This revival of vinyl… December 3, 2016
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.trackback
…is reaching the most unlikely places. The above from ALDI this morning – compilation albums including Sinatra, 60s, Rock’n’Roll, for €9.99 each. Where does it end? Everyone with a record player in their houses again? 8-track players soon to follow?
The Cedar Lounge Revolution 
It’ll be dead again in a few years apart from a few weird and smelly old men* who’ll be like Steve buschemi and his 78 collecting mates in Ghost World
* possibly projected autobiography
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Heheh… yeah. I know that sentiment. Still, I’m impressed by how it is progressing.
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Shop called ‘Vinyl’ in Dun Laoghaire worth checking out (Peoples’ Park end)
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Until the arrival of tape cassettes and then CDs in the 1970s young people equipped their bedsitters and living rooms with record players and bulky stacks of LPs and 45 rpm pop records. Charity shops still have piles of LPs stored in alcoves and find it hard to get them sold. In a second hand shop in Dublin’s Talbot Street about twenty years ago a dealer chattily told me that after the ’70s it was mostly the classical musical buffs who held on to their record players and LP collections. First editions of Beatles, Elvis Presley and jazz albums with original record sleeves can fetch high prices from collectors – a bit like rare postage stamps among philatelists.
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Yep, it’s a huge market. But much much more mundane stuff than the Beatles (who are hardly mundane) etc is getting some stupendous prices. I was at a record fair in Rathmines a while back where albums by 80s Irish and UK groups long since forgotten were asking for 20-30 euros.
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How much?!
I’ve got a load of vinyl (accumulated by antecedents) taking up space in a wardrobe, which I had little real idea of what to do with, if they’re going for that kind of money I might as well lighten the pockets of some hipster before he spends that cash on grooming products or exotic amalgamations of sugar and grain from America (bowls of fruit-loops etcetera).
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Well, I was amazed myself but I’ve had reason the last half year to dig into vinyl and costs and so on and good condition records are easily getting 10-20 euros. Sometimes more. I saw a Zerra One album on sale for 20+. No disrespect to the them, not my taste, but wow.
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One slightly sad consequence of the revival of interest in vinyl and the internet, is that the prices tend to be more or less the same everywhere. I was in a really well stocked record shop in Odense this morning, and everything was London prices, plus about 20% (because everything in Denmanrk is more expensive) but exactly followed to differentials you’d see anywhere else. A few years ago, I think, Scandi stuff that would be rare elsewhere might be cheaper and more available in situ as it were. Not anymore, because, obviously, every serious record shop supplements its onsite income with internet sales. I was in Prague earlier this year, and rar-ish czech records were selling for crazy prices and presumably not to czechs.
Word of warning though to all of you who think you might have gold in the wardrobe/ attic; only a vanishingly small percentage of records are worth anything at all and record fair prices are generally an opening position, not meant to be taken entirely seriously. S/he’s not going to get 30 euro for that Zerra1 album. I have a colleague who goes to boot sales a lot and comes into the office hopefully with boxes of chuff he bought thinking ‘it’s old, it’s rare’ only for me and the other guy who collects somewhat seriously to wreck his buzz. If you really want to know what the stuff you have is worth, check discogs where you’ll see what it actually sells for. And remember the top prices are for mint condition – anything less and you can divide by 2.
but let me have a look first 🙂
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and even charity shops check their prices on the internet now 😦
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Out of curiousity, how much would a first printing of Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac debut album from 1968 be worth. In good condition (no scratches) but not mint.
I ask only because I don’t have it any more. Since somebody in the house gave it away to a neighbour’s kid who had just that day decided that maybe he loved vinyl.
I want to know just how bitter I should be. Does it merit a mention in unrelated arguments, for example, as a crime that surpasses all others, and means that all other crimes must therefore be immediately forgiven? Or is more in the category of slow-burning resentment.
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I just saw your reference to discogs.
Apparently it hardly even justifies holding a grudge.
But I will, anyway.
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Discogs average is about €35. Someone looking for 60 at the moment, but seems to have been trying for a while.
Condition has caused almighty battles though, and the reason I gave up selling online. Mint really means unplayed, to some people, never exposed to daylight. ‘Very good’ is the normal person’s near mint. Classical buffs are even worse, since some compositions can get very quiet and damage is really noticeable.
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You sell records? 🙂
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Yeah, always have. Often through necessity – Mac in George’s arcade was a handy pawnbroker in times of need, but also because I pick up a lot of stuff on spec that turns out to be ‘not my thing’ and, if it’s worth something, I’ll move it on. If not, straight to charity shop. If I didn’t the house would be (even more) uninhabitable.
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Ah Macs. There was a shop.
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It could all be done on spotify, I suppose, but the music played here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/barfly-the-snug-skerries-co-dublin-1.2205092
tends to be always interesting.
Perhaps the best thing about vinyl is that it emphasises the music from some great music-years.
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Personally I’m waiting for the retro CD craze in the mid to late 2020s
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That will happen, sure as eggs is eggs.
What does a ‘mint conditon’ mean in the case of a CD?
Many of my older ones became unplayable. Built-in obsolescence?
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A shout out to those knowledgeable about vinyl, is the €210 listed on discogs for Freedom’s Lament by Callinan~Flynn in any realistic realm?
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A bit high, but not totally unrealistic. seems to go for around 130 sterling?
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Thank you SoS. Do you reckon I could get something like that good for a reasonably good quality looking example. The LP itself looks near mint, but the sleeve is looking a bit less mint, though not falling apart?
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http://thevinylfactory.com/features/a-comprehensive-guide-to-grading-vinyl-records/
You can grade vinyl and cover separately – so Vinyl (NM) Cover (G+) but the price will be closer to the lower grade of the cover.
It’s difficult, but try to be conservative – if you’re not sure it’s mint, then go NM or VG+
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All this apply only online or in a record shop also? Would I be expecting a tougher time from them?
And really very much appreciate the help.
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A shop will give you about half of what they expect to get – although a big ticket item such as this, and they might go high. As with most things, depends on the market at the moment you want to sell.
As a general rule, for something worth 100+, I’d try and sell online because that’s where you’ll get the best price. For a quick return and you get to keep most of the income, selling at a record fair comes next, but only worth it if you have volume (and transport). Shops will give you the worst price, since they need to make a profit, but quick cash in hand.
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I was thinking of trying to see what the places in Dublin would offer for it before going online, I’m not massively keen on going online as a long-distance dispute doesn’t (given my greenness on this topic) isn’t greatly appealing, however I’m prepared to try.
Back on quality, looking at Discogs own grading, it looks like both the LP and the cover fall into the VG+ catagory.
https://www.discogs.com/help/mp-grading.html
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Actually, VG+ for the LP and VG for the cover.
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