I'm sure this must have been discussed before but I couldn't find anything via the search function as not really sure what to search for. My wife's father had shelves of vinyl records in their attic, talking probably six shelves running the length of the attic so maybe 30 metres high if they were all stacked on top of each other, been a long time since I've seen them though so may be misremembering. But there are A Lot Of Records. He was 80 when he died so some of the records are going to date back to the 50s/60s, if not earlier, largely jazz and classical, probably little to no pop or rock. Definitely some 78s in there. There might be some things of value and I've seen links to Discogs etc but there's just so much to do it manually. A friend mentioned a website/app where you can take a photo of the front/back of each record, or possibly the barcode, and it would build up a catalogue for you that you could cross reference against a set of valuations - is this a thing, and if so could you point me towards some examples? It would save so much time just to take photos rather than having to type everything into a list.
You can use barcodes to search Discogs, but based on your description, I'd say the large majority of your FIL's records will not have a bar code. I haven't heard of a website/app that can do what your friend suggested. It might exist. But even if it did all you would have is a list of records that you now have to find on Discogs anyway (or Popsike). You couldn't rely on any valuations the website/app gave you without matching your pressing to those in the valuation. Plus you have to check the grading as well. With Discogs you would not have to type anything to a list. You'd have to find the record (which can be annoying if your FIL was a rock fan) but once you do, you just add it to your collection. There's very little typing that would need to get done. Still, it would be a daunting task if your FIL had as many records as you remember. I don't see anyway you can really cut corners on this one if your goal was to get a fairly accurate valuation, or find out which are the most valuables. I'd first have a look at the collection to see if your memory is correct. Find out what he has and the general condition as well. My friend stored his records in the attic and they did not do well up there. Hopefully your FILs collection did better in the attic. I would also consider tackling this by category/genre. Might be worth concentrating on the Jazz stuff first, especially if there's original Blue Notes type stuff in there.
In addition to rarity and demand for certain jazz LPs, condition of the vinyl and covers are all determining factors in putting a value on an LP. If the record in worn, the covers are split, stained or taped together, value will plummet considerably, even for a very rare LP. Good luck with finding a local jazz collector who might give you his or her opinion about condition and where the collection can be best sold.
