Vinyl so expensive rant

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by cawley1980, Nov 19, 2020.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    There actually is no evidence people are paying the headline asking prices on Discogs and Ebay for common records. Lots of listings that are there for months. If you have records to sell you obviously want the cash. I've commonly had to reduce prices for records apart from the scarcer and more desirable titles. Obviously some prices are 'justified' by shortage of available copies v demand but not for less than nr mint. An ex copy should be half mint and VG half again (according to record collector). Problem high prices being asked for tat and common releases and later represses. Only original or early pressings are genuinely valuable and usually only EX condition or better. Certainly not VG copies which so often signifies rather worn. I'm sure some of these buyers don't actually play them. Most of the sellers certainly don't.

    Buy good reissues when available. They are bargains and an investment. I don't need early Beatles or Stones originals because I bought the mono box sets. Thing is you snooze, you lose. Problem too many just woke up to the superiority of having vinyl copies and missed a lot of this stuff even if it was available for some time. Some of us who kept buying vinyl acquired a lot of good 'audiophile' quality records in the 90s and 00s as well as bargain used vinyl. Some of these titles will reappear eventually if the vinyl boom continues, others will never get AAA reissues because the remix has become the 'master'. Will we ever get another original Sgt Pepper mix? This failure by record labels to keep good sounding releases in print drives up the original's price even furthur. Most original pressings are not worth the money due to condition rather than desirability.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2020
  2. DJ Johnny123

    DJ Johnny123 Active Member

    Location:
    Charleston, SC
    Actually I constantly find great deals on Discogs. Do you keep a "want list"? Add LPs (12"s, 45s, or CDs) to your want list. As buyers list items they pop up in the "Items I Want" section. I just bought a gold stamped VG+ promo copy of "Licensed To Ill" for $12. (Whoops; giving my secrets away)
     
  3. DJ Johnny123

    DJ Johnny123 Active Member

    Location:
    Charleston, SC
    I often buy G+ LPs on Discogs because the sellers are so frightened of all the "newbies" who think VG+ means near mint and who also think that all records should sound like CDs or MP3s with absolutely no background noise. (If you don't want any noise you should not be buying vinyl) (or pay the really high price "M" records that still have some background noise anyway)
     
  4. cwitt1980

    cwitt1980 Senior Member

    Location:
    Carbondale, IL USA
    I believe part of why certain albums go for high money is no one wants to sell to another seller/flipper. It seems like everyone is a dealer now. If I have something like a Smiths record and don't care to keep it, my options are sell it for cheap and probably let someone buy it just to resell it or try to get the best value from selling it. I'm going to go with the latter.
     
    Dave likes this.
  5. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I agree, if someone wants no noise, generally lps are not for them (though I have some that play wonderful in that regard). On the other hand, for those that are willing to put up with some of the little annoyances, they should also be able to hold sellers to account when they don't grade their records appropriately. e.g. Mint records that have noise. In your example, if it has noise, it's not Mint. Story ends there. There's no qualifier that seller can enact like "well if you want no noise, you should listen to a cd" as that's not dealing with the real issue, which is improper grading.

    Also. you are wrong IMO about newbies thinking VG+ means NM. Newbies usually buy any old **** and are fine with it. I see it play out online daily. Records that to me are garbage are held in high regard. If you buy from sellers that grade VG+ as G+, they're probably being conservative and siding with honesty rather than what most sellers do which is hope no one complains.
     
  6. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    A lot of overpriced records do just sit around. I think sometimes sellers cling on to the one outlier they see sales wise and then overprice their records to match. Going rate is $200, but one seller, 12 months ago managed to get $400, so now everyone lists their for $400 except one or two who try and be clever and list for $350 or $300. Mean while, the next one that comes up listed for $200 sells in two seconds and the other copies sit around. :)

    But evidence can be found by checking prices by filtering for sold items on eBay, checking Discogs sales data (and digging into it) or checking Popsike.
     
    black sheriff likes this.
  7. DJ Johnny123

    DJ Johnny123 Active Member

    Location:
    Charleston, SC
    Sorry, VG+ does not mean near mint and there are a lot of problems with that in the marketplace; especially with people who just started buying records about five seconds ago.
     
  8. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    I literally had a Discogs seller tell me recently that he never playgrades anything rated VG+ or better because if one person returns it for being too noisy, someone else will buy it and not complain.
     
  9. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    The Discogs wantlist is not actually a secret.
     
  10. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I do not agree that a record with a higher than average grade need not be played. It's a part of customer service. But it is true that a VG++ or EX+ LP that a buyer was not happy with because of faint but consistent ticks during the first minute or two of both sides can be resold. I sometimes, but rarely had a return and then waited maybe three months relisted it at $5.00 higher to cover my lost shipping on the return trip, and have it snapped up quickly by a happy buyer.

    I got a return last month on an LP buyer who said was over-graded. It has a scuff going across the entire side one like it was dropped while being put on a TT. But get this, no sound made from this stuff. And only very faint ticks during play and not much other wear, in fact, side two was NM-. So I put it up at VG+ and described that big scuff. Then I priced it $25 lower than the other copies that were VG+. It's a rare LP. The buyer wanted to argue with me in messages about my G record being passed off as VG+. I told him refund was the bottom line here. I will wait a couple of months and relist and get a buyer quickly I'm pretty sure. I really believe that is a big scuff does not make a sound, and side two is NM-, then VG+ is pretty fair.
     
  11. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I have a few records that are on the highest side of the price scale. When nobody has one to offer and I am the only one, and my copy is M or MN, then I don't mind sitting on it for a while.

    I go in and drop prices even now and again. After an LP is up at Discogs for three months, and either it's rather high priced, or other sellers are offering the same thing in the same condition, I can accept less for it. Unless I am the seller of the item in the USA. If all other offers are in Russia, Italy, and some other country, then I keep my copy nice and medium-high with the low shipping.
     
  12. visolo

    visolo Well-Known Member

    I agree. I tried to sell some of my stuff on Craigslist, at lower prices than ebay, and the buyers don't have to pay taxes or shipping costs. No one wants to buy. It seems they will only buy on Craigslist if the price is low enough, so they can flip them on ebay.
     
    cwitt1980 likes this.
  13. Channel Z

    Channel Z Forum Resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    The new AC DC vinyl is crazy priced. Anywhere to $35-40 + tax for the single LP I'm seeing right now. Ridiculous.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2020
    Slick Willie likes this.
  14. Slick Willie

    Slick Willie Decisively Indecisive

    Location:
    sweet VA.

    Wurd!
     
  15. Slick Willie

    Slick Willie Decisively Indecisive

    Location:
    sweet VA.

    If it's mint, then it's sealed. That is the only way a record can be mint. So mint can have noise and/or warps.
     
    Cronverc likes this.
  16. McLover

    McLover Senior Member


    CD far, far cheaper to manufacture. Yields in manufacturing far higher. Also bear in mind with vinyl, inflation happened. Vinyl's more expensive to master, has expensive plating, and the pressings are much more expensive. And in smaller volume than it's peak.
     
    nosliw likes this.
  17. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Not usually. Many digital masters for LP are often 24/96 or higher even. Some vintage digital recordings or where there's no master tapes, then your 16/44.1 or 48 is applicable or if said LP is on a public domain label.
     
    uzn007 likes this.
  18. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    I was going to buy the new AC/DC at Twist And Shout but they wanted $37. Nuts. RSD: Flipperville.
     
  19. whisaeri000

    whisaeri000 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Riverton, Utah
    I think buying from stores has undoubtedly seen an increase in only the last 5 years. It is getting harder and harder to find quality stuff period in my experience. With that being said, I also don't think finding clean original presses for a good deal. It takes more work than it used to but that also makes it feel more rewarding to me. I am frustrated sometimes that I wasn't around when you could buy clean copies of The Velvet Underground and Nico for under $100 at a record store but it also makes it so much more rewarding to find one in a collection you are picking through. Vinyl can still be affordable if you put in the time to hustle.
     
  20. Beatles_Apple

    Beatles_Apple Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    My issue with used records right now is the poor price to condition ratio. I’ve been seeing more and more records with a VG to VG+ rating with an asking price of $20 or more. As far as I’m concerned, most records in that condition are worth way less than that. What’s the point in owning a mediocre condition record, even if they’re scarce or rare? To me they’re worth nothing, let alone $20+.
     
  21. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    VG+ can be a great record or a not so great LP.

    I'm seeing LPs that were $3 twenty years ago heading up over $25 now. Certain 2-LP sets were always plentiful at $6 are up around $30. So prices are what the market will pay. If it's too high no one will pay it. It's the rock albums from late 60s to '79 that are just going up and up. I hope this trend continues as I will want to unload my collection in about 10 years or so. I'd like to think it's (in a way) a retirement nest egg. At the rate things are going a good rock album will be $50 in a few years.

    Just look at the hundreds that Classic and MFSL rock reissues are going for. If you think $20 is high, I'm seeing $200 as the average asking for REISSUES!!!!
     
  22. dlokazip

    dlokazip Forum Transient

    Location:
    Austin, TX, USA
    £5 in 1980 equals £20 today.

    Were used records going for five quid in 1980? I don't know. I'm American.
     
    quicksrt likes this.
  23. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Nonsense. A record with noise is not mint. Visually it might look mint but if it does not play mint then it cannot be graded as mint.
     
  24. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    £5 or thereabouts would have bought you a new record on the mid 80s. Amazingly, I bought new records in the mid 00s for £5, including some Sonic Youth reissues. I wish I bought Cat Power's Moon Pix and Slint's Tweez, although I imagine neither are real expensive right now.
     
    dlokazip likes this.
  25. Beatles_Apple

    Beatles_Apple Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    My concern is strictly about the prices for mediocre condition at best. It’s as if condition doesn’t even matter and that’s a problem. It gets tiresome going through listings and seeing all these VG records being listed for $20+. VG+ too but more irritating with VG.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine