The study was conducted by the financial services comparison website Gocompare.com and focuses on the price increase for Man Booker Prize winners published since 2000. They used data from the book and art-focused e-commerce website AbeBooks.
“We’ve looked back over the last 16 years of the award-winning books and found you’re able to secure a better return through first edition copies than the stock market,” a representative of Gocompare.com said.
According to Gocompare.com’s data, a buyer who bought firsts of the last 16 Man Booker Prize winners at regular retail price could now see a return on their investment of 826%. On the other hand, the purchase of £262.85 worth of Microsoft shares in 2000 would result in an increase of only 114%. The increase over the same period for eBay is 98% and -25% for Yahoo.
Gocompare.com have produced an illustrated guide to the benefit of buying a first edition which includes advice on how to spot firsts, advising shoppers to compare the publication and print dates and to look out for number lines including the numeral 1.
Looking out for potential prize winners on their first print run, however, is up to the individual buyer’s discretion.
Gocompare.com completed the study ahead of the announcement of the 2016 Man Booker winner on October 25.
