Question about selling vinyl to record stores?

If a store owner hasn't heard of Robert Wyatt, then they should get a new vocation.

 

No it isn't. Genuine auctions proceed until there are no more bids. The end time of your auction is very important. Three O'Clock on a weekday morning is not a good time.

 

expect 10-15% of their current value>


sean

 

Spindizzy and Freebird so far!

JG

 

That's what I said ! That you can choose when to end a sale.

 

I did it the other way round, I went to Amoeba in LA and brought about 30 albums home on the two occasions I have been to LA!

JG

 

The local record store gives some pretty good cash and trade-in values.... but I've been shopping there long enough that I'm known to bring in some rare, but good fast-selling stuff. I've been more than pleased with doing business there, so much that I don't bother with the hassle of Ebay, or some other record selling site.

Mostly indie/alternative titles which are more wanted - at least at this store - than common titles or classic rock.

 

Consider that if you didn't play them much, others may not even want them. Record stores like to pick and choose the albums they buy. Boxes of records take longer to go through and I can't remember how many times I've seen unsorted boxes of records in the back rooms of record stores which have been there for a long time.
Know your records and their values before you sell them to anyone. Some titles may be so plentiful that they might charge you to throw them away. The better the record and cover is, the more they are worth. Trashe, worn-out records are worthless.
Having dealt with used record stores over the years, one of their formulas in buying records is to look at the price range, buy the record for below the lowest range and then mark them up atleast 5x and/or the upper value range.
Sure they will give you more in store credit as opposed to handing you cash, they keep the cash in-store. Also, when you take your store credit and use it to buy another record there, you are dealing with a record that has been already marked up, so the store makes money on the books(or off the books) and you may buy more than your store credit. Then again, you don't know how much the store paid for the record you are buying. You may use, say $10. store credit, to buy a $30. record. Maybe they didn't pay anything for that record or probably paid very little. Then they will make a profit on the records that you sold them. They may not pay much for records, but just think about how much money they have tied up in inventory and their overhead costs.
This is what business is all about and we should support our local record stores.

 

Yep, and sometimes I use my records to support the local trash man too. It depends on my mood.

 

Right, but in a real auction, the auctioneer asks for any more bids before dropping the hammer. ebay auctions end at a specific time. if you are pipped at the last second, you cannot bid again. A real saleroom is however not the best place to sell records.

 

I am a bit confused by this thread. The original gentleman has repeated many times that he is not interested in making a profit on his records by selling them through the popular auction site, etc, but yet he is concerned that his local record store is not giving him enough money on trade-in, for which he never haggles on the offer price...? Not trying to be negative or contrary, but I'm simply trying to figure out what the motive of this thread is...

 

As you rightly said I'm not trying to make a profit! The reason I started the thread was to find out what people who sell off LPs to record stores expect to get and what they actually get. Also to hear other people's experiences in doing it!

As I have repeated many times, I am finding the condition of secondhand LPs on offer in the stores is deteriorating rapidly while the prices are increasing and I was just making a general comment that when I bring in secondhand stuff to sell I know it is way superior to what the record stores have in stock and was just wondering should I expect more than I usually get. I just wanted opinions and experiences really!

JG

 

There is no way to put a list of titles on a forum and get an accurate figure of what a store will give you for them. The only way to find out is to take them to a store.

This reminds me of countless stories told to me by record-store friends about customers calling over the phone trying to find out what the store will give them for a record collection. You have to take them in, that is all.

 

I think I have repeated often enough in my posts on this thread, that I have been selling LPs to record stores for a long while now and again I repeat myself that I am finding the quality of secondhand vinyl deteriorating rapidly while prices go up.

I was just wondering should the record stores be offering more money for LPs that they are being offered to them which are in much better condition than any of their stock. I was just trying to get peoples opinions and experiences on same.

Like you say I have often been in record stores and overheard the owner talking to someone over the phone about LPs and being told to bring them in to evaluate. I know generally what the record stores over here are offering

JG

 

I get 50% of the retail price. If they are pricing a NM used title for $20, you should get $10 in trade credit. Anything less and you should sell it yourself or keep it.

 

Generally I get between 15%-25% for mine!

JG

 

If they are making 75 to 85% profit on your trade, that isn't fair. Remember, they are getting a 50% mark up on the inventory you are trading for so they are making money on both ends.

I am a heavy buyer and therefore have a good relationship with my locals, perhaps that helps.

I don't like selling records, I already have a job and selling records is work I don't want to do. That being said, I don't want to take $3 for a new $30 record I listened to once.

It's easy to list stuff here.

 

3 times €4.50 = €13.50. 4 times €4.50 = €18.00. I would say my estimate is pretty close to your posted experience.

And people forget markup is not the same as profit. If a store pays €4.50 for something and they mark it up to €14.50 they are NOT making a €10.00 profit. Out of that €10.00 they have to pay utilities, rent, insurance, various government fees, wages, shrinkage, maintenance, credit card processing, other banking fees, advertising, internet presence and dozens of other items that is the cost of doing business.

Often times the thing a business buys to resell is the least expensive aspect of their doing business. In fact even if they got what they are selling for FREE, they would still have to charge quite a bit just to break even on the overhead.

 

I guess it is a factor of geography and competition between stores. I am fortunate to have two competing vinyl stores with a few miles of where I live. When i bring records in nice condition in for sale, they both offer me around 50% of what they ask for them. Thanks to the vinyl revival and an increase in the number of vinyl sellers in my city, prices have strengthened rather than deteriorated.

If you are talking CDs, the exact opposite has happened. Most stores around here offer very little even for trade.

 

This is exactly why I put up a thread on selling off vinyl to record stores. There are only 3 stores selling new/secondhand vinyl that will buy used vinyl. Because of the quality of the vinyl I have on offer I thought exactly as you stated above. They certainly won't offer 50% of what they sell them for, in actual fact when I asked about some sealed LPs I had which would definitely sell, they said even though they are sealed once I sell the LPs to them, they regard them as secondhand (go figure).

JG

 

I never sell to stores, you are basically giving them away, well, that's been my experience. Better to just gift them out, trade them off, or give them to goodwill, donate to a local charity that have "yard sales". Or sell them on this forum. I like to support small shops, but if'n I'm gonna' give the vinyl away, I want to decide who gets it or support a local charity.