Recent used vinyl price increases: what are the most surprising titles?

Discogs

 

Not sure if anyone said it yet, but Them Crooked Vultures

I think I got it when it came out for probably $20. I sold it a few years later (stupid), now I want to get it again--but it's OOP and going for stoopid money right now. Ugh.

 

A beat-up US Atom Heart Mother for $30.

 

Beat up Pink Floyd albums sell at record shows......early ones at stupid prices.

 

Well, at least first two albums, US releases on Tower label are somehow rare, though personally I'd never overpay for them – usual traditional US crappy paste over covers with peeling off paint and ugly labels (as usual).
But what's up with albums like “The Wall” ($40-50 in NYC stores) for example? Or “The Final Cut” which usually starts at $25? These albums were released in millions in US alone, they are not rare. It's not “supply and demand” just for some reason skyrocketed demand, and dealers loving it .

 

Patience. Will get reissued some time.

 

Amazing how the kids eat Floyd in any condition.

 

Last time I checked Kilroy Was Here was up to $1.25, which is a 25 percent increase.

 

I finally broke down and bought a reissue of The Wall. Was always coming across expensive Columbia copies with very grubby covers.

 

Tried finding an early pressing of Wish You Were Here. Forget it. Too expensive, even for a VG copy.

 

Clean 80's copies are going for $60, in Clearwater! Crazy!

But then I found a VGish, decent UK first pressing for $20. Go figure.

 

Tony Rice albums are expensive, especially since his death. I've picked up most of his work including solo, The Tony Rice Unit, The Bluegrass Album Band. I didn't have the last album he did before everything switched to CD exclusively. The Rice Brothers which he did with his brothers on Rounder. It's been running from $70 $120 the last couple of years. I was able to get a copy from a motivated seller on DISCOGS for $45 + $10 shipping. That's when something interesting happened. I had the LP on my want list and hadn't taken it off when I made the purchase. There aren't vary many copies out there but a couple of people had it for sale here in the states. Their copies which they had been asking $70-$80 for were now showing up for $60. So I would assume they see it sold for significantly less and drop their price. But then yesterday I saw it offered by a new seller for $115. I'm not sure what this all tells us?

 

Chad Kassem putting a sealed Beatles mono box for sale on his website for $3500. Surprising no, infuriating, yes. It just contributes to the problem. Greedy as hell.

 

One thing it tells us is that it requires an active marketplace to determine the fair value of an item.

 

Notice many used record prices are dropping? Not all, but many.

Have to wonder if we’ve jumped the shark?

 

it only contributes to the problem if some patsy buys it

 

I’ve basically given up on NYC stores. The stores that I used to frequent now sell garbage. They were never great to begin with but went way downhill during the pandemic and never recovered. I’m sure we’re in agreement.

Edit: I’m referring to Manhattan. I haven’t been to a Brooklyn store in several years.

 

Maybe the hoarders buried under dead stock are starting to learn their lesson?. One shop I frequent has a perfect balance in their price points and regularly puts out great psych titles and imports in their discount and even dollar bins. Not in perfect condition of course but it's funny when you go to the next shop down the road and they want $40 for a record you just paid $3 for in better condition. The $40 shop has the exact same merchandise almost every time I go, which is less than half the amount I go to the $3 shop, which is like a different store every time I visit. Some might say they are leaving money on the table with their prices, but what they are actually doing is creating loyal customers like me, who will spend more with them in the long run. That's what so many record shops refuse to see.

 

I’m 55. I remember the price for an album being something like $5.83 for a long time.

Right before vinyl was phased out I think I remember paying 9 or 10. I bought vinyl as long as I could. I didn’t even own my own CD player until after 2000. I played my brother’s or my roommate’s. I bought a lot of cassettes for awhile.

I never sold any of my vinyls or cassettes. I’ve been reading this thread thinking maybe now is the time to start thinking about it?

 

I don't know, but that, coupled with the stress of buying used records and hoping they sound great, has driven me more and more to vintage CDs. I have a rig that's really great for compact discs, and really good for LPs. So when I go into my local record shop, and sift through mounds and mounds of great LPs that look dirty and are a big question mark/hassle if they don't turn out right, I almost always end up at the tiny little bin of used vintage CDs instead. I haven't gone in there yet and gotten out without buying at least one of those little silver guys. Three to five dollars a pop instead of fifteen to sixty dollars, and no need to clean them, or return them because of clicks and pops and surface noise.

If LPs weren't so ridiculously-high priced, maybe the above wouldn't happen so often. But at those prices, man. It's gotta be dead-quiet and pretty immaculate for me to justify it over the 80's/early 90's CD that are basically flawless for a measly three dollars.

 

I’ve built up a nice collection from the shops in Brooklyn. Haven’t even ventured into Manhattan yet. Brooklyn Record Exchange and Human Head always have good stuff.

 

Fortunately, I have Tony's entire catalogue on vinyl, included several excellent Japanese issues. That said, all those have gone up, and in particular the first five Bluegrass Album Band on vinyl have gotten very hard to find and expensive.

Others very expensive?

Kevin Gilbert - Thud

Pat Metheny Group - The Road To You

ECM era Bill Frisell

Chris Isaak (particularly with James Wilsey)

Ratt's first three vinyl releases

 

I saw a used copy of the Wall at a record store in Hoboken, it was selling for $70. A lot of the used records at this local shop have increased dramatically in the last 10 months. I been passing up on a lot stuff, Tears for Fears $40 for the second album. That’s insane.

 

Unfortunately I don’t have a car and I have to deal with the three or four record stores that are left in Manhattan. It really sucks living in the metro area for a record collector nowadays, it’s never been this bad. I don’t want to name names but I think you know the stores I’m referring too. I have a few stores in Jersey I check out but it’s not that different from the city. You really have to travel to find a good store here in the NY area. Princeton record exchange is worth a trip and Infinity records in LI is also worth a trip,

 

Yes, we’re on the same page. I’ve never been to Infinity before. Not sure if I want to deal with Long Island traffic.