Do you have a piece of art or a pulp collection you want to sell? Wouldn’t it be nice to see your collection stay with people who appreciate what you or your departed loved one has enjoyed? Why not have PulpFest sell it through our annual auction? We have one scheduled for August 9 at PulpFest 2025.
Besides a large and active dealers’ room and highly respected programming, PulpFest is known for its enjoyable auctions. In recent years, the convention has sold several major collections of pulps, books, digests, fanzines, and related materials, as well as several works of original art.
PulpFest welcomes large and small collections, from a single item to thousands of books, pulps, comics, digests, fanzines, and related collectibles. If you’re ready to sell that collection, consider using the PulpFest auction. You don’t have to be a member of the convention to participate. If what you have is somehow related to the pulp magazines of the early twentieth century and related pop culture collectibles, we’re interested!
Although we will accept any submissions up through the day of the 2025 PulpFest auction, you are encouraged to submit your lots before the start of the convention. This will allow PulpFest to list your lots — including photographs and descriptions — on our online auction page. Online bids will be accepted for all lots that have been submitted by 11:59 pm on Friday, July 10, 2025. Any material submitted after that date will not be added to the online bidding page.
All auction lots must have a value of $20 or more. The convention will charge a 16% commission based on the selling price for anything sold in the auction. For example, if an item sells for $100, the seller will receive $84.
In order to minimize the submission of what most people term “junk” to our auction, PulpFest will charge $5 for those auction lots that receive no bids.
PulpFest reserves the right to reject any material that does not meet our standards. Sexually explicit material — including Playboy, Penthouse, and Oui — cannot be submitted to the auction.
Of course, PulpFest 2025 members can also submit items to our auction. We will accept materials up through 1 p.m. on the day of the auction. But the sooner you can get your information to us, the better. Items listed online often receive higher bids than those auction lots listed at the last minute.
Still not convinced? Here’s what some of our previous consigners have said about their experiences with the PulpFest auction:
“Selling through Pulpfest brought me a much better return than I expected. Frankly, I don’t think I could ever have sold them for nearly as much on my own — and I think I’m a pretty good salesman!”
“I want to let you know that Mike and the PulpFest team have a passion for what they do. Mike has always been honest, kept me in the loop, and has been very kind. I appreciate all that he and the PulpFest team have done for me!”
“Best of luck with your father’s collection. If you do have PulpFest handle it, it’s in good hands.”
Please write to PulpFest auction coordinator, Mike Chomko, at mike@pulpfest.com or 2217 W. Fairview Street, Allentown, PA 18104 for further information about placing material in the next PulpFest auction.
Derek Starr is a writer and popular culture enthusiast who began contributing to our website in 2022. He particularly enjoys the Fiction House pulps. One of his favorites is Planet Stories, the publisher’s legendary science fiction pulp. He’s also a fan of their air pulps and Action Stories.
While you’re considering if you want to consign to the PulpFest 2025 auction, swing by our YouTube Channel and take a peek at our latest film, Raoul Whitfield: An Author to Die For? It’s the 4th episode of Craig McDonald’s popular Pulp Talk . . .
And while you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe!
Our featured image is excerpted from Rafael DeSoto’s cover art for the January 1934 issue of Ned Pines’s The Phantom Detective, published by Standard Magazines. PulpFest advertising director, William Lampkin, adapted this image for the PulpFest auction banner, utilized at the convention.
Our lead image is John Philip Falter’s cover for The Saturday Evening Post, dated August 5, 1944. Born in 1910, Falter painted 129 covers for the popular magazine, as well as book illustrations, magazine ads, and a great deal more.
Our PulpFest logo was designed by William Lampkin.
