I’m going to be letting go of a small record collection of mine - mid 70’s to mid 80’s.
They’re all in very good/excellent condition. Many were played only once or twice and put onto cassette for listening (remember those? I had one of the first sony walkmans)
Many options for selling, and I’m soliciting opinions:
Ebay. Probably get the biggest bucks, but painful to list and to ship. Also, if it’s put up as auction rather than “buy it now”, there is a danger of an album selling for a fraction of it’s worth (I’ve seen this happen). I have an ebay account, but have not sold anything for a while, and have never sold vinyl there.
Discogs. Similar to ebay, but specialized to music. Looks good -only charges 8% and targets a specialty audience. But still painful to list and to ship.
Local sales sites like Facebook marketplace, Used groups, etc.
Less work in shipping, but still have to deal with listing and dealing with enquiries. I’ve bought and sold lots of stuff like this in the past year with no problems.
Local record shop. Benefits here are they will probably take a lot, and just give me $$. I"m not sure what they will give me, but I’m guessing less than 50% of what I might get from options 1 - 3 above.
I’ve done some research - About 40 albums are in the $20 - $100 retail range. Another 100 are in the $5 - $15 range. The rest would be donations to the local thrift store.
Have you considered listing them in the Dope Marketplace? Might be fun to keep your treasures among friends and I’m assuming the process is less onerous than eBay.
I’m interested in whether you find a way to make any coin worth the effort. My recollection from years ago, was that unless you had some mint rarity, resale value was near nil.
Vinyl has really gone up in value in the last few year, at least in my neck of the woods. There’s a market for used vinyl (in good condition).
My stuff is not really mint (unused), but is very good. It’s not really rare either.
But there is some good stuff;
Kiss Originals - 3 albums with poster, sticker and booklet in perfect condition
Beatles white album on White vinyl
Beatles Sgt. Pepper on gray/pink marble vinyl - only available in Canada
Star Wars original soundtrack with poster
Talking Heads, B-52’s, Fleetwood Mac original pressings
These all seem to fetch $20 - $50 on ebay
Others… John Denver, Paul Simon, Pablo Cruise, Boomtown Rats, Men at Work etc…
These seem to be around $5. Still worth selling, but only locally.
And yes, years ago I did look into selling. Ended up putting them back into storage, as it was not worth it. I think a lot of records went to the thrift shop back then.
These days, pickers are all over the thrift shops, and the only things you can find there are Nana Moskouri and Zamfir, and maybe some Glen Campbell.
I’m planning on selling half of my comics and LPs (just as soon as I figure out which half…), and I’ve noticed more and more people (on Craigslist, eBay and Facebook Marketplace) selling by the boxful. Comics have standard “short-” and “long box” sizes, vinyl is by lots of 10, 25 or 50.
This is in case you’re (like me) more concerned with “getting the whole process over with”, and not maximizing profits.
Craigslist has the advantage of you being able to specify pick-up only, meaning there would be no shipping costs or shipping perils. It also allows the buyer to check the albums before buying, eliminating potential hassles if they are unsatisfied afterwards. You are certainly more likely to see a better return through Craigslist than going to a local record shop. At the very least, it makes some sense to start that way before trying the mail route.
The downsides are that it will take up more of your time and you will inevitably have to deal with some flakes. If using Craigslist, it is highly recommended that you not meet anyone at your place of residence, but instead choose a nearby exterior public location where you can maintain social distance. Be sure to insist your potential buyers wear masks and wash your hands afterwards.
This is good advice. I have had some success with selling small items by having people come and pickup at the door, and leave the money in an envelope in the mailbox. That seems to be pretty common in my neck of the woods, and I have yet to be burned. But LP’s may be a different kettle of fish.
I’ve met Craiglist buyers in a public place for commonly-stolen items like iPhones, motorcycles and cars, but I’m not sure a Neil Young album needs high-end security.
My reason for meeting somewhere else would be to avoid a disgruntled audiophile showing up after the sale (at my door at 7am yelling about surface noise on “My My Hey Hey”… I mean, how could you tell?).
Based on your location and demographics, in June of 1972 you had Harvest …and Deja Vu, Tapestry, Blue by Joni Mitchell, the first Eagles album, and a greatest hits album from either The Stones, Jethro Tull, or The Band.
It’s also a given that one of your roommates had George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh, and another had the Led Zeppelin album that no one knew the name of, the one with Stairway To Heaven (but by Spring of '72 you were already sick of that song).
Yes on Hotel California, but not any others by the Eagles…
No on any Crosby Stills & Nash, No on Tapestry, YUK on Joni Mitchell, only had Emotional Rescue by the Stones, and YUK again on Jethro Tull and The Band (although my wife loved The Band)
Nope on Harrison, had no Led Zep (although my sister did, just to be cool)
I think you pegged my age a bit too old
Devo, B52’s, Adam and the Ants, Prism, Electric Light Orchestra and (shudder) KISS (Did not put the KISS Army sticker on anything though)
Hmmm, I’m taking a box of books over there tomorrow. I’ll check on buying vinyl. But they lowball so low on books, that I’m pleasantly surprised to hear you got a good price!
And sorry I didn’t guess your album horde, Euphonious. I was assuming you were my age, and basing it on years of going through crates of used albums.
(Now, if you were my parents’ age… apparently everyone in the '50s owned Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. I’ve seen thousands of those!)
Well, guess I’ll cancel my plans to hit the County Fair circuit with my “Guess Your Vinyl! Only $2” booth…