Kevin Tupitza makes a living by buying rare and antique books from his office and reselling them on his website, WestChesterBooks.com, writes Fran Maye for the Daily Local News.
Tupitza finds the majority of his inventory at estate sales. He finds that people selling their relatives’ things often disregard books and either donate or discard them.
The West Chester man said he saves people the hassle of going through the estate sale process by acting as a middleman, ensuring they do not get rid of a book that might be rare or valuable.
“I find a lot of people inherit books and don’t even know they are valuable,” said Tupitza. “I purchase the entire collection or sell it for them on a consignment basis.”
Tupitza, who once worked at the renowned Baldwin’s Book Barn, has come across a number of interesting books in his career. Among them is a 1548 book on ancient coins valued at $4,000.
And while some people buy books just as decoration for their homes, that is not the case with Tupitza’s customers.
“Most of my customers are collectors,” he said.
Get the full story, including more of Tupitza’s most interesting finds, at the Daily Local News.
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Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on VISTA Today in August 2019.
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