Second hand vinyl - are prices for classic rock going up, down or flatlining?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by back2vinyl, May 27, 2018.

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  1. Fender Relic

    Fender Relic Forum Resident

    Location:
    PennsylBama
    Yeah, been there done that with quite a few large collections. One I remember was around this time of year and it was hot like it's been this year, 90 with high humidity and this guy wants me to check out his records in this utility shack. The front half was filled with lawn mowers and yard care tools, etc. and the back half was filled with vinyl in boxes on the floor and up on shelves and table. I swear I lost 5 or 10 lbs. in sweat and needed a good hot shower when I was done. Most of the stuff was rough to OK but it was worth looking at as there was early Rock stuff...Little Richard,Buddy,Ricky,Fats,Valens,Everly Bros.,Rockabilly,etc. (but no Gene Vincent) that a relative in the Army brought home from Germany and UK. The very last LP I pulled from the last stack was a British Buddy Holly so it ended on a good note. He wanted me to take them all for a good price but I declined. At least he wasn't an all or nothing type so I bought around 100 LP's and I was so hot and tired that I couldn't look thru the huge totes of 45's so I asked if I could come back. I called a few weeks later and a real estate sale sign was in the yard and I peeked in the shed and it was totally empty so who knows where the 45's ended up. I was kinda anti 45 at the time but now I wished I would have bit the bullet and rooted around.
     
    eddiel and Man at C&A like this.
  2. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    I have no doubt there are stores like this. Maybe even most. But the ones I frequent are pretty good about factoring condition into the price.

    What I do see however which I see potentially killing their golden goose is overpricing somewhat more desirable stuff - not rare, mind you - well above going rate. For example, they’ll have a used copy of an in-print MFSL LP which you can still buy new for $25 priced at $35 or $40. And then it just sits there...
     
  3. dkurtis

    dkurtis sonoftheFather

    The current resurgence of vinyl sales. Record collecting is not a fad. Young men and women buying vinyl because it's cool is.
     
  4. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    When I go to record fairs I have a small bottle of hand sanitizer just in case. I rarely browse records that don't have outer sleeves on them but even outer sleeve get flighty over time. That little bottle does come in handy.

    When I clean my records I give the worst covers a quick wipe with some lysol wipes. I squeeze out the excess but you have to be careful as some covers don't do well with those. But I've had covers that were really grimy.

    I find it mostly an issue with pre 70's records for the most part. The closer you get to 2018 in terms of release date, the cleaner the records. Usually anything from 1980 onwards doesn't need a wipe.
     
    MrSka57 and Fender Relic like this.
  5. e.s.

    e.s. Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    10+ years is not a fad. Don’t take my word for it, try a dictionary.

    Also, stop assuming you know why other people do something.
     
  6. ODShowtime

    ODShowtime jaded faded

    Location:
    Tampa
    I like laminated British jackets because sometimes you can use moist paper towel and wipe off the crud.

    I don't know what was in the gatefold of the UK Led Zeppelin III I bought recently but I hope it was a melted candy bar....
     
  7. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    If someone is building a record collection, I hope they are using the "will I enjoy this?" gauge and not necessarily the "will this be worth a ton of cash in twenty years?" gauge.

    What I learned about collecting over the years is that it's usually the stuff that you least expect that ends up being the most expensive one day. So you can hoard all types of shiny things in the hopes of hitting the bullseye on a few of them, but is it really worth the effort?
     
  8. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    I see generic titles as being very static in price, but popular stuff, even titles that sold in the millions, getting pricier and pricier. Zeppelin, Floyd, The Beatles, Zappa are all at least double what they were 15 years ago. And even the cheesiest psych exploitation titles have become desirable collectors items in the last twenty years or so.

    And 90's vinyl gets crazy expensive, only to come crashing down again as soon as it gets reissued.
     
    Shak Cohen and Fender Relic like this.
  9. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    I really wish that were true. If it is happening in your neck of the woods I'm jealous. I was lucky to have picked up some 90s vinyl in the 90s but titles were pressed in very low numbers and when they are reissued they often are remastered for the loudness wars. So I just see crazy expensive.
     
  10. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    I'm mostly viewing it as an owner. I bought a lot of vinyl in those days, when I could find it.
     
  11. dkurtis

    dkurtis sonoftheFather

    Everything on that list is directly related to enjoying the music. M-, first pressings usually are the best sounding pressings until a superior mastering or remix shows up. What sounds the best is what proves to hold it's value.
     
  12. dkurtis

    dkurtis sonoftheFather

    I haven't assumed, I've been told by many. And you are correct, there is a difference between a fad and a trend, but both have a beginning and end. Many teenagers today are buying vinyl because it is a fad. I have even been told that they are buying records with no ability to play them. These individuals are the ones walking into a local record store and purchasing titles with no regard to condition. I have read articles than define fad, trend and classics. I believe that we see all three within this hobby. Many of us, myself and I believe you, see records as classics and have been collecting a lifetime. The teenagers that I have referred to see records as a cultural fad. The question is how many new collectors see records as a trend and how long will that trend last? There in lies the answer to the foreseeable future of vinyl. I believe that neither fad collectors nor classic collectors can sustain the current marketplace without the trend collectors. Extremes can never sustain without the middle. I have collected records for 36 years while the vinyl resurgence trend has had a life of 10 years+. The trend collectors have given us remarkable reissue labels, Discogs and used vinyl store revivals, but trends can be fickle and by definition cyclic. And again, I do not desire a debate. I believe that you have brought to light a very interesting point and one worth consideration. Thank you.
     
    Gavaxeman likes this.
  13. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    These teenagers of which you speak. It seems odd that they've been teenagers for the last 12 years, since that's when the current vinyl uptick began.

    Seems like back in my day, we were only teenagers for about seven years. Who do I see about getting those extra five bonus years?
     
    e.s. likes this.
  14. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    Sometimes a reissue, if rare, can be worth more than a first pressing. And sometimes a reissue can sound better than its more expensive first issue counterpart.

    Condition is the one factor that is always important - lightly played or, even better for a collector, never even opened = higher value. But where's the fun in that?
     
    e.s. and c-eling like this.
  15. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Found that to be the case with this 80's issue B-AD-H-*-AD over my old 1B, the poster now resides in this one :laugh:
    [​IMG]
     
  16. Dr. Funk

    Dr. Funk Vintage Dust

    Location:
    Fort Worth TX
    It makes one wonder.......what kind of "activities" occur around and on vinyl albums? :whistle:
     
    c-eling likes this.
  17. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    The early 2000s was heaven. It was an *awesome* time to get back in the game. I bought a Rega Planar 3 and started buying vinyl for the first time since the 1980’s. On my travels I’d always hit local used record stories and hunt for thrifts and flea markets with good inventory, and I managed to restore every LP I loved and lost along the way, and organically built a nice modest collections of rock, jazz, and TONS of ridicuously cheap mint classical music. I hit the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest several times in the mid-2000s when the audiophile vinyl reissues were starting to ge their mojo going, and picked up the Classic Led Zeppelins pressings for $25 each.

    In my experience it’s only been over the past six or seven years that the vinyl revival — which finally overcome all the mockery and ridicule and sarcasm, and penetrated the skulls of even the most dim-witted sellers as a real thing and a big deal — tightened up the market and pushed prices up dramatically.
     
    Cassius, sonofjim, e.s. and 2 others like this.
  18. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    Recently picked a mint copy of this at my local shop (Omega) for $7.
    Deals can be had if you are patient.

    Darryl
     
  19. ODShowtime

    ODShowtime jaded faded

    Location:
    Tampa
    All you can do is wash your hands when you get done picking records, properly clean every used record you obtain, put everything in new plastic sleeves, and hope not to catch the 1972 Hong Kong Flu.
     
  20. Dr. Funk

    Dr. Funk Vintage Dust

    Location:
    Fort Worth TX
    Brother, you're not kidding...........I got back in the vinyl game seriously around 2001, and hit it hard till about 2005........those were some sweet times here in Fort Worth TX. I had 3 honey hole vinyl spots I would frequent a couple of times a week. I was picking up plenty of of Zep, Floyd, Stones, Tull, Yes, Traffic, etc....beautiful pressings for $3 and $4. I would run across another vinyl hound several times a month.....we would look at each other in a shop and start laughing. We actually went and had lunch together one day, and talked about are precious funds. I miss those days.
     
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  21. bamaaudio

    bamaaudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Mostly going down in price locally. Not as good as the mid 2000s but for the most part better than the last several years.
     
  22. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Nothing will ever beat the mid to late '90s, though. I was carrying foot-high stacks of vintage '60s to '80s LPs out of my local for 20 or 30 bucks. Many of those sell for mid three figures on Discogs now.
     
    Shak Cohen and Stone Turntable like this.
  23. Dr. Funk

    Dr. Funk Vintage Dust

    Location:
    Fort Worth TX
    Not here in Funky Town (Fort Worth) could not hardly find vinyl in the 90's.....had to drive to Dallas (about an hour away) for a decent selection.
     
  24. e.s.

    e.s. Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Stop it, you're killing me.

    Apart from a few things here and there, I didn't get back into vinyl until 2009, and seriously into it until 2010. There were still plenty of bargains to be had, but I remember seeing cheap used vinyl in the late '90s and early '00s that I would kill for today!
     
  25. EddieMann

    EddieMann I used to be a king...

    Location:
    Geneva, IL. USA.
    Over the years I've built a sizable, eclectic, nice quality record collection. I'll be honest, sometimes when I make a find at a garage sale or thrift store I get kind of excited about the value of a record. I'll run home, do the research and get all giddy realizing I just got a $50 or more record for next to nothing. But then I come down to earth because of course, something is only worth whatever someone else will give you for it, and it takes actual effort to sell the darn things. I'm lazy so my fallback position is usually to just enjoy the music.
     
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