In what ways did ebay change record collecting for you?

ebay is the great equalizer and America's garage sale. It has make the record collecting scene very different. That started for me circa 1997/8 when I started to get hip to the internet.

On the plus side:
ebay is the great equalizer fer sure! I was paying 75 clams and up for Japanese Ventures albums in the '80's. Their live albums were particularly hard to find domestically. Even some U.S. pressings were scarce. It took me several years to find one title in particular. By 2000, all of these were very easy to find on ebay.

Watching out of print CD's skyrocket in value. This was a major plus for me when I found the Beach Boys Epic CD's (Holland, Sunflower, etc...) were out of print. I was able to get in the range of $50 - $75 for each of them. They are now back in print and the prices are way down. I took advantage of this with other titles including Hendrix's Polydor CD's and the Beatles Capital Versions (Bootleg releases) CD's and watched auction values climb to ridiculous levels ($500 for 5 Beatles Capital boots, $175 for Hendrix "In the West" and another $125 for "Isle of Wight").


On the minus side:
ebay has taken a good deal out of the thrill of the hunt. I am very happy to have Amoeba in driving distance and to see a number of other record stores springing up and holding on. I still religiously frequent the Pasadena City College record swap. I visit them all in keeping that hunting instinct alive but have to admit that most of the rare stuff I get lately is found on ebay.

Much of what I paid big money for in the 80's and early 90's is worth half of what I paid or less. This may not be all ebays fault - tastes change and fans of my favorite old groups are reaching the "fixed income" age or dying off. But ebay's ability to make so many items so widely available is the main factor.

Goldmine is a shadow of it's former self. I haven't read a Goldmine in at least a decade. Anywho, I should stop here and see what anyone else who collected pre-ebay thinks about the effect of ebay on their record collecting.

 

In what ways did ebay change record collecting for you?

LPs & CDs - In a ' MAJOR ' way !!

Stereo equipment too! Bought my whole rig off of eBay, everything... except for the cd player.

eBay has been most wonderful.

 

Made me realize that a "rare" item that I had to wait to hopefully find at a record show, might not be all that rare.

 

It's increased my record collection tenfold. I've bought scores of items that I used to only read about in Goldmine discographies, and never thought I'd be able to find copies of in a million years.

 

I purchased several used LP's from eBay and had really good luck with them. But I've become more of a Discogs user lately. Don't really know why........

 

It's made me more broke; it taught me how much I hate auctions, the tension;
and it also has given me incredible aggravation with some sellers, on rare occasions, that have made me consider quitting there. (My last crooked seller was on Musicstack, and paypal decided, in his favor - I return it from the U.S. to England for a refund and *I* pay, effectively making it a complete loss to even bother)
Extortion, blackmail, aggravation...I forget what the Y stands for in the acronym.

 

anything I ever wanted to buy got more expensive...
anything I wanted to sell got less expensive...

 

Thanks to Ebay my vinyl record collection is three times larger than before I ever came online the first time.

 

Maybe indirectly but I almost never buy off eBay. Im sure prices of things I have purchased locally or on some other website have been in some way impacted by eBay though.

 

I had a list of about 20 albums that I had wanted for years. I searched used music stores for them all the time. Within six months of starting to use eBay, I had them all.

 

When I got my first computer back in 1999, I soon discovered eBay. With eBay, I was able to locate and buy those records which I missed out on buying when they originally were released and the records which I had been looking for, sometimes for decades. Looking for and buying records through eBay was like going into a huge warehouse rather than a local record store.
Another advantage of eBay is the Record Store Day exclusive releases. Many times, the record store RSD participants either didn't get the record you were looking for or somebody beat you to it. Even before RSD, you might find those records listed on eBay and after RSD, you definitely ould find what you were looking for listed.
Back then, if you couldn't find it through eBay, either it didn't exist or you didn't really need it. Today, I feel this way about Amazon.

 

Because people on eBay don't know what they have, how to grade it, or how to ship it. Duh!

 

Made me realize that getting an album autographed by all band members isn't actually as rare as I thought it was....

Otherwise - Variety. And I like that most listings have photos of the actual items.

 

It's helping me unload my collection one record at a time, and getting funds to open my store.

More sealed LP's and OOP CD's are being listed by the weekend.

User name: hamhead

=^..^=

 

Amazon and their 2ndary retailers are default. Some listings of rarer items are artificially high, which can be confirmed by a quick perusal at eBay. Discogs would be last.resort because of uncertainty over shipping prices.

 

eBay taught me never to buy records on eBay. Too many people who sell records there have no idea what 'grading' means.

 

Oh yes, that's been a biggy. It's also depressing when you think you have a particulalry rare item and find that everybody and their mother has it on Ebay for a buck fifty. -MT

 

I've had that experience as well - the rapid increase in the size of the collection due to much easier availability. Ebay has also been great for my eyesight. For years I strained my eyes over the fine printing in Goldmine (too lazy to find the magnifying glass). Then again, that was probably good exercise for the eyes.

 

The only thing its done for me is become a last ditch place for me to find the un-find-able. Great resource to have but its rare I have to use it.

 

I found things easily & inexpensively on ebay that I had been looking for 20 years prior.

 

Mixed blessings, but mostly good. I've had some incredible bargains on eBay in extremely nice condition, but I've had to return & complain about badly graded records. I generally like it, outside of the major rarities and original records by the established 60s big artists in excellent condition (Beatles, Zep, Hendrix, Who, Floyd etc) I find most records can be obtained at a cheap or fair price on eBay eventually.

The prices of The Smiths and Joy Division records are now getting high aswell.

 

Mainly I buy stuff from ebay sellers that are actual record stores. You can trust 'em.

 

I know this thread is mainly focused on how Flea-Bay has changed Record Collecting.
However, I view that as just one key component of how The Internet has created such a tremendous sea-change for both Record Collectors and Record Sellers:

1. "OTHER FISH IN THE SEA"
When spotting a desired item in a brick and mortar store, I no longer feel "pressured" to make a desperate purchase - as if I have the ONE SOLE SOLITARY EXCLUSIVE COPY held in my sweaty shaking hands.
The same, sane logic for surfing EekBay, Amazon, etc

2. "VIRTUAL VOICE OF REASON"
I no longer feel like I'm being "shaken down" for my last penny, due to over-priced common goods. But, in the past, I could only trust the store's sticker that screamed "RARE HARD TO FIND IMPORT!!!"
Seemingly trusty price checking is available in various sites, in a few minutes.
That's better than having a bunch of record collector geek buddies shopping with you. Or lugging around stacks of outdated Goldmine price guides.

Of course, the down sides are numerous...
1. Vastly underpriced gems are harder to find. Due to computerized inventory, and researchable pricing available on-line, fewer items slip through the cracks.

2. Thrift stores are mined more thoroughly than ever.

3. Swap meets are subject to the same scrutiny.

4. The new breed of Flippers are rampant everywhere.

 

I got there pretty early (~'98) and overall have had pretty good luck finding things I'd been searching for forever, but like everyone else I've had some problems with people who don't know what an "original" is (or whatever pressing you're looking for) and with grading. I've been on a big 45 jag recently and have been pretty lucky with grading and finding people who know how to do it. I've also had good luck selling on ebay, pretty much everything I've ever listed has sold, usually for a price that I could live with. Discogs has it's good & bad points (I really don't like the fact that you can't see the exact record you're buying unless the seller has pics). And I've had good luck selling there as well. Combined, ebay & discogs have taken a huge chunk of my money!

 

eBay taught me that "Like New" condition means up to a half dozen scratches