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ghporter · Feb 27, 2007, 07:29 PM

I have a large collection of magazines that's taking up space that I could better use for other things. Some of the magazines I want to donate and others (being a rather impressive collection) I want to sell.

I have National Geographic Magazine from 1980 to the present, and I expect that it would be good to donate this collection to a library somewhere. However, I am cognizant of the fact that this collection is of some value, so I need to determine that value before I hand over the magazines. These issues are all in great to perfect condition, and the collection is, to my knowledge, complete. Any ideas of what the value of this collection is for tax purposes?

I also have Playboy Magazine for the same period. Donation is not likely to be appropriate, so I want to sell them. How and where is the biggest question. I'd really like to hear suggestions on this too.

mac128k-1984 · Feb 27, 2007, 09:01 PM

For me (I'm the exact opposite of a pack rat) is that when I'm done with a magazine or what ever else. I chuck it. To be honest, I'm not sure how much calling there is for used national geographic magazines. Almost everything can be found online, I'm not sure if the a charity is willing to take those. I don't mean to sound harsh but the Salvation Army takes donations like clothing, cleans them up and sells them. The proceeds of that money is then used to help others. I'm not sure there is much of a market for used magazines so much so they may not want have them take up space.

I also don't think the salvation army would take the playboy

My wife yells at me all of the time, but if something hasn't been touched in two months, its in the trash. Keeps my house from getting terribly cluttered - of course now with twin baby girls there toys have cluttered my house but that's a welcome problem

mduell · Feb 27, 2007, 09:37 PM

Looking at eBay, old NatGeos are worth about a buck each.

Doofy · 10:00 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

I also have Playboy Magazine for the same period. Donation is not likely to be appropriate, so I want to sell them. How and where is the biggest question. I'd really like to hear suggestions on this too.

I'll take...

April 91
November 91
February 92
February 93
August 93
April 95
June 95

...off your hands if they're in good nick.

paul w · Feb 27, 2007, 10:30 PM

Unless the money was really worth it I'd just as soon donate it to a library (provided they actually have the room, capacity) . Not sure about the Playboys, but those will probably find takers...

Railroader · Feb 27, 2007, 11:03 PM

The advertisements inside of the magazines are worth more than the magazines. I have a friend who buys sets of magazines like you have, tears out the car ads or anything "nostalgic" and sells it on eBay. I think he makes about 30x what he pays. And shipping is cheap and easy to do.

JoshuaZ · Feb 28, 2007, 07:29 PM

I`m the same way. I keep everything, a skill I picked up from my mother. Donation is best. Its probably not worth your time or effort to sell them. Plus you can always use it as a tax write off.

Or you could box them up and store them away for 50 years, then they`ll be worth something.

On a special note I spent a good hour throwing stuff out of my apartment last night. No doubt someone will complain about my liberal use of the apartment trash area, and my inability to properly sort out all my trash. baka gaijin.

imitchellg5 · Feb 28, 2007, 07:44 PM

I would just put them up for free on Craigslist.

Buckaroo · Feb 28, 2007, 07:45 PM

Hehehehehehe. Sell the Playboys on ebay grouped by year. First thing you want to do is do a search for complete auctions, and see if anyone is buying and for how much. The National Geographic might get you a tax deduction if you donate it to an approved charity.

I went through years of Popular Electronic type magazines last summer, tearing out all the interesting articles and discarding anything I wasn't interested in.

ghporter · Feb 28, 2007, 07:49 PM

I'm not big on using eBay for a number of reasons, not the least of which is their recent (multiple) rate increase. I may go Craig's List with the Playboys...

Doofy · Feb 28, 2007, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by Buckaroo

Hehehehehehe. Sell the Playboys on ebay grouped by year. First thing you want to do is do a search for complete auctions, and see if anyone is buying and for how much.

No, don't do that Glenn. Sell the requested copies to me and I'll tell you exactly where to sell the rest of them for top dollar.

smacintush · Feb 28, 2007, 07:53 PM

Don't be so greedy. Did you buy them for their resale value, the paper they are made of, or the information/entertainment you got from them?

You got your moneys worth out of them, now share the wealth with others.

ghporter · Feb 28, 2007, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by smacintush

Don't be so greedy. Did you buy them for their resale value, the paper they are made of, or the information/entertainment you got from them?

You got your moneys worth out of them, now share the wealth with others.

I bought them for their content. But I have hauled them all over for 25 years and I'd like to have some compensation for getting them together as a collection, keeping them in great condition (at no small expense at times-ever priced climate-controlled storage?) and offering them as a set. I'm not expecting to make a bundle, but I do want to make sure that this collection goes to someone who appreciates it as a collection, and a nominal price per issue (I've seen people asking anywhere from $1 to $5 per issue of Playboy) is not extreme for any collector.

I expect to share the National Geographics through donating them to a library or school, but I want to be able to claim the donation on my taxes, again because I've hauled, protected, and conserved them for so long.

It's not greed, it's practicality.

brassplayersrock² · Feb 28, 2007, 10:13 PM

i use to have over a 100 hats from just picking them up whenever i saw one i liked, did i wear em all? no. what i did was, put them all in a pile, sorted them out by if they still had the tagger on them (those i automatically put in the give away barrel) then i put them in colored piles, then i decided one hat per color, and i took a couple hours deciding on which one for each color. and now i have about 5 hats that i wear at home, and three in Boston. it's enough. now i have to start going through other collections i have acquired.

-a

zro · Feb 28, 2007, 10:59 PM

I just tossed my guitar, video game, Mac, and Penthouse mags in the recycle bin. Screw finding a home for them.

But I do still have a bunch of National Geographics of my grandpa's from the '50s, '60s and '70s I'll sell ya.

Buckaroo · Feb 28, 2007, 11:22 PM

There is NOTHING wrong with greed. Get every single buck you can from them.

Originally Posted by ghporter

I bought them for their content. But I have hauled them all over for 25 years and I'd like to have some compensation for getting them together as a collection, keeping them in great condition (at no small expense at times-ever priced climate-controlled storage?) and offering them as a set. I'm not expecting to make a bundle, but I do want to make sure that this collection goes to someone who appreciates it as a collection, and a nominal price per issue (I've seen people asking anywhere from $1 to $5 per issue of Playboy) is not extreme for any collector.

I expect to share the National Geographics through donating them to a library or school, but I want to be able to claim the donation on my taxes, again because I've hauled, protected, and conserved them for so long.

It's not greed, it's practicality.

smacintush · Feb 28, 2007, 11:37 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

It's not greed, it's practicality.

…I have hauled them all over for 25 years…keeping them in great condition (at no small expense at times-ever priced climate-controlled storage?)…

Hmm…doesn't sound very practical to me.

You'd have been better off giving them away 25 years ago IMHO.