IDK I just sold about 60 albums. Some of the covers were sort of worn, some weren't. Generally were in very good to excellent shape. I think a got a slightly below fair price, but I also don't want to spend time packaging and mailing and ebaying... Still don't the best way to ascertain the value of some of what I have. For instance, a yellow or 'gold' vinyl Night Visions by Bruce Cockburn, which I see ranging from $19.00 to $186.00 Or a first pressing of 1972 American Spring LP, (Brian Wilson produces his wife and sister-in law), which I can't find any price for, but man that one was hard to find even in the 70's. I guess a lot depends on the store...
I noticed the crazy prices on used records within the last couple of years. Slim pickings at inflated prices. Also seems like anything VG + and above is extremely hard to find in the record bins. Common titles in mediocre condition, at best, for $20! No Thanks. I passed on those when they were in the bargain bin. I immediately came home and hugged my records!!
There is a local store who used to get raided by British soul fans. Kind of laid back not gauging. Very much a music lovers 45 lovers local hangout. But now his prices are ridiculous. He felt burned. Used to be a music lover type shop. Total turnaround. I don’t like the shop anymore he is different. Bitter. He feels burned by the Northern Soul crowd so he raised his prices to not fun levels in my opinion. Been around since the 80s. Music centric. But now all business. Total turnaround. Says he felt taken advantage of. Could be more of a personal journey. Don’t know.
Dedicated 45 stores are rare nowadays, it shows how deep the scene used to be. But in the case you speak of it seems he had lots of stock that he didn’t know the value of. The fact that he had lasted into the 90s should have meant he knew about Northern Soul, the word was out. Still he must be doing something right if he is able to still exist. He may have also gotten some lessons from Val Shively, who won’t even let you in the store unless you know what you are talking about and looking for, the Northern Soul boys have to prostrate themselves at his door and give him their lists, lol.
I raised my prices this month. I rent a space in a vintage shop, keeping 700-800 records stocked. I started it about 3 years ago. All the records are priced the same, makes it simple of the shop owner. I started back then at $4 and increased a year ago to $5. I had to go up to $6. I'm having to pay more from my primary source and have invested in record cleaning equipment, poly sleeves, chemicals for my cleaning solutions etc. Fortunately my rent hasn't gone up, but she has started taking non-cash payment so 3% will probably mean the owner will have to start withholding that from my payout each month or adding it to the customer charges, but she hasn't yet. Inflation is affecting everything I guess, even used records at a consignment shop!
But they do, look at ebay , somebody bought a counterfeit record of Man Who Sold the World , German edition round sleeve for over £600, I bought mine 2 years ago for £80 and I thought I was being ripped off, either the poor guy who bought it thought he was getting an original which is worth over £600 -£900 .
HA! Good one. Maybe if you only want store credit. Sounds like Half Price Books to me. Home of the $30 Chipmunks record and every Bob James album you never want.
HMV stores in London are selling their special coloured vinyl editions for crazy prices , £44 for a new Whitesnake album , hits I think and £27 for a repress of the Kinks Face to Face , ridiculous!
You guys paid to have the green dumpster emptied daily? We weren’t so kind. When the poor unfortunates with vinyl collections showed up at our store every morning, we’d mock them unmercifully and make them list to The Nightfly by Donald Fagan on compact disc (CD). Then we’d take them out back, show them the green dumpster, but refuse to let them sully the garbage with their obsolete vinyl albums. It seems cruel now, but most of them (98.7%) thanked us and bought the Dirty Dancing soundtrack on CD before slinking away.
Prime example for the OP. So, $1 record is now 300% to 500% higher. It should be $1.40 or round up to $2 at most if we we look at inflating just based on the costs of everything else. So $20 records should not double either but they are even more so. $20 is now $60.
The problem with old vinyl is that what looks NM is likely to be VG+ by my standards and played on revealing system. Also pressings were not perfect back in the 60s and 70s as some would have you believe. The more annoying faults tend to have likely been there from new and few people played records on proper hi-fi decks. I probably was the only person I knew who had proper record deck and hi-fi in the 70s. Best you can hope for is a lightly played or unplayed record if you are lucky. Why the lack of rock reissues releases AAA is a missed opportunity by labels. Used records should not be expensive as used generally means worn. No longer cheap enough you can buy a bunch of a title and pick out the best copy. I always buy only 'N/M' for media and unless it's really expensive (more than a new digital repress) I will live with VG+. You will be surprised at difference in price between a first and second press of some titles (second can be as good). Some fairly scarce N/M to VG+ titles can be had for under £30. Fact they pressed a lot likely means little due to the majority being trashed or thrown out. Most N/M copies are now in collections.
Im 61 tomorrow and I cant really believe how time flies, but it does and in the meantime I’m buying more and more vinyl, so what do I do, sell it all now or wait until I get dementia and probably someone in the family will say this isn’t needed , or even worse dying and it all going in the dumpster, decisions ,decisions !
Near mint is a rubbish assessment as in the 60s / 70s everybody trashed their records and I cant imagine anyone from that era keeping records sealed or unplayed, now I can believe it as a lot of collectors now are very anal , so all we get now are people on ebay and complete amateurs selling and guessing record gradings and everything in NR Mint or even Mint,and because it looks ok thats what they are grading . The 10 records Ive bought lately 5/10 I've had to return though incorrect gradings , madness !
Which countries sellers tend to be more accurate. I normally limit my buying to within country but have occasionally bought from Spain, Germany and the UK, not enough to develop a feel for the accuracy of the grading.