An old DM of mine is selling off his massive collection he's acquired since 1979 or so.  I believe he has almost everything TSR made for 1e, probably 2e, and a lot after that too.  Including full set of Dungeon, most of Dragon (except issues 1-15 I think).  He has some things still sealed he says, and he generally was a very meticulous fellow who treated his belongings with good care.  That said, a lot of his stuff were simply stored in boxes and probably some of the boxed sets have crushing damage, normal wear on the books an modules, etc...

I'm offering him around $10 per item on average, with some worth less, and some worth a lot more obviously, but the total price I'll be paying is well over $3000.  He's sent me a few pics, but I won't see the books for myself until I drive out of state to hopefully complete the deal with him.

My question is this...

I just noticed WOTC(DriveThruRPG partnership) is selling things now print on demand, which got me to worry that the price of the old books and modules will fall, if they haven't already done so.   I was just hoping if some of you folks might give me insight on the general price trends of 1e modules in the past 5 years or so, and your prediction of the effect of the reprints.   I know the POD modules go for around $10, but their quality is often (always?) less then the originals.  Any info on this to put my mind at rest as I am about to make, potentially, one of the largest purchases in my life!

background - I've been playing D&D since red box in early 80's when I was 9 years old, and have a small collection of everything since, but nowhere near the size of this collection I may purchase.  I would be buying with the intent of keeping the old modules (non-duplicates) for personal use (I am a DM) and probably selling a lot of the rest, due to lack of space to store it all.

thank you very much!

Roakak wrote in Advice needed, buying massive collection (1e/2e/3e):My question is this...

PoD really won't affect collectible value at all for the same reason that a print made from a painting isn't as valuable as the original painting. It's not an original. Serious collectors want what's original and they want it in pristine condition. If it's not available in pristine condition, we'll take the best we can get. If you can afford to buy this treasure trove, JUMP ON IT.

One word of advice, you should not pay that much for some of the periodicals, specifically Dragon and Dungeon.  It's up to you, but most of the later versions are hard to get even a few dollars for.  If his collection has a lot of the middle Dragons and Dungeons, they are not worth much.  Your call though.

Congrats on the big haul! It will be fun going through all of those modules. If any box sets, there may be interesting extras in those as well.

Your feedback is sufficient for most anyone.

I think you are pricing them too high.  Put a BIN but also allow bidding, unless you really don't want to sell them for less than the BIN.  Just like in normal auctions, if you price too high to start, you essentially scare away everyone from your auctions.  Let the market determine what the item is worth.  You probably won't get fairer market sales prices than eBay.