWN:IT

Did I get a good deal, or is there a ruse in there somewhere? I am new to this collecting business (obvioulsy!)

I think you did very well, but take heed of the previous posts and try to buy these hardcovers in bulk to save money on shipping.  



Don't take the Acaeum valuations too literally on the more common items -- the range is really quite wide.  Local shops often try to sell DMGs for $40+, but as you've demonstrated, you can often score them for a couple of bucks.