I've been spending the last six months going through 3000 records that I inherited. I figured I would have space for 1000-1500. I made an agreement with a local small record shop to take the rock and jazz LPs on consignment, not to get top dollar for them, but to make them available to others, help my local business, and bypass flippers.
I left a lot of very good condition jazz records with the shop, but almost none of the Miles Davis, Coltrane, Brubeck, etc. that people would find more desirable, so my monetary expectations were modest. The good stuff went into my collection. The store owner was still grateful to get my old poor condition Zep, Stones, Beatles, etc. He also got hundreds of unknown titles in VG+ that are probably still in his bins.
Supply and demand is the factor here. Now that I have an extensive collection, my focus will be on quality from now on. If that means going to a shop like The Record Collector in LA when I visit and walking out with four records for $100 to get what I want, so be it. The owner has this horrible reputation for being rude, which I witnessed several times in a half hour when people walked into his store expecting $1 records and finding his cheapest at $10, then making a ripoff comment. They were just unclear on his business model. Me, I'm glad he is in business.
eBay has pretty much ruined the great deal. Almost the opposite when people don't know the difference between a great rebuilt unit and a hulk. I thought I was very lucky to get a decent condition TD 124 for $700. ( not on the bay) I think we should trade stuff more and not get so caught up in getting top dollar, but then that comes from a perspective of not having to, so I'm not going to be judgemental about it.
Support your local store when you can. It is more fun when they are around.
