Please help with pricing a record collection

[Da He Hua]

Hello, I came across a classical music record collection and have gathered the following information via email from the owner. I have not looked at the collection yet, but before I drive all the way there to see it, I am interested in your thoughts as to how much in a very rough sense I should pay for this collection based on the description below.

1. Well over 1,000 records, selling as a whole lot
2. Records are in beautiful condition
3. Not much opera in it
4. All are good brand name or audiophile labels; no budget labels like Turnabout, CBS Odyssey, Nonesuch, Angel, Longines, Vox, RCA Gold, Seraphin, Musical Heritage Society etc.
5. Some sample labels are: Over 100 Philips Digital Classics, RCA Living Stereo same, Columbia 6 Eyes and 2 Eyes over 300, also have Telarc, London blueback, Mercury Living Presence etc. and audiophile records

 

[Blue Shadow]

Location will have something to do with the value, too. I don't think there is a big demand for 1000 classical record collections in a single purchase.

 

[MRL_Audio]

Great point Blue Shadow. Selling individuals will garner good money but will take time. Selling a lot of LP's will garner maybe 25%-50% of the individual values.

 

[HyKlas]

$100? That's a crazy amount of work. Judging by the labels you mentioned, there isn't anything terribly valuable in that collection...

Now, if there were things like stereo pressings with the Columbia magic notes labels, you might be on to something.

 

[Da He Hua]

$100 for 1,000 records including hundreds of RCA Living Stereo, Mercury Living Presence, Telarc, Columbia 6-Eye, and London Blueback? I am worried that the seller may think it is an insult? Or is that the reality of classical music records these days?

 

[Wildcat]

I've seen some Living Stereo and Living Presence LPs sell for $10, $20, even $50 if they are in nice shape. Classical is a limited market but still, vinyl is "hot" these days, and anything in good condition (equivalent to Goldmine visual condition ratings of VG+ or NM--you may want to read up on these if you're not familiar) would be worth something. "Beautiful" means absolutely nothing. To some sellers, "beautiful" means the jackets are nice, and the records are inside the jackets and "look clean." I would probably make the drive and carefully look at many random samples of records before even considering making an offer.

I know I'd be all over a collection like that myself if I knew they were in good shape.

I have rarely bought from collections or estate sales but in most cases when I've looked at some of the records, there was nothing worth buying. Scratches, fingerprints (especially decades-old fingerprints--they actually do get etched into the vinyl), etc. will make me pause. And if I know it was played on a cheap all-in-one system or a console, they will have too much groove burn and I will pass those by as well. In essence, I try to be as careful buying from private sellers as a dealer buying them to resell--inspect carefully, and don't buy crap sight unseen. Dealers will lowball on large lots since much of it could be unsaleable, either due to poor condition or a record being too common. Hauling away, grading and pricing each piece also factors into their offers.

 

[bobsvinyl]

http://www.popsike.com/php/quicksea...&thumbs=&currsel=&endfrom=&endthru=&ipp=&sdc=

 

[4-2-7]

Or is that the reality of classical music records these days?

Yes the market is very limited. If the seller wants to sell in bulk they are not going to get full price nor should they think so. Record stores don't even buy classical because it sits on the shelves and takes up space. So the store says you can donate them here or to goodwill I don't care, but I'll recycle them if you want. Now if you bought this and you could sell some titles at $10 maybe a few at $20 that's good. But the majority are $1.00 records and buying in bulk that's 25 cents each.

 

[Luckyorleans]

$100 for 1,000 records including hundreds of RCA Living Stereo, Mercury Living Presence, Telarc, Columbia 6-Eye, and London Blueback? I am worried that the seller may think it is an insult? Or is that the reality of classical music records these days?

Unfortunately that is closer to the reality, though it is still likely going to p'off the seller. As mentioned, shops just do not want them. Unless you can know for sure there are a number of great valuable titles $1 a piece is on the high side. 1,000 is a terrific amount of tonnage and if looking to sell off a number do not calculate your hourly wage! For personal use and you have the room, could be an interesting deal.

 

[vinyl1]

I would have to check the exact titles before valuing the collection. The presence of a few very valuable records that could be sold quickly for a very high price would make a big difference.

If it is just ordinary 'audiophile' classical records, the kind of RCAs and Mercs that get $8-20 on eBay, then the fair wholesale price would be 10% of retail.

If I were pricing a collection like this, I would divide all the records into five categories based on retail value: under $10, $10-30, $30-50, $50-100, really valuable. Then A x fifty cents plus B * $1.50 plus C * $4 plus D * $10 plus 25% of retail for the valuable ones. This assumes you have the knowledge to sort the records into piles without having to look each one up.

If this is a typical collection of this sort of material, you'd probably end up with mostly fifty cent and $1.50 records, with maybe 80-100 of the more valuable ones. So fair wholesale might be in the range of $1000-1200. That is about what an experienced classical dealer would pay, anyway. He would sell the 100 over-$30 records individually on eBay, making some money for a lot of work and a lot of fees, and dump the rest for whatever he could get.

If you are an individual who wants the records for personal use, of course, you could pay more. But what an experienced dealer would pay is a good idea of the bottom of what the seller would expect.

 

[Bob]

you're between a rock and a hard place. unless you know what each record is worth
and intend to flip them for a profit then it's guesswork at best. on the other hand
the seller has probably spent 5K in pursuit of these 1000.

if he's a dedicated audiophile (buys by label) and a music lover (buys by performance)
then his collection could be one-of-a-kind. he may have some rare European record
of a woman pianist that's worth 5k in any condition. in which case, the other 999 is free.

I once bought 600 classical LPs (only in California does this happen) from a guy
who had an entire garage filled with craigslist buys. he priced the rock a lot higher
since everyone goes gaga over them (I won't touch them) and he was happy to
unload them for $100. I gave him 120. he was happy. turns out stuck inside
was an Bill Haley LP, I sold this on ebay for $125 so the whole collection was
free and I'm not telling anyone the other 4 LPs I found worth a grand are.

same thing happened when an old guy retired and wanted to sell his LPs.
I showed up (nobody else did) and low and behold he was BRITISH and
in the collection of 100 LPS was a (not telling whether 1 or full) set of the
beatles on parlophone, I gave him 75 when he only asked for 50. bonus
was that all the records were in mint condition. I suspected this was the
case since the BRITISH take great care of their wonderful records
(EMI, DECCA to name two).

I'm not saying I'm lucky or knows what to do, but I don't follow the
crowds to the estate sales, Saturday garage sales, once-a-month
ham fests, audio shows, flea markets, etc. there are literally thousands
doing this, and for profit, flipping, and bragging rights. I do this for
the sheer joy of finding gems.

so if it were me, I would buy the collection if I didn't have one, I would
look for the one record that makes your year. I wouldn't buy it to flip
unless you have done this before, knowing exactly what each can sell,
for and where, and have the time and patience to sell them one by one.

good luck

 

[Karmices]

Limited market, BUT classical music records can have some BIG $$$ titles. Figure 75% of the titles are $1-2 albums (you may see them sell on ebay for $5-$8 each, but we're talking local sales here), $20% are not worth messing with and 5% are the rarer $25-$$$ titles.

 

[hjames]

... IF the collection has not been picked through already ...

 

[Luckyorleans]

And without hitting a number of big titles, the slugging and work to manhandle, sort and check condition of that volume can make this not worth it even if almost free, unless it is for your enjoyment.

 

[Bob]

if I were in the area I'd be all over it.

It's about 80-100 LPs per banker box so it should fit in any sedan including mine
but not a Corvette. Pickup truck is OK - needs tarp so those Lps don't fly out from Bernouilli effects.

the OP also mentioned no "budget" labels so it could be all good.

put it another way, if it were Rock LPs with entire collections of credence, Rolling stones, led zep,
beatles, or Jazz , they'd be lined up across the state borders with pounds of benjamins.

As Rodney says (paraphrased) classical don't get no respect...

 

[markshan]

You never said, do you like classical music? Is this for show or for go?

Classical records (outside of the very few that bobsvinyl mentioned) are a very difficult flip.

 

[jameswei]

I move to Taiwan about 2 and half years ago and classical LP is still worth something here, I gave away my3000 or so classical LPs when I move back. I should of ship them back here and made some decent money.

 

[bashman]

I was on my shift as a volunteer at a local thrift store and a guy came in and asked if we took LPs as donations. We don't, but I gave him my address and he dropped off a nice selection of EX condition LPs. I'm trying to set a time to meet with a local AKer to go through them and take what he wants for a small donation. I pulled a few, but not my genre.

 

[BilboBaggins]

I recently used 100 classical lps valued at about $200 as part of a bigger sale. I ended up giving him a hundred mint condition classics on good labels. We're both happy. And I recently got a varied condition collection that included 78 heavy metal, 10 Beatles lps and a box set, almost all the Led Zeppelin collection in doubles and triplicates, about 15 Stones, 10 Doors, about 15 Blue Oyster Cult(I didn't know they had that many lps out!), and many others covering a good selection. The guy knew their value, but didn't want to go through the hassle of selling it himself. At least 250 of the collection have ended up in my collection, and I'm sitting in gravy now!

But classical is a hard sell these days. In just two years, records that went for over $100 are only worth $20 now. I was amazed because I actually left a tag in each of them stating the date, the number, and either its average selling price or more information. I had a lot of free time. I rechecked each of the ones I gave him. In the end, he got a great collection and some cash and got rid of his speakers at the same time! And I was able to put back into circulation, some records that deserved to be listened to. A win - win situation.

 

[cyclotronic]

Condition is key - they really need to be NM for the audience who buys these things. I sell to a local guy who buys for his relative's all-classical store in Hong Kong and he'll reject an LP for the faintest, inaudible scuff. You also need to be willing to ship to Asia if you're going to sell them online, and expect a certain percentage of complaints regarding condition once they get there, even if you thought the record was dead mint.