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

Depends on retail price. Most stores give out way less than 25%. A storage unit character bringing in a load will get jacked but a person who knows what he has won't. I've seen it so many times. Just like car dealers, you size them up. You stick the best on eBay/Discogs and the commons hit the shelves.

 

I'd go with 25%. But it depends on a lot of factors.

 

If you don't like what one person is offering you make a counter offer and if they are firm on their price you go to the next buyer, so on and so forth. If demand is high enough you can get more. Are there three shops and four flippers in your area? Get quotes from each. But if it isn't worth the effort then it must have been a reasonable offer considering how much time and effort you are willing to put into it. If you don't like what you can get for it selling to a shop or flipper, just put everything on ebay or discogs yourself. And there we go again, is it worth the time and effort? If it isn't then once again what you were offered was the going price.

Also car dealers are trying to make a profit. If you put in the time and effort you can negotiate a price favorable to you. If you just want to hurry up and get it over with, advantage car dealer.

 

I agree. If you bring in 100 records to sell the buyer may only see 50 or 60 worth buying. The rest are just something they have to throw out. So they are going to either pick through what you have and make an offer for them (and you take the rest with you on the way out) or offer to buy all 100 and throw 40 away. Either way they are only going to make an offer based on the 60, not the 100. So imagine there are 10 records worth $16 each retail, 10 records worth $12 each retail, and 40 records worth $5 each. ($480) So for that box of 100 records we are talking about an $120 offer, really I'd say an $100 offer and willing to go up a little more. You cover your purchase cost with the 10 $12 records. you cover your overhead with the 40 $5 records and 5 of the $16 records. So if you're lucky the last 5 $16 records ($80) is your profit. And of course it is going to take a while to sell those records so it isn't like this is fast cash.

 

I have been selling to a store owner for six years who gives me about 40% of the Discogs price in equal condition. More if I want store credit.

 

The rule of thumb used to be 40% of retail value - e.g. $4 for a $10 LP - but greed rules in 2020.

 

I don't think too many resellers are pointing out the fact that "this copy of Yesterday & Today is a paste over butcher" and "this LZ II is a Robert Ludwig mix" and worth $$$ when purchasing a collection. That's a bragging rights ritual when that ever happens. I know, I've witnessed it several times before.

 

I've never heard of 40% of retail value....it usually was/is way under. Shop around. Vinylbeat is correct. Oscar and Thelma bringing in their record collection will not be told about a butcher, LZ2, 63rd Street Blue Notes etc..

 

All of this is why is why I've never sold an LP in my life and never will, honestly. If a record holds no further mysteries for me, onto the sidewalk it goes.

Used classic rock prices in Boston stores have not gotten particularly elevated since the vinyl revival started 12-13 years ago. Any increases I've noticed have been in keeping with inflation. But a Rumours that would have been $4 at a store like In Your Ear in 2010 would probably be maybe $6-7 now. I suspect it's because there's still enough record stores here that people will just stop going to a place priced too high.

The other thing is that a big part of the LP buying community here either already has all the classic rock canon or isn't interested in it. Buyers here want different stuff than just Zep or whatever.

 

But Oscar and Thelma are cleaning out their closets, moving Dad into an assisted living facility or didn't have any takers at Saturdays yard sale. They just want to make more space, or get rid of it. Putting a few bucks in their pocket in the process is just a bonus. They can do some simple research if they want to with the slim hope that that LZ II RL in VG+ condition is in there with at best VG condition copies of Blackfoot, Stardust, and Frampton Comes Alive. Or they can shop the records to several possible buyers and see if one offers significantly more. The fact is that Oscar and Thelma are looking to get a little "walkin' around" money while putting out as little time and effort as then can. It's a trade off.

On the other hand, someone that collects records and has a basic awareness of value may be inclined to trade or sell and get significantly more in the process. They will have developed relationships with others, know who offers the best prices say for Punk records while another may be inclined to pay more for jazz and another that sells a ton of classic rock and will be interested in that. Those people aren't going to bring in a bunch of trashed Charlie Daniels, John Denver, and Christopher Cross albums and think they are worth $10 each wholesale.

Also, when I look through someone's records I explain which records are worth more and less. For instance, I will tell them that some jazz records are more valuable that the average album, But their George Benson record isn't the same as a Blue Note. I tell them that PF and LZ are worth more than Santana and Paul Simon. I also tell them that there are a few particular albums that can be worth a whole lot of money but they are needles in haystacks and the flames Lynard Skynard isn't one of them.

 

Is it greed or is it a factor of overall overhead? Rent, utilities, employees etc. all add up.

 

Yup. 40% is not the norm anywhere I've ever been. If you're Joe Schmoe bringing in a mish-mosh box of records from the basement/attic, you'll get 10-25% for choice stuff that will fly out the door. For everything else, you'll get pennies or nothing.

If you are knowledgeable and bring in a curated collection of high-value stuff, you may get more than 25% for certain pieces. But that's about the only scenario where that's gonna happen.

 

kwadguy is correct. At Twist and Shout in Denver I've seen all out rubber hose jobs. I don't sell to stores but I tell people to find an expert on value, put the nice condition ones on eBay then do a Craigs List sale with the rest with well under store prices....then do a store dump. Finding honest employees to be behind the counter is a must at a store. I know of one store in L.A. that was looted on CD's when CD's were hot. The team got caught by a hidden camera. Big B's, the late great store in Vegas had a "store within the store" operation. He fired everybody no matter who was working there. Never recovered. Rent sucks now. Bad areas or out of business. Florida had some cool indy shops but they vanished.

 

I'm curious as to how you know about all of this. Do you just hang out at Twist and Shout and watch the staff evaluate collections as people bring them in and make offers? Are you a sales rep of some sort and call on record shops?

I'd say your advise to those looking to sell a very large and valuable collection is sound. But for our example of Oscar and Thelma with a couple of boxes of random albums it doesn't really work. It is very time consuming, possibly costly and can be sketchy. How would the expert they are to consult on value be compensated? (why not just sell it to him?) Setting up and maintaining an eBay account is a lot of trouble if you aren't doing this as a continuous ongoing activity. Craig's list can be dangerous. Do you really want random strangers coming into your home? Do you really want to haul those boxes back and forth to meet and show to potential buyers in the Wal Mart parking lot? Finally, if you've eliminated all of these albums through these steps what is left over will be of no interest a a record shop or to a flipper.

 

We really only have two types of sellers today - collectors and closet clearers. Both bring in entirely different records with entirely different expectations. Closet clearers want them gone and collectors want fair compensation. I developed a relationship with the store owner and he agreed to give me what has turned out to be an average of 40% if I would bring him my records and not post them on Discogs or Ebay. We both have honored our commitment. I find this arrangement convienient as my goal is to simply decrease what was a 13,000 record collection down to 8,000. He also has what I consider to be the best product and prices in North Texas, so it is a win for both of us. There are times that I take store credit instead of cash and make some incredibly fair purchases from his store. This arrangement has allowed my hobby to pay for itself. This gentleman has turned out to be one of the most honest, humble and genuine individuals I have ever known.

 

Once every 3 weeks for Twist. I just saw it a few times. I can't hang out at Twist as I work in an office like I did on Park Avenue in NYC in 1979. I did hang out at Oren & Oretsky cause the Elite and Eileen Ford models were there nightly.....so were the Rangers, Yankees.... Craigs List garage sales are great for sellers. I saw one guy put out 35 boxes of $5 junk and sell tons. The only hauling is putting them back in the basement. Record shows are great to sell at if you have better than average.

 

The first two and last four sentences make sense. The middle (bolded) part, not so much?

 

Having fun with the "hanging out" words. Aretsky actually. Craigs List with joint pop-up sales from collectors getting rid of schnarf do work. Color code the tags. This one guy told me big signs "record sale" got the most people...."I saw your sign, wow, now I can get my John Denver collection".

 

?

 

Advertise an estate sale with records in the paper, and there will be a line of 30 record collectors at 5:00 am.

 

In Denver it is 31.....the same usual suspects.....all converge on the 3 crates of ringed out 70's commons. In L.A. it is comical. Most are retiring their 1984 rusted vans and are sleeping in now.....too many pickers to battle plus old age.

 

Prices aren't going down any time soon. Shops price high because they sell. The shop by me consistently sells Barry Manilow greatest hits for like $10

 

There's an ever widening gap in price between those desirable bands and pretty much the rest of recorded music history. My locals can sell any Zeppelin, Floyd or Doors pressing for $40 all day long but I'm the only one who's gonna buy that 5th Estate or random McCoys LP, so they price them cheap!

 

Holy cow. I guess I'll consider myself very lucky to find what I do at my favorite record store. They have dollar bins where you can get 1 for $1, 5 for $3 or 10 for $5. I recently came home with a 10 for $5 haul. Titles included Aerosmith Get your wings, Led Zeppelin In through the out Door (with the paper bag sleeve), Lynard Skynard Street Surviors (original cover). The dollar bins include your typical dollar bin artists like Barry Manilow but I have found some pretty incredible finds (at least to me) there. Are they NM? No of course not but they tend to be warp free listenable copies especially after I clean them up. I did ask one time why a particular title was in there and the reply I got was, we are picky about the used vinyl we sell on the top shelves. Good enough answer for me, I'll keep digging!

 

There are a few people like that in the field. Hang on to that relationship.