C.T.C. Gazette: January 1939 – December 1939

C.T.C. Gazette: January 1939 – December 1939 (12 issues) (The Cyclists Touring Club). 12 Magazines in green folder with “C.T.C. Gazette” on the spine published by The Cyclists Touring Club 1939, 360 pages (with extra pages of advertising) with black and white photographs and illustrations.

I recently picked up this folder with a whole pile of WWII military map folders, thinking it was more of the same.  It was only when I got home and started looking a little more closely at my treasure that I realized what an amazing item it was that I had picked up.  I had to do a bit of research to figure out what it actually was, as I had no idea about C.T.C. and once again the trusty interwebs peddled into action.  

I guess it’s not that unusual that I wouldn’t know that CTC is the largest cycling membership organization in Britain and has been around since 1878, as I was born and grew up in Australia. The fact that they produced a Gazette is evidence enough of the size of this club which in 1939 was quite large… at least I think it was.  The Gazette contains various articles including: riding tips, travel, news, correspondence, advertising (fantastic) but interestingly, as far as I can tell, no maintenance or repair articles.  Maybe in 1939 it wasn’t the done thing to repair one’s own pushy*.

So I’ve listed this book on eBay without much interest from any of the punters out there in eBay world… When I write eBay world, I’m actually referring to eBay Australia.  I no longer list items worldwide as to be blunt and honest about it, I got sick of the grief that buyers would give me regarding the high cost of postage and the length of delivery times.  Yes, from Australia to the United States postage will take at least 10 working days, sometimes more, sometimes less… and yes, postage is incredibly expensive on heavy items.  Both of these selling factors are beyond my control, so if I list books within Australia only, postage isn’t as expensive and it’s usually pretty quick, to the point that my life becomes a lot easier and hassle free.  Since I’ve started doing this, selling books via eBay has become easier and the lack of foreign sales hasn’t really impacted on my overall business performance.

Now here’s the problem.  A collection of magazines/gazettes such as C.T.C. Gazette is bound to be more popular in the country of origin than here in Australia.  In this case Great Britain is also a larger market, therefore you would assume there was a slightly better chance of a sale if I offered the book for sale in Great Britain.  Yet despite all of this, I haven’t listed this collection for sale in the best place to sell it.  Now here’s my thinking/theory on the whole thing.  Firstly I offer it to Australia only via eBay as this may prove to be successful, therefore hassle free, quick and easy.  If there is no interest (as is the case at this point in time), then list it on Books & Collectibles as this is international (therefore UK as well), and very interestingly, there seems to be less hassle regarding postage cost and delivery times from international buyers through Books & Collectibles.  I’m not sure why this is.

So Books & Collectibles this volume goes… unless it sells beforehand.  I think it’s an amazing collection/item and I can’t imagine it will be on my shelves for very long.

* Push bike