Guardian article: Why Elvis memorabilia is plummeting in value

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Can’t help falling in price: why Elvis memorabilia is plummeting in value
As the King’s fans die of old age, and their collections hit the second-hand market, vintage Elvis records have never been cheaper

Oobah Butler

Sunday 7 May 2017 11.00 EDT

From the moment Elvis Presley landed, we wanted every piece of him. This turned his old records into vinyl and shellac gold. While the value of discs by other popular mid-century artists such as Cliff Richard and Frank Sinatra dropped as time passed, Elvis’s didn’t. As an omnipresent figure, the prices of the King’s records rose to astronomical levels.

Unearthing an original That’s All Right record became a £4,000 lucky strike; a set of five original Sun singles at one time fetched £25,000. This made them a sort of pension for many collectors. They packed items away, hoping one day to exchange them for a caravan in the Dordogne. However, this has all begun to change.

In December 2015, an unheard, one-of-a-kind Elvis acetate surfaced at an auction house in Aston in the West Midlands. Widely publicised, and open to the worldwide market, the recording of Suspicion was expected to sell for £12,000. It achieved £6,500. This shocked many, but not collectors. It marked the arrival of a moment they had always feared. For the first time in popular music history, Elvis records and collections were dropping in value...

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If this is a part of a demographic trend, will we see this happen in ten years with the Beatles?

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Nope.

 

Of course.

 

I hope so, i'm tired of seeing beat up old Beatles records with high price tags.

 

not sure Elvis is tanking more than anything else, if you do a completed auction search on ebay his Sun records are still some of the most valuable 78's out there.. nice copies of the first album and the Christmas album also still fetch.

 

Once the original audience departs, the market becomes narrower and more selective as lennonfan notes. I would say we are at peak Beatles, Stones, Zep, Floyd. But that hardly means that everything will be worthless; just that the gap between the truly special and more ordinary items will widen.

 

I can tell you really like Elvis.

 

The Beatles have a large youth fanbase still. I was 13 when the Anthology aired and became a fan, then there was another wave with "1." Also as long as current musicians (anyone from Kanye to Dave Grohl to Adam Levine to Rae Sremmurd) idolize and namecheck the Beatles there will be a portion of younger fans. But I've noticed in the past 15 years or so Elvis' reputation has plummeted.

 

My friend's record store sells $5-$10 Sinatra LP's a lot quicker than common Elvis LP's priced the same. Never really gets in any rare 50's era Elvis stuff though. Lots of post 77' pressings and re-issues that kind of sit in the bins.

 

Interesting article. I really don't know if it will happen to the Beatles. Theirs is a smaller much more concise catalogue. Elvis sold many records and many different records cf the complete albums box recently released by Sony. Imagine that as a vinyl box of 200 gm records compared to the Beatles mono or stereo boxes. I am sure Elvis 78s and original Sun records will always cost a fair bit but poor condition movie soundtracks etc maybe not. As for 60 years on (I have been playing Elton today) I would guess Elvis and the Beatles will still be fairly well known amongst the general population.

 

Boomer culture will last longer than Silent culture. Fairly or not, it's considered more contemporary and cooler.

 

The market was over saturated with Elvis back in the day, the Beatles have been overly cautious about this and smartly so.

 

Yes there are a lot of very poor condition albums from the big acts of the 1960s and 70s that seem to have ridiculously high price tags but at the current time Mr Vinyl and Mr Raawk are kings.

 

Nope The Beatles are in a different league than Elvis Presley.

 

You do know kings are irrelevant, and have been for a long time.

 

Suspicion was a album track from "Pot Luck With Elvis" that came out in 1961, what was that seller expecting? the money that Graceland got from Jack White for that "My Happiness" acetate. Elvis records are turning in in the dollar boxes here, nice condition Living Stereos for $1. I can deal with that .

 

I read an article today...and I wish I could find the link to post...about how record shops are having a hard time selling Elvis Presley albums. Seems like they basically give theme away.

According to the article, the Beatles could be in the same boat soon. I agree with that statement really. I see it in my local record shops. Very few Beatles albums have significant resale value.

Any theories as to why that's the case? Like them or not, Elvis and The Beatles impact and importance are undeniable. They're easily as important as the Stones and Zeppelin, two bands who routinely move lots of albums at higher prices at used shops.

 

Guardian article: Why Elvis memorabilia is plummeting in value

 

I'm not buying it. I think Elvis has more to worry about though. Near Mint Beatle copies will always sell.

 

Of the two local record shops I've been told by owners of both that they can't move Elvis LPs at all - the market [at least the record buying market] for Elvis has dried up. [When I trade Lps in, I try to offer something they're intersted in and can, in turn, sell. One time I asked if they would be interested in any Elvis records. The reply was not to bother, they couldn't sell what they had.] On the other hand they buy anything 'Beatles', that market is still strong. I'm guessing that eventually the demographics for anything and anyone grows old and then disappears.

 

Off:

BREAKING NEWS!!!
[ala CNN]
Pat Boone is not as popular as he use to be!

 

Thanks @Gaslight

 

My local shop has more copies of Beatles IV than you can shake a stick at, if that's your idea of a good time

 

With Elvis, I suppose if you had a mint LPM 1254 or LOC 1035 first pressing you might get a few quid for it but if you rolled up with a mid '80's pressing of Roustabout, or a pickwick 'I Got Lucky' you've probably lucked out?
Perhaps we've reached a stage where there's enough Elvis albums out there in numerous formats for everyone on the planet, it's just the same darn title over and over?
Or maybe the only people who are interested in Elvis these days are the people only interested in Elvis?
I don't know...

 

In Presley's case I think it depends very much on which records. If somebody's got some Elvis NM Sun 78's for sale for a bargain price, just gimme a call. Hey, you know what, I'll even accept VG++!