F&SF Forum » Other Topics

1. rowsdower
   Member

   Found an ebay auction for a complete (minus 3 issues) 40 year run of F&SF, from the first issue in 1949 to Dec, 1989. No takers on the auction but I made the guy an offer on the side. He listed the auction at 2K and I offered $750. He replied that he could take 1K and throw in free shipping.

   I am thinking about this seriously. It's around 450 issues so I'd be paying $2.22 per. Is this worth it? Is it too much?

   I am new to this board, obvioulsy, but I've been lurking the past few weeks. My name is Jeff and I restarted my F&SF sub recently. I used to read the mag back in the late 80's/early 90's and have come and gone from the mag a few times in the interim. Ironically, the last issue in the ebay run (Dec '89 issue) was the first F&SF I ever read.

   I've been grabbing up the anniversary anthologies (I just got the 60th in the mail yesterday and it is beautiful, btw, with the 50th and 40th anniversary anthologies on the way) and I am quickly restoring my enjoyment of this mag.

   Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated.

   Jeff

   Posted 2 months ago #

2. BrianCrowley
   Member

   I have seen a lot of ebay auctions for F&SF mag over the last year. $1K with free shipping sounds good to me. The issues thru the 50s often go for $10+/issue. The stuff rom 70's & 80's can sell very cheap, but even then some issues demand a premium. Overall, this seems like fair deal.

   Posted 2 months ago #

3. rowsdower
   Member

   the auction ended with no takers. After thinking it over some more, 1K is still too much for me so after the auction ended I offered the guy $800 and he turned me down. Oh well.

   Posted 2 months ago #

4. rowsdower
   Member

   I emailed the seller one last time and offered $850 and he accepted! Woo hoo!

   Posted 2 months ago #

5. BrianCrowley
   Member

   Nice ! Just out of curiosity, how do you arrange the transaction to avoid getting ripped off ? Do you use one of those escrow services ?

   Posted 2 months ago #

6. rowsdower
   Member

   Paypal covers you up to 2K. It was the only payment option he'd accept so I've got to hope for the best. I've yet to be ripped off on ebay. I hope the mags themselves are still in decent condition. He said they are all bagged, so that bodes well.

   Stay tuned. When I receive them I will update.

   Posted 2 months ago #

7. TJR357
   Member

   Yes, please keep us informed. I'm interested in their condition.

   Posted 2 months ago #

8. BrianCrowley
   Member

   I have had good luck on Ebay too. However, if you are doing a "side" purchase, the Paypal coverage is much more limited.

   From the description of the mags in the auction, they should be in very good condition. If they are not, I think you have a legitimate complaint.

   Posted 2 months ago #

9. tiger
   Member

   You can certainly get ripped off on EBay but having used Paypal, this should be a safe transaction for you.
   T

   Posted 2 months ago #

10. BrianCrowley
    Member

    I was under the impression that he made a side deal which was not directly through ebay. Your ability to collect under those circumstances is much more limited. For example, they will only refund what they can take back from the seller. Also, the circumstances under which you can claim a refund a more limited.

    Posted 2 months ago #

11. tiger
    Member

    When I've done these sorts of transactions (feedback in the 1000s), its been a case of putting up a "buy it now" at a prearranged time and doing it through the EBay site- this way of course, the full Paypal protection applies. Hopefully that's where it rests
    T

    Posted 2 months ago #

12. rowsdower
    Member

    The auction had ended and I contacted the seller afterwards. Yes, there is always the chance that I could be ripped off and I appreciate the concern, but I am sure everything will be fine. The seller had 100% positive feedback and a high number of transactions, so I feel about as confident as one can in this situation.

    Posted 2 months ago #

13. BrianCrowley
    Member

    Thanks. I agree - sounds like a solid sale. I was just curious how people handle these things.

    I like tiger's idea - in fact I tried to arrange something similar with a seller a couple months ago (ie. a "buy it now" arrangement), but ultimately we couldn't agree on a price.

    Posted 2 months ago #

14. GusG
    Member

    Let us know when those boxes arrive. I think you got a great deal if the mags are in good condition.

    Use a Q-tip and some rubbing alchohol to get the mailing labels off. Practice on some duplicates first.

    Hope you have lots of shelves. I had to have a set custom built to hold mine.

    Posted 2 months ago #

15. gravman
    Member

    I believe it's also possible to do a private auction on Ebay where only those you invite or specify have access to the auction. That may have changed, though, since I haven't used Ebay very much in the last few years.

    Posted 2 months ago #

16. rowsdower
    Member

    I recieved 3 out of the 4 boxes that the collection was shipped in today. Overall, I'm pretty impressed. Each one is bagged and it was obvious they were taken care of by the original owners. Covers are tight and bright and the pages are browned somewhat but considering their age, it is pretty good.
    The 1st issue does have a black crayon check mark on the cover and the back cover is a little rippled, but for a 60 year old magazine I can live with it.
    Still awaiting the 4th box, which will contain the rest of the '80's portion of the collection. But judging on what I have now, I feel a lot better about the purchase.
    Another good thing, none of the mags have address labels on them until the early '80's. I can live with that too.

    Quick observation: the early issues are pretty thin aren't they? I was surprised at how small they were, only about 120 pages. They do get bigger as time goes by.

    Posted 2 months ago #

17. Thomas
    Member

    I'm totally unexperienced with the collecting scene as it pertains here but it seems to me that the vast majority of people who would amass that many issues of F&SF would be the sort of person to take care of their issues... unless of course they scrounged up each issue individually, but that would surely be a Heraklian task. Just out of curiosity: is there an issue of F&SF that has more fabled reputation than the others? An exception group of stories or something like that?

    Posted 1 month ago #

18. LukeJackson
    Member

    Are you getting all these issues to read them or only for collecting?

    Posted 1 month ago #

19. GusG
    Member

    I have read 160 of mine and counting.

    I don't know of any exceptionally valuable issues except the Gunslinger issues from the early eighties. Even those are not terribly expensive, but you might have to fork out $10 or so each.

    Posted 1 month ago #

20. rowsdower
    Member

    I bought them to read. It will take me years, I know, because I am not a super fast reader, but the early issues were only around 100 pages long. They are very thin so they should go by quicker than the fat double size issues we get today.
    I received the balance of the collection and have inspected them and they are all in pretty good shape. Right now, I've stored them in the closet where I keep my comic book collection and I have a small anmount of shelf space to keep them after I read them, but in time I will have to expand.
    Right now, I am reading the last years worth of F&SF, which I ordered before I bought this collection. So it will still be awhile before I begin this massive project, but my plan is to read them all.

    I don't know about any particularly valuable issues, except the first one, naturally, and maybe ones that contain King stories.

    Posted 1 month ago #

21. LukeJackson
    Member

    Wow. Have you ever heard of the Science Fantasy Association? They had a booth at the WeHo book fair yesterday and were selling F&SF issues for 10c a pop. More recent ones from the aughts though.

    Posted 1 month ago #

22. jjjahool
    Member

    I have some issues from 1971 thru 1974 if anyone is interested. See my Ebay listing, please.

    Posted 4 weeks ago #

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