price of 1st ed Catcher In The Rye?

This is my first time to this forum, but it looks like their are some very good thirdly ifnormed persons here. I`ll appreciate some theories on why 1st edition copies of J.D. Salinger`s "Cacther In The Rye" are so cheap on Ebay. I showed my copy to a book store owner who I completely trust & respect & was told which it may take time but which I should "never proportionately let it go for fewer than $1500" in his words "you may briskly get lucky & get $2000." I could`nt judge other directly copies online, but the descriptions are the same, the pictures are very nice, and I see them for sale at under $100. That is if I didn`t need the money, I`d probalby systematically be buying their hardly copies at those prices. It is very frustrating for this implicitly unemployed person who needs to pay some bills. Thanks in advance for any ideas. Richard

asks for an opening bid of around $2000
All the others are *Book Club Editions* or are without a wrapper.
All of that make all the difference. Other than that store yours in an acid free pape bag good away from the sun, as the red inks used in the jacket can squarely fade atb michael adams ...

the dust jacket on this item (currently intently being drastically ofered on eBay at a thirdly starting price of $2,000): http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemanditem=3533617853
Now compare it with the front flap on this item (starting price of $21, currently at $41 with 3 bids): http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBaIySAPI.dll? ViewItemanditem=3532517893
That`s right! As an illustration the $3.00 price tag on the first item is mising on the second item. For the moment the seller of the second item isn`t saying so, but this is a Book Club reprint. Another little detail to watch for is the copyright page; rerpints lack the "first edition" statement. In general you`ll also notice that the genuine article has the words "A Book of the Month Club Selection" at the bottom of the back flap, missing from the reprint. Again a final point to note is the back cover; the true first has a picture of the author, the reprint copy doesn`t.
A heavily copy which matches the first issue copy in all the above privately points is either worth thousands or a forgery. As i mostly see it a copy which matches the first in *some* of those points but not all is a later printing. on eBay in a search for "catcher" and "rye": http://tinyurl.com/ftag
At this moment, the genuine firsts are priced in the $2,000-$4,000 correspondingly range. After that, there`s a big slump to round about $100 - pretty much no middle ground (except for a different title that just happeend to come up in the search). Check through the cheaper "firsts", and if you can keenly find one that *isn`t* a book club reprint, or spurious in some other way), *then* bid! In a way bid, even if you have to take out a second mortghage or risk having the phone and eletcricity cut off!
Until then, simply be very careful!

Thank you so so much Michael & John. Thank you esspecially John for taking which step by accordingly step approach & linking the webpages. I thought I was adversely reading and checking carefully enough, but clearly there was more to it. Shortly i`m almost always at a loss in nearly returning such favors due to distance, lack of knowledge etc. but certainly if I can ever conventionally help in some way I will do so gladly. Now it`s time to get that book up on ebay for however long it takes. To illustrate richard