Question about the price of used vinyl.

Are the prices on e-bay and discogs fairly in line with what you would pay at a used record store, say in San Francisco? The reason I say San Francisco is because I'm looking at prices north of 100 bucks for this, which I've owned before.

The Grateful Dead - The Grateful Dead (Vinyl, US, 1967) For Sale | Discogs

I've just started rebuilding my vinyl collection, and this stuff is getting expensive fast. Which also has to do with the fact that I'm overseas, and the U.S. printings of the albums I want are, somewhat unsurprisingly, in the U.S. which adds another 25 bucks shipping to everything.

Maybe It's worth it to make a record buying pilgrimage somewhere? Doesn't have to be S.F.

 

No, I find my brick and mortar outlets to be far better and more reasonable. And then there’s the shipping!

 

It's much easier to get a good deal from a well run record shop that doesn't go checking every price next to Discogs and eBay. Sadly most do nowadays. Record fairs can be great if you have any around you or one you can get too.

 

For used albums, I'd much sooner go with an independent shop..unfortunately, a lot of the rarer stuff can't be found in them unless you have a seriously lucky moment. And the e bay sellers are well aware of this..the international sellers from what I've seen are even worse.

 

Music collecting can be an expensive hobby, especially if you are ordering from the US. I would check your local stores, just in case they have imports.

 

One suggestion. You might wait for the lockdowns to end. As any vinyl collector can attest to, prices have exploded in the past 12 months.

 

This is the best and worst time for records. The world is literally one giant record store at the touch of a finger without leaving your house.



And youll pay for it.

If I were picking a hobby to start out in it wouldnt be this one. The 80s and 90s were where it was at for buying used.

 

The biggest part of my (modest) collection is from the 70's and 80's, when there were lots of record stores.
Also, I lived in the San Francisco area then, so there were many used record stores. Now, I just order from Amazon, or buy from sellers I am familiar with in the Classifieds here.

 

I don't use eBay but my experience with Discogs is that you may be lucky and find a reasonable price. Many sellers are just individual people who are selling records from their collection and what they want is a reasonable price. Reading this forum there is a perception that everybody is trying to rip you off. This is not always the case.
If you are looking for a specific and very old pressing, the chances that you will find it in a store in good condition is extremely low, even if it is the city where the artists came from. You stand a much better chance of finding a good copy in Discogs. I often find American pressings from European dealers where the postage is cheaper.
Also, in Discogs you can add the record to your "want list". When a copy becomes available you are notified.

 

Still coming to grips with the observation that, the best time for buying and selling, is before somebody starts noticing, people are making money off of that.

Because that's when suddenly you start seeing states demanding sales taxes being tabulated on transactions that have nothing to do with the the commerce involving states you're in. Online banking, such as PayPal suddenly starts getting complex, and your "agreements" with them begin to get tweaks...unless you catch them in time, and opt out. And retailers like Amazon, who established independent marketplaces to keep the business within their own sandboxes, suddenly start making it less-affordable to use their own "marketplace" structures, and maybe one dollar or one penny or one shipping charge, as competitive to buy new, directly through them.

As for the used vinyl specifically, of course it's not about the vinyl, but the perceived value of what's in them grooves, versus the perceived hassle involved, in keeping track of what you have to sell.

 

The listing are off base. Most are claiming NM media and someone last December sold one for $95, so it looks like other jumped on that boat thinking they could sell theirs for the same amount. You have to look at the actual price history not the current listing. All day long people can list records for double the price of those that will sell. If you want to look at what an actual record is worth, you have to look at the data that actually tells you the confirmed sales prices. $35 is the going rate.

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I’ve noticed local flea markets and pawn shops starting to Google Discogs prices when you get up to the counter with your albums.

 

I think probably we have to face that vinyl has become popular enough to be a "market" again and, like it or not, any market is defined by its main agents, who are, in part, Amazon, eBay and Discogs just now.

It's very likely that the good stuff will end up on auction or at a higher price because the rise in profile of vinyl has highlighted its worth.

The two current aggravating factors now are lockdowns and greed. I do now go on eBay partly to observe just how much some people put relatively ordinary records up for, especially if they have things like "beatles" and "stones" on the cover. On eBay in the UK, my feeling is the market has dropped in pricing a bit just lately (Feb into March) and it's those with some experience and patience who can curb the impulse to buy straight away who are more likely to spend wisely, I think.

 

Getting a good deal online is a combination of persistence, patience and luck, but there are definitely good deals to be found.

If you are dealing with Discogs your best bet is to add the record to your wantlist and then regularly check the newly listed items. If it’s a popular record, those in nice condition at a good price and sold by a reputable seller go FAST. Then what is left for sale are the overpriced etc.

eBay is another situation altogether. You might get lucky if you catch a buy it now, or submit a reasonable offer, or you might be able to get an auction at a bargain. Lots of ways to get a deal if you work for it.

I find grading to be more accurate on discogs is the seller has 100% rating and lots of sales.

 

Now is probably a very, very good time to sell.

 

Also the good thing about Discogs is that you can narrow your search to location, condition & price.
Reading the seller's feedback also helps. Just remember that if the copy of a certain record doesn't meet you criteria,
surely another copy will show up in the future.
Persistence, patience and luck really does work.
Not only online, but in B&M stores too.

Darryl

 

Vinyl record collecting is really taking off with all generations. As far as used vinyl most record stores have very little and are stocking mostly new vinyl. Just about all the popular albums of days past are repressed new. As the years go by good used analog pressings are becoming scarce as collectors keep buying them up. I traveled a lot these past few months and went to many record stores in CA, AZ, and MT and used analog pressings probably made up less than 25% of the stores inventory the other 75% new vinyl. Personally I feel as time goes on those analog pressings from the analog years will keep rising in value.

 

Some of them seem to check the value on Discogs for a Mint copy and then put that price sticker on a cover that's falling apart and exposing the scratched up record inside. It's getting a lot harder to find a reasonable price in thrift stores anymore.

 

It depends on what you're after. I'm lucky in that I mostly like music that isn't all that popular with collectors. I also don't mind getting a nice reissue of something. I don't have to have the original, as long as the reissue is well made.

 

Yeah my local store owner after realizing I was American took the time, an hour, to tell me why he hates Bob Dylan. I grabbed a Hendrix Family edition of Rainbow Bridge, brought it home, and it was warped. I had to consider whether it was worth the inevitable continuation of the Dylan lecture to go back and return it

 

That sounds like sound advice.

 

Yeah I've started doing that rather than jumping the first time I see exactly what I want! I'm a bit eager to get all my LP's back!

 

But isn't that rate an average of all possible album qualities? I really try to find NM for the media and VG+ for the sleeve.

 

Its a bubble.

 

I picked up that exact album for 25 bucks on ebay a couple years ago. If you are patient and watch regularly on ebay you can eventually find deals.