How To Sell Off Collection?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Tippy, Jan 9, 2017.

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  1. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    Tippy, are you there? Don’t be shy.

    :wave:

    I alway think it’s better and nicer for OPs to participate and not just lurk or disappear after asking for and receiving a bunch of friendly advice and questions....

    My two cents is that the urge to simplify/renew and maximize $$$ are in conflict. In particular spending time trying to get money for used CDs is a huge waste of time IMO, given that only an extremely tiny quotient of rare CDs command decent prices. Books are even more sadly not in demand and hard to sell. Vinyl can offer a better return on the effort of selling but only if the stuff is in super clean condition.

    Quickly get a savvy take on whether you’ve got albums that are worth anything. Then strike quickly, donate or give away the dross, and don’t spend time getting bogged down in this process if you’re looking for a fresh start. Get rid of it fast and don’t look back.

    I agree you may live to regret the whole thing, particularly if you toss overboard albums that you love and mean a lot to you.
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2017
  2. Holerbot6000

    Holerbot6000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    If you're willing to put in the work, selling on Discogs is a great way to go. They provide median price information for listings and it's probably the best way to get top dollar if there is any interest. I sold most of my LP collection last year and made a lot of money, but no kidding - it is a LOT of work. Like a second job really. Not for the faint of heart but very profitable.
     
  3. LitHum05

    LitHum05 El Disco es Cultura

    Location:
    Virginia
    Suggestion: start by whittling down your collection and see how you feel after a few months. That way you know you're doing the right thing.
     
    Purple likes this.
  4. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    Yeah, I've had consignment deals (for cash, even) for decades. It's great for stuff $20 and less, but I have a hard time moving big ticket items. I also have sold gear through the same place.
     
  5. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    No not yet as I haven't had enough to sell at a show but I've spoken to others that have. My friend wants to and I might help him out and include some records myself.

    A few years ago I was at a show and there were two brothers who bought quite a few tables to sell off their Dads collection. He'd passed away a few years earlier and they decided to go this route before offering left overs to stores. They seemed quite happy with the result. Interesting approach to pricing though. At opening time they had everything priced at $30 and then gradually reduced the price till the end of the day. I found some good items (we arrived late) at the $10 range that were worth more than that. I imagine some people got some great deals early on. They said they didn't have the time to actually price each one up as there were so many and they weren't collectors themselves so they didn't know much.
     
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  6. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    The main store I used to sell to had a great buy policy. Usually 40-50% of retail but I often got more if it was a particularly rare item. He decided to take a break from retail though so options aren't as good but there are some good places still to sell to. So for me it can still make sense to sell to stores rather than online. One guy I've known for years will straight up tell you, he'll offer $10 and he'll sell for $15. He makes very little on each record but he's at a flea market with low rent costs and has loyal customers so his stock can move quickly.

    Generally, I try and work out what I can get for a record and if it's $40 or more, it usually goes online. If it's $30-40 I consider online vs stores as some records do better online than locally in stores. Less than $30 usually means I sell to the store. If I can get $15 for a $30 record I've done alright. If I sell that online for $30 I lose about $4 to fees (I'm ignoring shipping here to make it easier) so that leaves me with $26. Which is of course better than $15 but only $9 better. Once I account for all my time to list, take to the post office, etc an extra $9 doesn't sound so good. I figure my time is worth more than $9 an hour. But you know for someone else it might be ok.

    I take my time when I list online. I take several pictures, often retaking if I'm not happy with the clarity or detail. I take my time grading and ensure I've used the best light so any defects are clearly seen.
     
  7. originalsnuffy

    originalsnuffy Socially distant and unstuck in time

    Location:
    Tralfalmadore
    I have Supertramp Crime of the Century, David Grisman Hot Dawg, and XTC Skylarking on Discogs all on MFSL. Plus a rare version of Face Value by Phil Collins on gold disc, David Sylvian and Fripp Gold disc, etc.

    Also have a ton of laserdiscs that I should sell but those can only be sold in large bulky lots on ebay as far as I can tell.
     
  8. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Make a list as detailed as you can and send it out to record stores for them to bid on. The will all want to see it before committing to a price but you can ask for a ballpark figure in an effort to decide where you are going to take them to.

    If you want to spend a bunch of time to get the most for the collection, enter the catalog numbers into discogs and it will give you a spreadsheet with the high, low and median retail value. You will be lucky to get halve of the low retail value from a store but at least you will have an idea of what that should be. It will also let you know which ones are the most valuable if you want to cheery pick those and list them yourself for full value.

    If you sell them as a lot on Ebay or CL, you will get plenty of interest but a list of the titles and estimated condition will be needed. Record stores are hungry for inventory. CD's, not so much and you might as well donate the books.
     
  9. James Glennon

    James Glennon Senior Member

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    Agreed! But they won't pay 'market' prices for them, their attitude is ''we'll take them off your hands for you''. Like they are doing you a favour. I have never read one comment ever on this forum where a record store offered good money for LPs. Generally the comments have been the opposite. I had a list of about 70 LPs with detailed descriptions, all were played once new and what they were willing to offer was laughable.

    JG
     
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  10. Ricardo Cosinaro

    Ricardo Cosinaro Forum Resident

    will look for you on Discogs! Thanks!
     
  11. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    What have people got against books? I downsized my collection of books some time ago. Sold over $1,000 worth on a collection of 60-70. If they are mostly paperback novels, then yes, you will struggle, but some books can be worth a bit of money.

    As for CDs, there is the rare stuff, and then there is the common stuff. The common stuff is better sold in lots. The rare stuff might not be worth much, or it might be worth a lot. It really depends on what you've got, and the condition.
     
  12. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Just not many places you can buy books or cd's anymore. It's mostly an online business. There are certainly very valuable books but if you have them you probably know how to sell them.
     
  13. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    True, I sold my books online. There are no longer any independent bookstores in my area. There are a couple of independent record stores though.
     
  14. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    There'll be a lot of gems in my chaff, popular albums, etc.

    My wheat is limited to MFSL, DCC, hard-to-find imports, etc.
     
  15. Tippy

    Tippy Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Hi--sorry I had a long day at work and I am just getting back to my personal PC.

    There are a lot of good points in this thread, and honestly I didn't expect this kind of response so I do want to thank you for all your responses.

    Just to touch on a few things that people brought up, apologies for not responding one to one.

    The collection is large, probably about 2000+ CDs (of which about 500 are fairly worthless Springsteen bootlegs I spent a fortune on in the 90's). I have some valuable things--like Springsteen vinyl from his 90's and 00's releases, and quite a few Grateful Dead box sets that are now out of print. Having said that, those would probably be the things I keep. Most of the collection is more mundane, though I imagine I have more than a few CD singles that are worth some cash.

    The reason I am interested in "getting rid of stuff" is also fairly mundane. I live in a fairly big old house, and literally every room in the place has shelves and shelves full of books/CD's and other memorabilia. It's actually kind of a joke within my family and friends, especially the "every room must have something KISS in it" rule. I am about to do a significant remodel, and all this stuff is just in the way.

    But also, as part-time guitar player (I am probably just below professional level and have worked in local bands going back 25+ years, and I do occasional fill-in work for a couple of friends gigs), I have kinda lost my fire to play, and I need to rekindle that. I believe I have spent too much time, particularly over the last six years, listening and not playing, which has resulted in a few blown opportunities because I was out of practice and botched various auditions.

    Along these lines, I am also planning on getting rid of all the gear I don't use anymore. I literally have every guitar, every effect pedal and every amp I have bought since '84. That I will probably just dump in music store, though it pains me to do it.

    Sounds like more than a few of you are interested in how this turns out, so I will say for the moment the "Keepers" have swayed my opinion. After reading this thread, I think I decided that I am going to box everything and move it out to my game room, which will be remodeled this Spring/Summer, and postpone making the decision until then.

    I am still interested in hearing ideas though. I really like the "Getting a table at a record convention" idea, as I used to attend them all the time and again, it is something I got away from.

    Again, thanks for all the responses!!!
     
  16. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    Some of us don't let little things like work and jobs get in the way of incessant posting!

    But seriously great post.
     
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  17. eelkiller

    eelkiller One of the great unwashed

    Location:
    Northern Ontario
    Great price on the Hot Dawg.
     
  18. fluffskul

    fluffskul Would rather be at a concert

    Location:
    albany, ny
    I'd like to retract my previous statement, and suggest you donate said Grateful Dead box sets to me for safe keepings... those discs are just stuff... u don't need them!

    :-D
     
  19. quicksilverbudie

    quicksilverbudie quicksilverbudie

    Location:
    Ontario
    I have been thinking of this...selling the whole lot 3,000+ LPs Posters and books etc. I would probably open a
    record store for a few months and sell it off that way. Advertise before the opening of course....vinyl is hot around here these days.... I would love to decorate a record store.


    sean
     
  20. James Glennon

    James Glennon Senior Member

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    I definitely think this is the way to go, because YOU can put a price on them and customers can offer you that amount or bargain you down a little. It could turn out to be a very enjoyable day for you as well!

    JG
     
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  21. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Not a bad idea now that we have all these pop up stores. There's a couple of small locations in my area, that for awhile, had various pop ups happening. Mostly not lps but one guy had a bin and I found a Zeppelin Presence UK A1/B1 pressing in Mint (well it was covered in cat hair when I first bought it bit I cleaned it) for $5!

    He was basically doing something similar as your suggestion. He had accumulated a lot of stuff, cool little items basically, so he decided to rent the space for a couple of weeks and sell off what he could.
     
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  22. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    That's not a bad idea actually. I've done similar things in the past as I didn't want to rush a purge decision or be swayed by the annoyance of it being in the way at that particular time. Also, I'm one who believes it's better to pack up all your stuff, move to a new house and then purge stuff. Might be more work since there's more to move but I find that after the move I have a clearer mind as to what I need and space available, or rather, I can think more rationally :)

    I tell you one thing that happened recently...I didn't do a full on remodel but I felt my space wasn't utilised very well so I moved stuff out of the way and painted and when I was moving furniture, etc back into the space I realised I didn't want some of the things I thought I did and did want some of the things I was going to throw out.
     
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  23. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    You don't say where you are, but I've done a bunch of record shows in the Northeast and Midwestern US in the last couple of years and while somebody always brings along a table full of CDs almost all the interest and action is in vinyl. I see people walking around clutching vinyl, but not stacks of CDs. If mostly what you want to sell is CDs and depending where you are, a fair might not be the best bet.
     
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  24. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I've seen the same trend up here in Toronto and even in London UK when I lived there. There used to be a lot of cd sellers but now people tend to go for vinyl so you've got some good advice here. I can't believe that slipped my mind when I suggested getting a table at a show.
     
    Tippy likes this.
  25. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Unfortunately slowly is the correct answer, like most of the above thread replies. Who knows you may get lucky selling them on a used online site.

    I was quite content to get rid of all my LPs when CDs came out, then got rid of all my CDs when the iTunes came out. (The key here is I still have all my music).

    Got rid of all my books, DVDs, Blu rays, and have never been happier. (Except my James Bond 50 blu ray boxset. I missed it, so I got a great deal on Black Friday)
     
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