June Loves Author
A first US printing of adult trade fiction typically runs 3,000–15,000 copies; the reprint beside it commonly runs 10,000–50,000 — and the price difference between them is systematic.
Start with the print run. First printings of adult trade fiction are small — 3,000–15,000 copies — because the publisher is testing demand. Reprints are large — 10,000–50,000 — because demand is proven. Scarcity sits with the first run, and the second-hand bands price exactly that.
Then the ISBN. Match the copy's ISBN-13 digit for digit against the record for the printing you believe you hold: 978 or 979 prefix, up to 5 registrant digits, item code, and a mod-10 check digit that must validate. Older copies carry ISBN-10; prefix 978 and recompute — 0306406152 becomes 9780306406157 — before comparing.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
Then the jacket. The dust jacket is a separate SKU, normally costing 10–20% of the price of the book it wraps. A hardcover without its jacket is usually valued at the jacketed price minus that margin — so the jacket's presence moves the price before the printing is even discussed.
Finally, place the copy in its band. Out-of-print titles trade at roughly 3–10× cover price; in-print remainders at 40–60% off cover; current hardcovers at 30–50% off. A remainder is not a first printing with a low price — it is a different band entirely, and pricing one as the other is the costliest mistake in buying.
Run the four checks in this order — run, ISBN, jacket, band — every time a copy comes across the counter. The formats these copies arrive in are at /book-format-sizes, and the quantities to buy them in are at /how-many-books-fit-on-a-shelf.
Further reading