EBay vinyl prices in 2021

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by rain_king, Jun 1, 2021.

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  1. rain_king

    rain_king Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Yes, Discogs isn't as well known outside of semi-serious record collectors, I guess. And one good thing about that is that sometimes good bargains are available for a while, whereas I feel like any reasonably priced Buy It Now listing on eBay gets bought within a day or so.

    I think you're right about people living on eBay, while Discogs is less conducive to that in my experience.
     
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  2. gazatthebop

    gazatthebop Forum Resident

    Location:
    manchester
    yes, HMV are up to £49.99 an album if you look hard enough
     
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  3. Recordfan

    Recordfan Misfit Among Misfits

    I agree..my competition for one of the 2021 albums was an anonymous bidder...when he/she won, I was soon offered a "second chance" because the bidder didn't come through. Very suspicious..I declined the offer.
     
  4. gazatthebop

    gazatthebop Forum Resident

    Location:
    manchester
    Ebay have recently changed the way sellers get paid, reading forums and blogs lots are unhappy with the change and talk of shifting over to Facebook Marketplace. I've sold 50 albums in the last six months, most of them have been through facebook.
     
  5. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    I would buy more records on Discogs if pictures of the record were standard as they are on eBay. I’m aware that you can send a direct message to a Discogs seller asking for pictures, but for most serious eBay sellers, pictures are standard. I don’t want to shell out big bucks for a record based on some guy’s two-sentence Discogs description.
     
  6. Recordfan

    Recordfan Misfit Among Misfits

    Also I am seeing Ebayers offering vinyl in "used" condition..I just pass on these..not worth the time to email for more info.
     
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  7. rain_king

    rain_king Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Yeah, I still see things go for OK or even great prices almost every day on eBay--it's just that most of the time they aren't ones I'm particularly interested in.
     
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  8. rain_king

    rain_king Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Yes, that's one of the most annoying things; that or "see photos for record condition"--as if you can get anything but a rough idea from a picture!

    I think there are a lot of people out there who just don't get how important condition is to collectors. And this is probably exacerbated by the vinyl bandwagoneers who just want to have the object, and are willing to spend big bucks on a beat up copy of "Rumours" or whatever.
     
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  9. rain_king

    rain_king Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    I know, that's the trade off. My experience is that Discogs grading is usually more accurate, but you don't get to see pics.
     
    Recordfan likes this.
  10. rain_king

    rain_king Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Makes sense. I think there's a lot of confusion out there too--I saw a Kind of Blue '70s reissue auction for something like $160 a couple months ago. That's a record that (even now) can be found for $20 or so for a clean copy. My guess is that the buyer had seen early pressings go for hundreds and so they thought they were getting an OK price for the same thing.
     
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  11. rain_king

    rain_king Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    For fun I thought I'd add this one: just saw Led Zep Physical Graffiti sell for $360 on eBay. NM in shrink, but not sealed and as far as I know it's not some kind of special edition or anything like that. It looked like perhaps an '80s reissue, with barcode on back. Seems like something that should go for $30-40 or so.

    The seller is very reputable so shill bidding or other shenanigans seem unlikely.
     
    Recordfan likes this.
  12. Blue Devil

    Blue Devil Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tuxedo Park NY
    Prices are definitely much higher than last year. For lots of things. I tried Discogs but got burned repeatedly. Multiple sellers didn't have what they had listed, and several sent items entirely unlike the descriptions. Sure they got sorted out eventually but it took hundreds of dollars worth of my time. I just quit buying vinyl.
     
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  13. mike riddle

    mike riddle Well-Known Member

    I have attended 5 record shows and set up at 4 of them and, i can say that a lot of records are cheaper at the record shows. Having said that there a lot of attendees that are there to pick up the bargains and return to there home town to sell at the higher. prices you see in some record stores. A common practice for record store owners and discogs, ebay sellers. The real money is to sell on ebay ,because its anything goes on pricing and many people are looking for a particular record and don't want to pay for motels or gas to attend a record show. It's also laid out in front of them and they just lay down the money no matter the cost. Having said that the discogs sellers are restricted to the issue of a more stringent control. You have to compete against a list of the same item , have the best copy and at the cheapest price. It is crazy what is being paid for common records on both websites. The difference is, the number of nice vintage copies out there are dwindling. If you don't care about quality then there is no problem.
     
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  14. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    At a record show, the buyer can see for themselves whether or not the copy in front of them meets their standards for a nice copy. Online buying through any site is a crapshoot.
     
    Recordfan likes this.
  15. ScramMan2

    ScramMan2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland OR
    The titles I have been looking for have been fairly priced. I only BIN no auctions.
     
    rain_king likes this.
  16. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    I did a show once and wrote down all the rare 45's I sold. 50% were on the buyers' eBay handle with 48 hours at ridiculous prices. So many were eBay dealers....probably Discoggers. Stores are great for selling beaters like Zeppelin, Beatles, F-Mac., Pink Floyd. Kids love The Wall VG- for $20.
     
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  17. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    I did a show once and wrote down all the rare 45's I sold. 50% were on the buyers' eBay handle with 48 hours at ridiculous prices. So many were eBay dealers....probably Discoggers. Stores are great for selling beaters like Zeppelin, Beatles, F-Mac., Pink Floyd. Kids love The Wall VG- for $20.
     
    Recordfan likes this.
  18. Recordfan

    Recordfan Misfit Among Misfits

    Lately, many of the vinyl listed for sale on Ebay is qualified as "used"-which tells me nothing...I don't know if it's someone who knows nothing about records or a seller trying to get rid of junk and evading responsibility on returns!
     
    rain_king likes this.
  19. rain_king

    rain_king Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Good points. I've actually never been to a record show myself. I've always been interested, but what you're saying makes me a bit hesitant since I don't really like having to elbow through people and compete to look at records, or deal with leftovers after the pro sellers have picked them over. I've been to a few estate sales like that and it was just a bad vibe.
     
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  20. rain_king

    rain_king Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Auctions are interesting because that's where I see the best bargains, and also the most outrageous overpaying. BIN, as would be expected, seems to more accurately reflect the going rates. I do see BIN items with ridiculously high asking prices, but I'm not sure if they sell--some of the ones I've taken note of are still unsold after months, perhaps years.

    What's really strange is when auction items end up going for a high price when the exact same item is available for cheaper somewhere else, sometimes even elsewhere on eBay. I get why auctions would sometimes end low, because it's time-limited and for whatever reason there may be less demand for something in a particular week, but the astronomical bids just don't make sense.
     
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  21. rain_king

    rain_king Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Yes, that's one of the big downsides of eBay for me. Lots of stuff I'm interested in comes up, but then has no info about condition other than "used." I get tempted by these because I know there'll be less competition and maybe I can get a bargain? But then if it turns out to be trashed you've wasted your money on something that'll be hard to resell and gotten your hopes up for nothing. On Discogs at least sellers have to provide grading and--at least theoretically--they are "record people."

    In the end the safest thing to do on eBay is only buy from sellers who specialize in vinyl, with perfect or near-perfect feedback, who provide detailed descriptions. But then your options are limited and you're less likely to get things for cheap.
     
    Recordfan likes this.
  22. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    "Pro sellers have picked over"...that's every record show. If you aren't there when the boxes hit the tables, you get the leftovers. I've seen empty tables and the dealers waiting for the dealers to come in from the parking lot.
     
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  23. GruveRecords

    GruveRecords Well-Known Member

    Location:
    South Florida
    I think there’s an 80s remaster that is sought after. But also eBay auctions are weird. Anything like that that’s NM in the shrink can go for stupid prices. All it takes is 2 bidders that really want it.
     
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  24. rain_king

    rain_king Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Yeah, that's the kind of stuff I hate. I can't fault anyone for wanting to make a buck, but in my mind, record shows, thrift stores, estate sales, etc. should be places where collectors/music fans--as opposed to just resellers--who put in the work can find bargains. The resellers will of course go on to sell to the collectors, at inflated prices, which the collectors will pay because they have no choice.

    Of course I know this isn't realistic on my part and it all comes down to whatever the market will bear. I just wish it were otherwise.
     
  25. rain_king

    rain_king Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Interesting, I didn't know about the '80s remaster. Looking at it now on Discogs, NM ones have gone for $45 within the past few months, and a sealed (listed as mint) one went for $80 in April.

    I just can't wrap my mind around paying hundreds of dollars for something like this, especially on eBay where condition is such a crapshoot--of course if it's in worse shape than described you can return with shipping paid but still, who wants to deal with that kind of hassle and emotional investment?
     
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