The short version
- Typical range: £8 – £60 — see the full art books value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Books
Before you photograph it
Ten minutes here is worth more than anything else you will do. Buyers are deciding between your listing and someone else’s, and preparation is what visibly separates the two.
- Check the dust jacket, which on art books is often a large part of the value and condition assessment.
- Check the plates for foxing and the spine for cracking, and confirm no plates have been removed.
- Note the publisher, edition and whether it is an exhibition catalogue, which collectors search separately.
The photographs that sell art books
Four photographs do almost all the work. Shoot in daylight, near a window, with the item against something plain — and do not use the flash, which flattens texture and hides exactly what buyers are trying to see.
- The cover with jacket, face on
- The spine and board edges
- A representative plate spread
- The title and copyright pages, plus any foxing, tear or missing plate
Photograph the flaws too. It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover. Buyers who can see the damage stop imagining something worse.
Writing the title and description
Artist or subject, publisher and format: “Taschen Basquiat, XL Hardback, First Edition”. Artist name is the search. Publisher matters here more than in most book categories, and exhibition catalogues are a distinct and collected format.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Artist or subject, title, publisher and year
- Format and dimensions, and weight, which decides postage
- Whether the dust jacket or slipcase is present
- Plate condition, and any foxing, tear or removed plate
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about art books. Answering them in the listing itself removes the back-and-forth, and answering them well when they do arrive is what turns an enquiry into a sale.
Check against any list of illustrations. Plates are sometimes removed and framed, and their absence materially affects value.
Say so and photograph it. On art books the jacket is often part of the design and its absence reduces value noticeably.
Weigh it. Large art books are genuinely heavy and the postage can be a significant fraction of the price, so both sides need to know.
Pricing it so it actually sells
Start from the honest condition grade rather than the price you hope for. WishThrift listings use five grades — New with Tags, Like New, Good, Fair and For Parts — and what each grade means is worth reading before you choose, because grading up is the most expensive mistake sellers make. It does not raise the price; it produces a buyer who arrives expecting something else.
The art books value guide prices all five grades for this item. Pick your grade, take the figure, and if you sit between two grades price toward the lower one. Items priced honestly sell faster than items priced hopefully, and on a free platform there is no fee eating the difference anyway.
What you keep, compared
On a £34 sale — roughly the middle of the range for art books — here is what the commission-charging platforms would take, and what you would keep on each:
| Where you sell it | Fee | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| WishThrift | £0 | £34 |
| Poshmark | −£7 | £27 |
| eBay | −£5 | £29 |
| Mercari | −£3 | £31 |
| Etsy | −£2 | £32 |
Seller-side rates verified 26 Jul 2026 — Poshmark: 20% commission on sales of $15 and above; eBay: 13.6% final value fee, plus a per-order fee; Mercari: flat 10% selling fee; Etsy: 6.5% transaction fee, plus a listing fee and payment processing. Percentages are applied to the sterling figure above; the fixed per-order and processing charges those platforms add are quoted in their own currency and are not included here, so the real deductions are slightly larger. Full breakdown: marketplace selling fees compared.
Timing and getting it to the buyer
Steady year round with a Christmas lift. Out-of-print monographs and exhibition catalogues sell to a specialist audience whenever they appear.
Heavy and prone to corner damage. Use a rigid book box with corner protection and weigh it before quoting — underquoting postage on an art book is an expensive mistake.
WishThrift does not process payments or arrange delivery — you and the buyer agree both directly — so confirm payment has cleared before the item leaves your hands, and keep the conversation on the site so there is a record of what was agreed.
Ready to list it? It takes about two minutes, costs nothing, and there is no commission when it sells — create a free account or see how selling works.
Frequently asked questions
What are used art books worth?
Typically £8 to £60, with out-of-print monographs and signed catalogues far above. See the art books value guide for the bands.
Why is postage so expensive on art books?
They are genuinely heavy, often two or three kilograms. Weigh yours and quote from the real figure rather than guessing, and consider local collection for the largest volumes.
Does foxing on plates matter?
Yes, more than on text pages, because the plates are the point of the book. Photograph any affected plate and describe the extent honestly.
See also: what a used art books is worth · browse live books listings · condition grades explained.