What to do with older Mastro and REA auction catalogs?

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

i have kept a few auction catalogs over the years...but most I just recycle. some here offer to send them to other collectors. it'd be kinda cool to have a "library" of older auction catalogs somewhere!

Don't think they can be recycled because they're books, and the local library probably wouldn't want them.

I've considered offering to send them to other collectors but I think they'd be expensive to ship. They'd have to go Priority Mail based on their weight, so whoever is receiving them would have to cover that.

[ullmandds]

ya...what I meant is recycle them in the circular file!!!!!

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by TCMA

Don't think they can be recycled because they're books, and the local library probably wouldn't want them.

I've considered offering to send them to other collectors but I think they'd be expensive to ship. They'd have to go Priority Mail based on their weight, so whoever is receiving them would have to cover that.

If they are books can't you ship book rate?

[Howe’s Hunter]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If they are books can't you ship book rate?

Afraid not. Tried that a couple weeks ago and was a bit to honest or transparent with the postal folks. If a price is listed for any item, even if it is a starting bid point, it is no longer a book, but a catalog. I argued, they busted open the package, and deemed it a catalog that does not qualify for book rate.

[ullmandds]

ed...i've never had a problem shipping "books" this way. I'd think the box would be so heavy they would not question it?

[CowboysGuide]

I've shipped book via USPS Media Mail with no problem. Don't know if that's the same as 'book rate'.

[pawpawdiv9]

I was wondering the same question, I got my AH books from the last 2-3 yrs it seems, and from like 8 AHs, and they weigh a TON!!!! Thought it be a good idea for bonfires for when my neighbor has a bunch of kids, i assume for boyscouts.

[bgar3]

I create files with pages from the catalogues for items I either won, have a similar item, think I might acquire in the future, wish I could get, or have a historical especially well researched description of an area that interests me. You can track specific items, get a feel for rarity and follow value changes. I also keep catalogues that are about a single subject or are histoically important in their own right, very subjective. Some catalogues have excellent essays about a person, era or subject, that are well worth keeping. I am usually opposed to extracting pages from books, but make an exception for catalogues. You will also enjoy going thru them again to pull out a few pages. Just remember to date and annotate them. When you have done all that, ditch them.

[scooter729]

Is that true - these catalogs can't be recycled? I've been tossing the auction catalogs in the recycling bins for years. Aren't they just like any other paper or magazine which would go in the recycling bin?

[ALR-bishop]

Ed---Just curious, did they ask for your permission before "busting " it out ?

What about something like SCD, either the catalog or the the publication. I assume a price guide is not a price list, but what if there is there is advertising with prices in the ads within the publication ?

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by StuckInOmaha

If a price is listed for any item, even if it is a starting bid point, it is no longer a book, but a catalog. I argued, they busted open the package, and deemed it a catalog that does not qualify for book rate.

Stamp collectors have had the same problem mailing copies of the Scott Postage Stamp Catalogue, which actually has "catalogue" as part of its name.



Explanations that it's a reference book, and not an actual list of items for sale, have fallen on deaf ears.