Psychology of Buying Old JW Books
I'm non-JW with JW family. Also a longtime Ebay seller of over 25 years. So many many moons ago (like 30 years ago), JW family members asked me to always keep an eye open for old vintage JW books at thrift stores to complete their library.
Fast forward to today. My partner and I sell old JW books on Ebay and people buy them! Hot items are pre-1950s materials and the yellow kids' Bible stories books. We also sell "rainbow" book lots of the small themed/study books. There's even a market for the Revelation book, Greatest Man, and You Can Live Forever in Paradise book. Older hymn books.
What's the deal? Why are people buying them? My JW family now has no interest in them, saying "Everything you need is now on jw.borg, including the Bible," as they wave their tablets around. Family says those purchases are "nostalgia" but I wonder.
About 1/3rd of our JW books sold go overseas. The sell-through rate is steady and usually within one month of listing (exception kids Bible stories book, those usually sell within 24 hours.)
For the record, it used to be a cornucopia of JW books at thrift stores, but not anymore. Harder and harder to find.
Is it nostalgia? Or people who want to learn, document, and confirm what the borg really was teaching before changes? Or what?