I have never sold records of any real value on eBay or wherever, only the odd CD worth a few quid where I have duplicates or have replaced a version, so I am a bit wary of anything with serious worth.
My sister recently moved nearby and has had boxes of LPs in storage or under the stairs for donkey’s years. The move has prompted her to have a look through them and, of course, I joined in the crate digging. First one I see is Pink Moon by Nick Drake – first pressing, excellent near mint condition – and other treasures followed (including his first two LPs). Now, these and some others are apparently worth serious dosh, and she has decided to sell some that have no sentimental value (she doesn’t even remember owning the Nick Drakes), but I would really like some advice on where and how to sell. What if, for instance, the buyer substitutes a crappy copy for ours and claims we sent it? Is there anything else I need to be careful about?
Any advice greatfully received!
Are you on FB or Bluesky? There’s a group called We Buy Records (related to the podcast of the same name).
Lots of lovely, helpful, people on there. And me.
Take pics of everything you sell, sleeves, inners both sides of the LP. Time consuming yes but if they are valuable it’s worth it. Keep the pics until the buyer has had the item for 28 days after that if they’ve not complained you are clear of sellers responsibility.
We found a local buyer from a card in our local onestop who came to the house, looked at the ones we had itemised for purchase, decided which ones he wanted lusted over the Beatles White Album low number copy (a keeper of course) etc. and gave us cash and took them away.
Gets round all the issues relating to post if you can find a friendly local dealer. You maybe won’t get as much as selling it yourself, but 100% less worry.
Use Discogs to check the current market value. Take a note of the real details – you will need to for Discogs is pretty clinical about matrix numbers (usually stamped or scribed in minute lettering into the centre of the disc where the run-out groove is), cover and label variations, country of issue and such like.
I’ve bought loads of second-hand CDs on Discogs, and had very few problems – a few tardy dispatches, a couple of late cancellations when a title advertised turns out to be ”out of stock’, that sort of thing, but no lost money
You can sell on Discogs too – they take a cut – but be wary as the the first time I tried that I got immediate interest from what turned out to be a dodgy Discogs account. The website intervened in the sale, and closed the spurious account, but it was a warning that thieving bastards are out there watching for new sellers!
PS would love to know what other gems you’ve unearthed!
Yes I will @Vulpes-Vulpes !
Use Discogs for research for an idea of the value. It’s not always easy determining exactly which pressing you have. Even if you narrow it down by format, label, country and identifiers such as the run out codes, you may still have 12 different pressings to choose from.
To get the most money, sell them on Ebay.
Next, give them to an auction house which has a specialist vinyl department. Wessex Auctions is one, there are others.
To get rid of all of them, go to a dealer. You will likely get 25% of the sale price.
I would recommend contacting Joel at https://www.brighterdayvinyl.com/, he bought my entire collection a few years ago at a good price, cash transferred into my bank account on the spot, and he’s a nice guy, too. He cheerfully admitted he’d double his money, but also that I could too, if I could be bothered spending a year or so on Discogs, EBay etc. and all the grief that goes with it.
Thanks for rhe replies so far! I have dug out what I think are likely to be of value and used Discogs to get an idea of that value and to identify precisely the version she has.
She doesn’t intend to sell the whole lot at the moment, but just stuff that has no sentimental value or where the value is just too tempting not to. The Nick Drakes are a prime example – she knew nothing about him and has no recollection of where they came from! Knowing her history, it would have been a boyfriend from her past…oh the stories I could tell….
The Goldmine protocol for grading records is widely accepted. You can google it or find it on Discogs site.