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

The well known classic rock vinyl is fetching around $18-20 on up in the Cleveland OHio area. David Bowie stuff is at premium now. The Beatles vinyl is still high, especially the mono ones. On the other hand, stuff like Johnny Winter, Ten Years After and the like go for $10 or so.
For me, it’s the cd inventory in the used section that’s winding down in choices. I used to see quite a bit of deluxe editions, now, not so much anymore. I think people are getting tired of getting ripped off at trade ins. I gave up several years ago when I bought a used Misfits Collection 2 from a store used for $10. Then, when I wanted to trade back, they only offered $3 cash maybe $4 store credit. It has only gotten twice as bad since then. A lot of the CDs they won’t take. No small wonder the Goodwills and other charity shops seeing CDs come to their shops.

 

I bought a Steve Earle cd years ago with one song featuring a lot of surface noise for ambience (I guess). I can't say I enjoy that made me very happy. My records don't sound like that.

 

$4 store credit for a $10 item is actually ok. 50% trade in is the absolute max you would expect unless it's a big ticket item they can turn around quickly.

 

For some reason your post made me think of the Seinfeld episode S4E18 "The Old Man" where Jerry volunteers to visit an old man and Kramer and Newman want to take and sell the old mans vintage vinyl LPs

 

I'm always surprised to see so much discussion of prices / availability of classic rock albums I would assume most forum members have.

 

I’d agree normally, but that cd is the easiest sell in the Misfits catalog because of the Last Caress song. Naturally, it went back on the shelf for $10. Originally, they offered $2 cash, 2.75 credit? I argued a little. Now, who knows if you get a $1 for it from them. The younger kids would laugh and sell it on EBay.

I’m more of the opinion one is better off selling online than bringing a collection of stuff to the record store. Sure, the record store will price items based on condition and popularity - but you won’t see much of it coming to your pocket.
I do see from their point of view that they take the chance in acquiring it in exchange for a quick sell at a profit. It’s just not for me anymore.

 

I was at one of those indoor flea markets in a "hip" part of Manhattan on Monday and there was a seller with mostly 70s and 80s titles. He had a pretty dirty (and somewhat scratched) copy of Everybody Knows This is Nowhere going for $25. There was a Rush Signals in similar condition for $20. A beat up Joe's Garage for $30.

I guess he's possibly one of those people who would be amenable to haggling, but what's the point? What would a customer need to come in at to get a final price of $3-$4? Fifty cents? I doubt that would go over well.

 

Are experienced buyers buying used Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin and Floyd albums, though? And even though experienced buyers might be passing up titles that are grossly overpriced it's probably not experienced buyers who are driving the revival of the format. I would suspect that it's people either re-acquiring or buying for the first time who are paying the high prices for these titles. I mean, if they weren't selling, then they'd be priced lower.

A simple proposition, for a buyer who plans on buying the an album primarily for playing purposes: if a (well-made) reissue costs $25 and a clean, lightly-played used item of the same title costs $15, does it really matter what the actual album is? The $15 used album is the thing to get, even if it's Blondie or Grand Funk on the cover instead of Pink Floyd.

 

Some, I'm sure but I'm mostly with you.

 

Experienced buyers/collectors of the Beatles, Zeppelin, Stones, Pink Floyd etc. will always look to purchase rare items in the best condition by those artists. Always have and will probably continue to do so for a long time.

 

Yea , for curiosity's sake , i checked the Hall And Oates section at a store in the NY area today ....they had one R&S for $30 bill .... I asked the worker (who i kind of know ) if they were selling better , he stated in the last year or so , they can not price them high enough , no matter how high they price them (usually $20+ for nm vinyl for any album in their catalog ) they sell within a week .. he told me they are selling to their classic rock buyer , the R&B buyers , and the people that buy the Clash , Heads , Ramones , Femmes , etc....3 different audiences buying their records , means very quick turnover

 

But many of the buyers are the younger generations. Teens and twenty-somethings. I'm guessing that they view classic '60's, '70's and '80's records in much the same way that our generation looked at old blues albums.

 

True story. I picked up a copy of PL for my niece a few weeks ago for $9.99. I think I probably paid a quarter of that price when I got mine 15 years ago.

 

I could see paying $10 for their greatest hits.

 

Manhattan prices for used records are at least double most other places.

 

Are rare items really what's being discussed here, though?

 

There's a great spot in brooklyn where I usually find NM post 1970 classic rock- for an average $6-$8
the pre 1970 stuff can sometimes be closer to $15-$20
That seems to be the price I have paid for used stuff for the last 20 years

 

There aren’t a lot of options in the Dayton Ohio area.
Half price books is near my work and they have increased the prices of classic rock albums exponentially.
Albums that used to sell for $3 are now $8 (common titles). If they get artists like the Beatles or The Stones they start at $15-20 no matter how beat up.
If they get an real rarity they are usually spot on internet pricing. They currently have a mono Bookends for $150.
eBay is usually cheaper.

 

Darryl. Where are you shopping in Dayton?

 

I see a lot of Squeeze and Graham Parker for cheap ($3-5); also Joe Jackson (except Look Sharp), but Blondie, the Cars, The Pretenders, all the Sire Records lot run much higher ($7-15).

 

Then where do you draw the line at $20 Beatles albums? There's quite a bit of Beatles vinyl and the other artists mentioned, priced well over that price point and yes some of it is considered rare. I'm sure if a store had it for sale it would be priced accordingly.

 

I live in Houston, a city that is often ranked #1 of "recession-proof" cities. Usually, that also means that prices of "luxury items" remain lower than the national average - in part because so many people are coming here to seek employment after getting laid-off elsewhere - and therefore their disposable income is low.

That said, even Houston has begun to feel the pinch of the gold rush. Most "generic" classic rock records (Grand Funk Railroad, Nazareth, Ted Nugent, etc.) have jumped from the $1-3 range up to the $5-7 range. And most "legacy" artists (Bowie, Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Floyd, Prince, U2, etc.) have jumped from the $5-10 range up into the $15-30 range. And these are not 1st pressings, rare mono mixes, etc. Just run-of-the-mill garden variety LP's that would have been in flea markets 30 years ago.

So, long answer long... Yes, prices are continuing to rise. Luckily, at this point, I've got good pressings of most of what I want. But I feel sorry for those trying to start a collection right now.

 

Rare records will be priced accordingly as long as there is demand. Generally speaking, they've always been expensive -- they're more difficult to come by. Run of the mill classic rock albums seem to be discussed far more than the rarities, and as @NettleBed noted, it seems like most experienced collectors would have them already. The people buying up all the copies of Rumors and transforming that album from dollar bin fodder to a easy $20 are probably not experienced collectors.

 

I don't find that to be the case; not at brick and mortar stores, anyway. Academy Records is the best remaining store in Manhattan and I think their used vinyl prices are pretty fair. Some might be 10% or so over Discogs, but that's about it.

 

I said it before, one of them is really good but everyone knows that E.G. - a lot of competition, You have to be there in the right time, I'd even say in the right moment. The other one (as well as the one in Brooklyn) typical "leftover store" usually selling "leftovers" of whatever they already listed on the internet.