DnD has existed since 1974 and was made by two game designers. That’s almost 50 years’ worth of books. Many people probably have old books laying around that they have no use for anymore.
There are certain cases where old books have been worth a lot of money. That leads to the question, are Dungeons & Dragons books generally worth anything?
The price of DnD books largely depends on condition and rareness. In general, used DnD books are sold cheaply. With Print on Demand and digital DnD books becoming bigger with time, it’s getting harder to sell old DnD books for a high price. You can count on your used Player’s Handbooks and things of that nature to sell for a couple of dollars.
While selling DnD books for a lot of money isn’t necessarily the easiest thing, there are some things you can do to increase your chances. Keep reading to find out where you should sell your books, what books are worth the most, and much more.
Are Dungeons & Dragons Books Worth Anything?
Selling your old DnD books isn’t a bad idea, but it’s far from guaranteed that you will get good money for it. Some people just give their books away to new players and such, but in some cases, DnD books are sold for good prices.
Whether or not DnD books sell for any considerable money is based on a couple of things. Firstly, the rareness. It does not matter if your book is as old as time if it was mass-produced. Therefore, age does not matter, except that it might indicate that a book is rare or not, which is the real factor.
Another important factor regarding the value of DnD books is the condition. If your book is used, riddled with coffee stains from old adventures, then prospective buyers aren’t going to pay as much.
If your book is in “mint” condition or even better, unboxed, then the chances of collectors paying good money for it goes up significantly.
Events and popular culture are fine enough reasons to look for buyers of your old DnD books. Famously, when the Netflix series Stranger Things got popular, the book sales for DnD skyrocketed as well. This also meant that the older, rare books of DnD got more attractive for collection.
This is one of the reasons why I don’t recommend simply throwing your DnD books away. You never really know when DnD makes its next boom in pop culture, so you might as well be patient.
Read more: The Cheapest DnD Books
Print on Demand
Print on Demand (“PoD”) for DnD and other similar games is a service that is growing more and more popular. How is this relevant to your old books getting sold or not? Well, for one, it provides a different source of material for your otherwise prospective buyers, which decreases the number of people looking for old DnD books.
PoD is mainly a thing for people who want to use the books in play, however. Collectors undoubtedly do not want PoD material in their collections, but rather original copies. Which is good news.
Digital Books
Another source of material that already is very popular is digital books. DnD Beyond offers all 5e edition books on their app, complete with integration in various apps. A lot of players are already using the app, and as a consequence, might not be looking for used DnD books to buy.
Digital books are, as a rule of thumb, cheaper than physical books. Therefore players aren’t sacrificing that much money-wise to get their books on DnD Beyond instead of buying used books. Again, however, if you have a somewhat rare book in mint condition, your chances to profit will lie with collectors anyway.
Where Can I Sell My Old DnD Books?
Where to sell your old DnD books isn’t completely clear-cut. The two most obvious options are Amazon and eBay, but you risk minimizing your profits because of the shipping costs. I will list my preferred marketplaces to sell old books below.
- Facebook groups – There are a considerable amount of DnD Facebook groups out there dedicated to trading and selling books. It’s a good place to find collectors and traders.
- DnD Discord servers – Another good place to look for would-be buyers.
- Local games shops/bookstores – If you can’t find anyone online to buy your books, local games shops or bookstores will probably buy your books, but not at the best price.
- eBay/Amazon – The good thing about eBay/Amazon is that you will find people who search specifically for your listed book(s), so the chances of getting a decent price are higher. The shipping cost is a negative aspect of selling on either of these marketplaces.
Use Media Mail for shipping! It’s the most cost-effective way if you live in the United States. Media Mail does not ship outside the U.S. Other services that you can use are Half Price Books or Bookscouter. Regarding what service is the best is obvious. Most booksellers have their preferred service.
As I touched on earlier, one of the best ways to get good prices for your DnD books is to find a buyer that wants your specific book. This might be a little bit trickier than just shipping them off to your friend for a small price, but it might be worth your while.
How Do I Sell DnD Books?
There are a few things to think about when selling DnD books. You don’t want to damage them in shipping, and neither do you want to get screwed on shipping costs.
You should sell more expensive books, over $9-10, separately. Sell cheaper books in bundles. Pack the books neatly so they don’t get damaged. Wrap the books one-by-one in bubble wrap, and secure them with tape.
Preferably, cover the spaces in the shipping box with newspaper or leftover bubble wrap. After that, seal the box properly. Write the address details out very clearly. In my opinion, it’s worth taking the time to do this to avoid potential damage to the books.
The Most Expensive DnD Books Right Now
There are a couple of gems in the history of DnD, and if you have them, you have good chances to bring in the big bucks. The most exclusive item in DnD is probably the original woodgrain boxed set.
It was made in the very first year of DnD, 1974, and only 1000 copies were printed. It has previously been auctioned off at $5000.
Other super rare and expensive DnD items are usually limited edition, or in some cases books that were printed as a part of an event of some sort. Listed below are a couple of the most expensive DnD books to date.
- Up the Garden Path – Valued at around $3800 (near-mint).
- Rahasia (Daystar West) – Valued at around $5000 (near-mint).
- Ltd Ghost Tower of Inverness – Valued at around $2600 (near-mint).
There are a bunch of these, and you can find more modules and rulebooks on the Acaeum, complete with trivia and reasons for their value.
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The Difference Between Digital Books And Physical Books
There are a few key differences between physical books and digital books. One of the biggest reasons is that you can’t sell books that you buy on DnD Beyond to other people. If you buy a book at DnD Beyond, for example, you merely “unlock” it through their client, while if you buy a physical book, it’s yours.
You can do whatever you want with that book, including selling it. Some people speculate that physical books are going to be somewhat phased out as time goes on, but WotC is still going to produce them as long as there’s demand for them.
Many players prefer the feeling and the aesthetic of having an actual physical book, while others prefer the convenience of a digital book. All this is really to argue for the fact that maybe, you don’t have to sell your books. If you’re not going to get a good deal on them now, the future might hold good deals for you.
Donating DnD Books
If you find out that some books that you want to sell are worth a very small amount of money, an option is to donate them. Undoubtedly, this is not something that should be forced upon people but it is a nice thing to do.
A lot of schools and youth recreation centers love getting DnD books, and another plus is that it gives youths the chance to get into DnD, which is a great thing. Research shows that DnD and games like it might have a very positive effect on young kids.
Read more: Where Can You Get DnD Books For Free?