Kovels Books Sale

[sandnsea]

They have an interesting newsletter, no clue about their books. But they're on sale!

https://www.kovelsonlinestore.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=41&Click=3821

[Stinky The Clown]

1. I find the Kovel books wildly misleading

My expertise is in fountain pens, but I've seen similar issues in almost anything they price.

They show a pen and assign a value to it. They don't allow for condition. They don't allow for pen A to be hugely valuable, but the similar Pen B to be a super cheap knock off, even as it is contemporary to Pen A.

This leads to dealers unknowingly over charging or rank amateur collectors grossly overpaying for out and out junk.

The Kovel books are so broadly general as to be useless, in my view.

[sandnsea]

2. Isn't that always the way

Quality doesn't always count for success. I just like their newsletter because of the variety of antiques it includes.

[yy4me]

3. I agree completely. When I was in the business, Kovel was

considered--at first--the best source if pricing help. As experience grew, we realized that it is almost worthless. No accounting for regional pricing, too general in all its listings.

What is the use if a listing like:


Nippon plate 7" $45.00
Pin, sterling with Amethyst $22.00

After a few years of wasting money on the book, we stopped buying it and bought specific books to build a reference library and learned values on our own, based on rarity, condition and all the other criteria involved in establishing a fair retail price for our area.

Perhaps the annual book is now more refined but I find good judgment and research is a better use of my money and time. I'm sure it has its place, countless thousands buy it every year but it is not for me and many others I know.