FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 9, 2003

HARRY POTTER CRAZE IGNITES THE USED BOOK MARKET AND HELPS "LITTLE" BOOKSELLERS PROFIT

Used book sellers profit from brisk trade in secondhand Harry Potter books: used copies sell online for 45-cents to $1.2 million

(Victoria, BC)-Previously read copies of Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling are boosting sales for the secondhand book market and helping smaller, used book sellers profit from Pottermania, reports AbeBooks.com, the world's largest online marketplace for used, rare and out-of-print books.

"Sales for used copies of Harry Potter books rose 300% in June," reports Marci Crossan, AbeBooks spokesperson. "Our booksellers tell us people want the whole series and are scooping up used copies online. Even the new book-The Order of the Phoenix- is available used at AbeBooks.com, as are rare signed editions, versions in Latin, Spanish, large print, and audiobook."

This is positive news for collectors and people with signed J.K. Rowling books. Signed first editions are currently selling for between $200 and $1.2 million on AbeBooks.com.

Booksellers believe prices will rise. Doug Phillips, at Printers Row Fine & Rare Books in Chicago has advice for anyone with a signed copy: " Hang on tight! Prices will appreciate for books like The Philosopher's Stone, which only had 350 US hardback first editions printed. We call that "a collection breaker"--any Potter enthusiast wants the first book and there's only going to be 350 lucky people who get it."

Harry Potter books listed on AbeBooks.com (as of July 9, 2003)

- Number of used JK Rowling books on AbeBooks.com: 3889
- Most expensive Potter: $1.2 million for a signed galley proof of "The Prisoner of Azkaban" (Cheviot Books, England)
- Cheapest Potter: .45 for paperback Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Pyramid Books, New Jersey)
- Potter books in different languages on AbeBooks.com

o Latin: Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis
o French: Harry Potter et la chambre des secrets
o Turkish: Harry Potter ve Sirlar Odasi
o Spanish: Harry Potter e a camara secreta

About AbeBooks
AbeBooks is the world's largest online marketplace for used, rare, and out-of-print books with 45 million books listed by 11,000 booksellers in 42 countries. AbeBooks has websites in North America (AbeBooks.com), the UK (AbeBooks.co.uk), France (AbeBooks.fr), and Germany (AbeBooks.de). Through partnerships with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and eBay, AbeBooks has become the most important virtual supplier of used books while expanding selling avenues for booksellers.

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Contacts
Richard Davies, PR & Publicity Mgr., AbeBooks.com
Ph: 250-412-3238
rdavies@abebooks.com