How To Sell Off Collection?

There must be 50 ways to lose your love of records.

Tim

 

I got rid of 1000+ records (the complete vinyl collection), 80% of my books, all my collections of magazines, self made oil paintings, expensive camera equipment and most other stuff during one such "epiphany" in the early '90s. Having had a hellish childhood and just dropped out of medical school due to mental illness and haunting memories (which led to a suicide attempt), I felt all would be solved by starting anew. Well, it didn't work. The only thing I accomplished was getting rid of the only things that were a reflection of me, so I was left with only those memories I was trying to flee from in the first place.

I managed to make a slow but steady recovery by moving far away from the place of trauma, and - tadam! - collecting music and artsy stuff again, things that really meant something to me, but which I, at the time, just thought was dragging me down and partly causing my problems. Not so, music and beautifully crafted things brings joy and purpose in life, one should just not overdo it (perhaps).

 

I support you in wanting to simplify your life and not be so caught up with belongings!

It may give you pleasure to sell or give them to friends who are into the music. That's probably how I would do it if I didn't need the money.

 

I support you in wanting to simplify your life and not be so caught up with belongings!

It may give you pleasure to sell or give them to friends who are into the music. That's probably how I would do it if I didn't need the money.

 

Setup shop on Amazon. eBay didn't work as well for me. Of the two you'll have more buyers on Amazon.

You can sell off CDs on Secondspin if they don't move elsewhere. They'll buy most anything but you'll only get .10 on .15 on the dogs.

 

You'll regret it.

 

Check out Decluttr. They don't pay much as a rule, but it's a good way to get rid of a lot of low-value stuff in one go. And they pay for the cost of your shipping to them. They take CDs, DVDs, books and even old phones.

 

Been there! Done that! Advise you NOT to do it! If you persist, talk to dealers at record shows > you then avoid mailing/shipping bit by bit over a long period of time as an internet seller, and record show vendors have very little overhead unlike stores where you will get next to nothing. I've had this experience.

 

Not sure if every store will let you do this, but I "sold' a large chunk of my CDs on consignment in a local record store, built up a substantial store credit, then used that over a long period of time to carefully pick out things I really wanted that suited me better for where I'm at. Turned several boxes of a few hundred underwhelming "meh" CDs into a single large box of absolutely jaw-dropping killer stuff, that I enjoy immensely. It is a really great feeling to walk into a store, see something desirable and enviable on the wall like a Mosaic box set or rare vinyl for $75, $100, whatever the price tag says, and to not bat an eye and have the staff pull it down and ring it up for you. "Oh, I've got a credit" etc.

 

What is your time worth? The more time you're willing to invest, the more $$ you can get from your collection.

 

That's an overall good strategy except that to sell a pile of chaff, you probably need to include one jewel in the lot. There are lots of bargain hunters on eBay that will take the dogs off your hands provided there's one gem in the bunch. My buddy is actually throwing away some used vinyl and CD's because _no one_ wants them, even for free.

A record store will never give you more than 50% of what the item is worth and is only looking for stock they can turn over. CD's are slowly becoming white elephants that you can't give away unless you have a rare import, promo or an always-in-demand bands like the Beatles, Doors, Zep , Hendrix etc.

Hopefully you have enough crown jewels or in-demand collectables in your collection you can package up with some common stuff. Good luck

 

With the emphasis on the word PICK, that is precisely what they will do, pick out the best stuff and leave you with the dregs! Any time I sold off LPs, it was all or nothing! No matter how good the condition of the LP and the sleeve, record stores will give you very little for them!

If you had an opportunity to sell them off at a small record fair, that would be ideal. Over here there are pop-up record fairs held once a month in various locations and anybody can 'buy' a table for the day (nominal fee) and sell off their records/cds.

JG

 

When I see an LP with an expensive price tag, I say to myself '' the person who is going to pay that amount is as rare as the record itself''.

JG

 

What is the price range you have received from 'minimum to maximum'. Over here there is usually a stock price between €3-€7, even played once LPs don't fetch much! In saying that the record stores don't charge the earth for secondhand LPs over here. So buying is good value but selling is not!

I know I could probably get twice or three times the prices they are offering by selling online or at a record fair, but it is a long and tedious road.

JG

 

If you try and get 105% of it's Max Value, sure.

If you throw them out there at 75-80% of the Max and have a reliable seller history, they won't last very long...
but, tht doesn't help you sell off the Bulk of a collection.

 

You might want to consider putting it off for a couple of months to make sure you still feel the need to get rid of them. About 12 years ago I looked at my 700+ record collection that I didn't play any more (and didn't have my turntable set up) and decided they took up too much space. So I decided to give them away. I kept about 200 of them, Beatles, Dylan, and a few others. Well, about 2 years later I got back into vinyl. It will take a long time and a lot more money than I originally paid to replace 20+ years of records. Now I'm sorry I did it but it's too late.

 

Have you tried this yourself?

JG

 

You've got some MFSL titles up for sale? Please, do tell more...

 

Online definitely, but trying to sell an expensive LP locally you could be waiting a long time.

JG

 

I should have clarified that I was referring to record fairs, not online! I saw the same MOFI Rolling Stones boxset for about 3 years at various records and I don't think it ever sold and it was cheaper than the 'touted' prices quoted.

JG

 

Oh, hell yeah...depending on your location.

I could wait 3 lifetimes before I sold anything locally!

 

Why not try the classifieds here for your nicer items - especially rare vinyl and audiophile CD's and SACD's?

 

Good luck with your endeavor! I built shelves along one wall in the living room and decided that anything that didn't fit had to go. I've got around 15 boxes of cds in the basement awaiting disposition. I looked around at local stores, but they are offering next to nothing (and in many cases, literally nothing). Since I don't need the $$ and I have no storage issues, I've decided to hold on to them and hope that the prices for used cds rise in the future---but I doubt I'll live that long!

 

Yeah, definitely LPs are more in demand secondhand, some of the stores won't even take secondhand CDs anymore!

JG

 

I've done the purging thing 8 years ago before moving to Canada. Never again, I still regret things I got rid of for a fraction of their value to me. Thankful I have been able to rebuild some of what I lost, and found other stuff besides in the last couple of years, but know there are some things being in Canada, that I will never see or own again, not for prices I am able to do anyway.