Selling Records on CL... (the real world)

willie_fugalwillie_fugal 1,862 Posts
edited May 2009 in Strut Central
someone actually typed all this out today.
Date: 2009-05-18, 4:36PM CDTOk, for everyone who is selling records on CL, here's the deal: Ok, so you may have inherited some records from someone, or have been going around to thrift stores and buying them for $1. I'm assuming that you don't have a record player, or else you wouldn't be selling these records as they would have some value to you. NO ONE, I repeat NO ONE is going to pay $100+ for commonly released records that they can just go down to any thrift store/flea market/goodwill/St. Vincent DePaul's and get for themselves @ $1 a piece. Sure they might be old like from the 50's... whoa they must be worth something, right??? Well yes and no. Yes they are worth something, very little. They are worth nothing in the sense that NO ONE is willing to pay for them. If you have any doubts about this, please take your stack of records to any record store that deals in buy, sell or trade. This will give you an indication of their real value. The reason I even write this is because I AM a serious record collector. Periodically I check CL for entire collections. What I find more often than not are people who think that their collections of common issue Rock Records, XMas, Perry Como, Herb Alpert, Earth Wind and Fire, etc... records are worth $100, $200 and up. I'll be the first to admit that yes, some records can fetch a lot of money to the right person. Am I seeing any of these on CL... NO! In essence, record collecting is exactly like baseball cards, comic books, entertainment memorabilia, collector plates, antiques, you get the picture... There is an entire subculture of people who LIVE to collect these things. They go to conventions, they spend their spare time seeking these things out, and have devoted a large chunk of their lives to knowledge of exactly how valuable each piece is. Most of these people do this as a hobby because they love it. They are VERY AWARE of the value of their collection, and most people I know don't or won't sell anything under almost any circumstances. The longer you collect, the more selective you become as your collection already contains the common items. This is not a dig at anyone in particular, and I'm not saying don't try to sell any records on CL. All I'm saying is, don't look at this pile of records you have as some sort of money making scheme. If you're interested in selling vinyl, go through the proper channels. First go to all the stores that BUY, SELL & TRADE records. If you can't get rid of them there, it's a safe bet that they're not really worth anything. Have a garage sale, put them on ebay or try selling them to someone who makes art with them. If all else fails, put them out for trash UNLESS, you plan on listening to them. Please, please, please think about all the people in this world that truly have a passion for music and collecting. Your pile of records isn't rare or interesting, it's mildly amusing and pretty insulting that the value you've place on them is so astronomically high compared to what they're really worth. * Location: the real world * it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests PostingID: 1177415388

  Comments


  • ReynaldoReynaldo 6,054 Posts
    REAL TALK

  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts

  • DJ_NevilleCDJ_NevilleC 1,922 Posts
    He's got some good points and I'm sure all five people that read his post on CL will reconsider their record selling strategies!

  • billbradleybillbradley You want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,905 Posts
    He's got some good points and I'm sure all five people that read his post on CL will reconsider their record selling strategies!

    The 5 people reading his post are the other 5 people in town buying up record collections.

  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    so it was some Reynaldo-esque strategic move to demoralise the competition?

    ....AHAH! Fiendishly clever....

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    He's got some good points and I'm sure all five people that read his post on CL will reconsider their record selling strategies!

    The 5 people reading his post are the other 5 people in town buying up record collections.

    Truth


    There's more CL posts offering to "buy collections!" and "pay top prices!" than there are posts selling records.

  • hemolhemol 2,578 Posts
    On the converse, I definitely bought a storage unit collection that wound up being a whole lot of rawkus/rawkusish hip hop and a ton of techno music. I put that shit on craigslist for twice what I paid for it--these were records that no record store wanted--and sold them in a few days.

    shit, I saw the dude at Music Inn buy a 20 record pile of absolute trash that he'll never sell, for $20. There are all kinds of rogue record markets vying for things that have no value to collector types.

  • selperfugeselperfuge 1,165 Posts
    i tacked up cards in a neighborhood about six months ago. a week ago i get a call from a guy who grabbed one. turns out he buys collections too. i googled his phone number after the call and confirmed he is one of the two people who advertise in AM paper or Village Voice or some shit. He starts grilling me do i have any clean Blue Notes or Prestige titles to sell him. then he starts regaling me about his storage locker score of '88 or something.

    now consider this: as OCD old man crusto he was, at least he had the common decency to pay for a classified ad. just consider the people who are too cheap for that. craigslist is for suckers.

  • El PrezEl Prez NE Ohio 1,141 Posts
    saw this on CL also:

    Re: Records for sale Berea and Old Brooklyn (NE Ohio)

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Reply to: see below
    Date: 2009-05-17, 6:53AM EDT



    I think that I would just put this out there......neither one of you know what you are doing. There is no way anyone would pay the prices you have listed for the thrift store type records you have posted. If you think that the records you have are worth $499 or $900 plus then you need to qoute a source. What record collectors book have you looked in and saw these titles for the prices you have listed esp for four common sealed records? And don't even qoute Ebay because anyone can list anything for any price on there....if you are using Ebay prices then you should do a completed listing search and view prices for items that have actually sold. Sorry but I had to put this out there......people should know what they are doing before they do it!


    Location: NE Ohio
    it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    m. jackson off the wall-vinyl - $75 (delta)
    Reply to:sale-jrapq-1181509436@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
    Date: 2009-05-21, 12:15AM PDT

    mint shape epic records fe35475 m jackson off the wall 1979 cbs records manu and dist made in canada never put on turn table sleeve in mint shape serious buyers only

    * Location: delta
    * it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or

  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    i tacked up cards in a neighborhood about six months ago. a week ago i get a call from a guy who grabbed one. turns out he buys collections too. i googled his phone number after the call and confirmed he is one of the two people who advertise in AM paper or Village Voice or some shit. He starts grilling me do i have any clean Blue Notes or Prestige titles to sell him. then he starts regaling me about his storage locker score of '88 or something.

    now consider this: as OCD old man crusto he was, at least he had the common decency to pay for a classified ad. just consider the people who are too cheap for that. craigslist is for suckers.

    Wait him out, someday all his storage lockaz can be yourz.

  • willie_fugalwillie_fugal 1,862 Posts
    m. jackson off the wall-vinyl - $75 (delta)
    Reply to:sale-jrapq-1181509436@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
    Date: 2009-05-21, 12:15AM PDT

    mint shape epic records fe35475 m jackson off the wall 1979 cbs records manu and dist made in canada never put on turn table sleeve in mint shape serious buyers only

    * Location: delta
    * it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or


    this makes me want to reply to his post and explain to him that his expectations are unreasonable. in 400 words or more.

    b/w/

    that lionel richie/akon song SUCKS. i knew it was a long shot, but i was really hoping the pairing would be gold and the track would knock my socks off. but alas.

    $75 for the mp3 (imported into itunes, only played once). serious buyers only.

  • SwayzeSwayze 14,705 Posts
    craigslist is for suckers.

    I have a serious love/hate thing going on with CL. Last year I missed out on a 2500+ 45 reggae collection from a stone love dj and i went to over 20+ house w/ crates of crap. In the last 2 months I've managed to pull the following records from 3 different collections.





    For the time being I'll keep checking CL at least twice a day.

  • hemolhemol 2,578 Posts


    Wait him out, someday all his storage lockaz can be yourz.

    Clearly you've never dealt with vampires...

  • This goes to show how wack my city is. i would never suggest going to the local record store. I've actually come up on people walking out of the record store with crates that the store refused to take. Dealing with CL people is hard. I don't have the patience for it. But you can get some gems every once in awhile. I gotta friend that does it all the time.
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