After about 4 years of using the site I think I have most of my vinyl collection up there, give or take a few pressing variations. Collection Value Range Minimum: $12,676.30 Median: $24,134.47 Maximum: $57,079.32 Most of my oddball, country and promo stuff has never sold on Discogs [A lot of these items I've had to add to the database myself] so of course it doesn't contribute to the monetary value at all. Then of course when you factor in condition, this value is just a dream.
About 6000 pieces, spilit about 50/50 between cd and vinyl. Theres like 250+ cd's that I have that aren't even on there..... Collection Value Range Minimum: $23,028.26 Median: $39,296.61 Maximum: $70,333.14 http://www.discogs.com/user/djdmt/collection
I find that Popsike is a far more accurate indicator of the actual value of records. You have no way of knowing if past Discogs sales are of the specific album in the listing. There are so many counterfeits and reissues listed under original pressings, and vice versa. It's a great resource in many ways, but as a user controlled database, it's a total mess. No offense to you Gilbert, but many of the contributors I've come across on Discgo are crazy trolls. It would be nice to see more consolidation of versions of albums, and for counterfeits to be listed as such or put into a totally separate part of the database. "Unofficial" is too innocuous. "Worthless garbage" would be a better description. I also think that sellers should be required to upload photos of the actual items they are selling. Most sellers haven't a clue what they're peddling. I was surprised at the maximum value of my collection on Discogs. It is about 30% higher than my own fairly conservative estimate. I base the value of my records on what it would feasibly cost to replace them in EX or higher condition, and what the median Popsike value is.
Some people buy unofficial CDs to get the rare music content, not for the monetary value of the CD. Especially if the music is not available elsewhere.
I'm talking strictly about counterfeits of vinyl albums, specifically studio albums that are out of print. Like all those "import" colored vinyl pressings of classic albums that are all over eBay and Discogs. You are referring to bootlegs, which often contain live, unreleased or otherwise rare material. I don't generally have an issue with trading that material, but I don't think people should pay for it. Why pay a bootlegger for material that they have zero right to reproduce and distribute? And why buy that stuff when you could just download it and burn it to your own CD?
The point of discogs is that it is a user-editable database. YOU can add issues! I have added hundreds of pieces to the database.
http://www.discogs.com/user/Bootbox/collection 820 records, 20 cassettes Minimum: $11,368.20 Median: $17,404.63 Maximum: $27,440.86
Unlike real CDs, CD-Rs are not permanent copies... which goes back to my original question: Is there a way to tell whether a bootleg that is sold as a real pressed CD is just that, and not a CD-R (burned copy)?
That's a good question. I think with bootlegs, all bets are off. But again, I was talking about counterfeit vinyl studio albums (like the colored vinyl copies of popular albums by David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Tool, Pink Floyd, Beatles, etc. that are all over eBay and Discogs ), not CDs of otherwise unreleased material. If you want to give some scumbag money for that material which they have no right to own, manufacture or distribute then knock yourself out. If it were me, I would download those tracks (which I have done from time to time, full disclosure) and burn them to a CD or put them on an iPod or whatever. This is how I was able to hear the unreleased fourth Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd single. Is it ethical? Probably not, but I wanted to hear those songs. I would never pay for some CD that featured those songs, because I don't want to give money to some guy that had nothing to do with that material other than illegally ripping it to CD and selling it.
Not when the label covers the center ring (where the CD-R batch number would be printed or mechanically etched). I already stated that looking for a bluish or greenish tint on the playing surface doesn't work, in my original post, which you obviously didn't read. Leviethan: Lecturing me about wasting my money on bootleg CDs (advertised as "real pressed silver CDs") does not address the question of whether they are pressed CDs or just burned CD-Rs. People rip music to CD-Rs, not CDs. CD-Rs do not last. Nobody likes this.
A real pressed 'silver' CD (on the read side) will have a center hub like this: A CD-R will have a center hub like this (on the read side): In my experience - the CD-R's that I've had - the center hub is 'plain' in comparison to a pressed silver CD.
Rhett, thanks for the info, I appreciate that. I had found similar info at Discogs. The center hub looks like the CD-R in your second photo above, but without those codes, except the (bootleg) catalog number is professionally mechanically printed on the playing surface just outside the center hub and just outside the black ring in your CD-R photo, in the clear mirror area just before the music data starts. The center hub is plain (clear); both CDs and CD-Rs can have clear center hubs. I can't photo the disc surface to show you, sorry. I still think it could be a disguised CD-R.
706 CDs total 273 of them have no sales history, so no values. Minimum: $5,101 Median: $7,028 Maximum: $9,970 I have added 48 submissions from my collection, these were versions I had but were not listed on the database. If you use this database and you have a recording that isn't listed, take the time to add it. It is a little confusing at first but once you get the hang of it using the draft copy function, it isn't too bad.
But unfortunately the Discogs mafia (a group of users who act like Dredd) disapprove most uses of the "free text" box. I've had submissions edited backwards, when I've tried to enter "UK original pressing" and similar. It could be a definitive site, but at the moment it's too vague.
Don't have all my collection on discogs. But part of it is overviewed there. So my results: Minimum: €1,965.61 Median: €4,990.39 Maximum: €11,356.28
My collection, or any separate item in it, is worth exactly as much as the highest bidder wants to pay the moment I'm selling. That's the only way to decide values.
I don't have many pieces in my collection, but I do pride myself on the fact that I KNOW I've spent less than that "Minimum" amount to acquire it all Collection Value Range Minimum: $3,357.67 Median: $4,823.97 Maximum: $7,548.48
http://www.discogs.com/user/trachi/collection 1777 items Nothing real amazing, but it's my collection and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Too many memories. I'm more of a listener than a collector. Minimum: $7,136 Median: $11,277 Maximum: $21,115
Still loading the collection but this is it so far (vinyl only and 1776 items): Minimum: $24,413.56 Median: $39,585.64 Maximum: $64,344.69
2334 vinyl / 464 CDs (and that's after a major purge back in May) Collection Value Range Minimum: $31,788.29 Median: $50,726.75 Maximum: $86,365.33
Sorting by minimum value, I had a few surprises. My most valuable record is an obscure disco 12" which I paid $5 for several years ago (and frankly, isn't even worth that; I really don't get the appeal). I knew about that one though, because I've had a couple of people approach me trying to buy it. Then a couple of box sets which, quite understandably, go for a fair bit, because they cost a fair bit to begin with. But the biggest surprise was that out of my 5000+ item collection, my 4th-most valuable title is the vinyl edition of Scissor Sisters' "Magic Hour": an album which only came out 3 years ago! I remember it being a bit of a pain to get, because I had to order it direct from Universal instead of going through amazon or whomever. Still, it floors me there are people willing to pay three figures for it.