My uncle died last week (no need for sympathies, he’s been estranged from the family for years) and it’s fallen to me and a couple other relatives to sort through his apartment for anything too valuable to let the Salvation Army cart away.
One thing we found is a closet full of old LP’s – mostly 50’s & 60’s, some Elvis & T-Rex, lotta showtunes, lotta stuff I’ve never heard of. We’re talking an entire closet FULL from top to bottom with records, at least 10 or 12 boxes worth. There’s also about 200 or so 78rpm records from the 30’s & 40’s.
The second thing is about 250 to 300 videotapes of gay pornography. (My grandma’s willing to cart all these to the dump, but I mention it since there’s so MANY of them, and West Hollywood is but a short car drive away.)
Can anyone hazard a guess what this stuff might be worth? I’m going to call around to some local stores to see how much they will offer, and I don’t have the slightest clue how much to ask for. (Selling the stuff in bulk is the only viable option – no way do I have the time to catalog & price everything and sell each individual item on ebay.)
[PS to mods: I believe this thread fits as a General Question, but if not, feel free to move it where it belongs (and apologies in advance.)]
If there are any old blues/jazz albums, they are probably worth something, perhaps even quite a bit if they are in good condition. Elvis records can be worth $100s, or only pennies, you would have to check one of the price guides. Record collectors are perhaps the most neurotic people in the world when it comes to particular labels, presisngs, jackets etc…
If you do find any old blues/jazz/classical records in good shape there is a place called, aptly enough, The Record Collector on Melrose in Hollywood that might buy them from you. The guy that runs the place is a bit of an ass, but he does have the most amazing collection of jazz/classical records I have ever seen. We are talking 100,000s of pristine records from the golden age of vinyl. You might also try the Rhino Outlet on Westwood.
Also consider an add in the paper, many record collectors scour the classifieds looking for big lots just like what you may have.
Failing any of the above, I would suggest you consider gathering up the good stuff and doing a large lot auction on ebay, and donating the rest to Good Will. You might also see if a local college or music school would take the stuff.
I really have nothing to offer but When I started reading this thread the only thing I could think off are thos antique shows on tv where people bring in something they think is valuable to be appraised
“You see here we have vintage porn, that would be worth about 300$”
“really? I never thought it would be worth all that”
I would be careful about selling the porn on the internet or at all for that matter. Do you know what’s on those 250-300 tapes? Sell that to the wrong person or a law enforcement officer and you might end up in a heep of legal trouble in there’s an underage actor somewhere on one of those tapes.
jmpride, is that a problem in the gay industry? I know that “straight” porn has been extremely careful with that, especially since the Traci Lords scandal and all this pedophile hysteria. From what I could see, these were all pre-recorded tapes in the original boxes, and the pictures on the boxes looked, umm, quite “manly” indeed.
I don’t think there were any blues or jazz records in the LP collection, though I’ll check more closely when I go back. I’m thinking the records may be more trouble than it’s worth, since they are so HEAVY and we’d need to rent a truck to cart them off. Unless the 78’s are worth something…
