Old Magazines – A Guide to What’s Valuable and What’s Not

People love magazines. We buy them by the millions, subscribe to them, carry them with us on the bus and airplane, read them at home in our comfortable recliners and–we keep them. At least, many people keep them, sometimes for decades.

As a result, you can find piles of magazines just about anywhere–at estate and garage sales, old book shops, antique stores and on and on.

But what makes an old magazine truly valuable? Why might a 1990 issue of Martha Stewart’s Living be worth $100 while a turn-of-the-century Ladies Home Journal only be worth $5.00? Should you keep those old National Geographics or throw them out? What about last month’s Newsweek or a 1968 issue of Time?

The intrinsic value in a magazine is, of course, the information it contains. If there’s something you find interesting, be it a great article or some fantastic photos–it is worth something to you. Part of the reason we hang on to old magazines is because the information can remain valuable long after the date on the cover. Old National Geographics and Lifes can be just as fascinating to read through as the current issue of People. If you have the time and interest in going through an old magazine, keep it. Otherwise, here are some general guidelines to consider before discarding an old magazine.

Age Does Not Always Determine Value: Just because a magazine is old, doesn’t mean it’s valuable. And just because it’s newer doesn’t mean it’s worthless. The key is supply and demand. When Oprah and Martha Stewart started magazines, the first issues were printed in relatively low quantities. Both magazines went on to become very popular. As a result, there is now a very active market for early issues. I’ve seen the first issue of Martha Stewart’s Living top $150 on eBay. Another example of a somewhat valuable title would be something targeted to a very specific hobby or demographic group. If not many copies were printed, you can almost bet there’s someone looking for it. Or, if a title started small and grew into something much more widely circulated, there is going to be people searching for the earlier issues.

The same rule applies to the old magazine market. If it’s a title that everyone bought, and kept, (like National Geographic or Life), the back issues, in general, aren’t going to be very valuable. Think about it. If you’ve ever been into an antique shop, issues of Life are everywhere. Now, they may have intrinsic value as a cultural artifact, but in general they’re not worth big money to a collector. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, but in general, the more people kept it, the less it’s worth.

Of course, there are many old magazines that ARE worth good money. These include illustrated magazines from the turn-of-the-century, old science fiction and adventure pulp magazines, old comic books, old movie star magazines, sports magazines, titles that feature a prominent celebrity or event, etc. Categories that don’t seem to garner much interest in the back issue market include travel, literary magazines, romance and western, current events (with some exceptions, of course) and most children’s titles.

As with most things in our world today, the internet is a great place to begin researching your old titles. But just because a magazine doesn’t have a great cash value doesn’t mean it can’t be a great read. Before you cast off those old magazines–give them one more perusal. Sometimes the best treasure is found in the most unlikely places!