Re: Dante's question...I couldn't answer that properly unless actually confronted by an opportunity that was real rather than thinking of a hypothetical where "any" amount comes into play.
For example, with Ivan...if someone offered you a million for your Verocai, that'd be enough to sell it, buy another one, FLY down and hire Verocai to give you guitar lessons (and get the LP signed). And still have 97% left over.
However, if you put JP's limits into play: say 5x the "going rate", that's where things get more interesting. One of my most treasured records is a Weldon Irvine LP ("LIberated Brother") he signed (but not for me). 5x would be...about a grand or so?
I wouldn't sell it for a grand. Wouldn't even be tempting to me.
And there's probably quite a few records in my collection that I'd hold onto even if I could earn back 5x on its value.
There are records I won't even mint up because of this shit.
awesome.
yeah, im not in this to cash in at all. ill trade doubles to get more i cant find otherwise, and sell extras that come to me cheapo. but for the ones that enter my collection - I love all my records, thats why i keep them and give them TLC. would only ever sell off if faced with severe crisis. i got plenty of records that i dont even think about in terms of $, i just love them, from the music to the vinyl to the jacket to the weird little details - stickers, smell, writing, defects, etc. i do love that some of my records are valuable - but thats just another coolness factor to me, not a vinyl bank acct.
I meant to note this way earlier but my record ceiling habits are (not surprisingly) directly proportional to my income. If I was making that much-discussed $250,000/yr income, I'd probably be far more likely to drop 4 digits on something I wanted. But since I make, um, substantially less than that, I just have to be judicious about what I'm buying from a cost/benefit perspective. Isn't this a bigger part of the issue in the discussion? $1000 seems like a lot to use because, for most of us, it is a lot relative to what we're making.
You know what though? I've sold records for thousands and that money is gone.
The whole "but what if the offer was this??" line of reasoning implies that one's collecting is totally devoid of intrinsic joy.
You could offer me $5000 for a record, it's entirely possible that I would get more joy over the course of my life from the record than from the 5k, which will be gone relatively quickly.
JP: Why couldn't you mint up and keep the one you already have?
Space concerns?
I know... I sound poor/an apartment dweller/a married man whose wife likes to keep things orderly.
I mean, if it's an issue of the record playing like shit, sure. But if the record plays fine, I don't really have a problem with hammered classics I got from my parents or from my earliest days of collecting.
You actually are on point here. I have plans to sell in a year or so. There will be a few that I will not sell, though (for now).
just fyi i know a guy who does consignments. he takes 35% but he does get CRAZY PRICES. perhaps crazy enough to even justify selling your fela collection.
You know what though? I've sold records for thousands and that money is gone.
The whole "but what if the offer was this??" line of reasoning implies that one's collecting is totally devoid of intrinsic joy..
Part of the fun in collecting lies in the procurement. Actually keeping the item is different. I thunk of collecting as a series of different experiences, all that offer their own intrinsic joys. There's many records I enjoyed finding/procuring but I don't necessarily feel an attachment to keeping them.
You actually are on point here. I have plans to sell in a year or so. There will be a few that I will not sell, though (for now).
just fyi i know a guy who does consignments. he takes 35% but he does get CRAZY PRICES. perhaps crazy enough to even justify selling your fela collection.
You know what though? I've sold records for thousands and that money is gone.
The whole "but what if the offer was this??" line of reasoning implies that one's collecting is totally devoid of intrinsic joy..
Part of the fun in collecting lies in the procurement. Actually keeping the item is different. I thunk of collecting as a series of different experiences, all that offer their own intrinsic joys. There's many records I enjoyed finding/procuring but I don't necessarily feel an attachment to keeping them.
I can understand that for some, the joy is in the hunt. I like the hunt, too... but I think (particularly in recent years) the joy of procurement - particularly of "pieces" - has begun to severely outweigh the joy of ownership and use. To me, that is not a great trade off. I'm thankful that my years of owning a shop and having tons of great and rare records come through my possession have not turned me into some wheel-n-dealing post-collectro.
"The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing".
Yea, I can only hear/tell the story about finding ____________ for $___ at the unlikely spot of ___________ a couple of times before it gets tired. The music, though, I can listen to for years and years.
To the point about income/expenditure - thinking back, I'm surprised to realize that my approach to spending has basically stayed the same throughout income fluctuations. (Not counting when I or family worked at a record store and then it's not a true representation of cost anyway) I've pretty much maintained the approach of spending what it's worth to me as opposed to its "real" price. The most recent $$$ records I've bought were not when I made the most, but the lucky alignment of big wants crossing my path when the Canadian dollar was strong. I would have bought them even if we down to 50 on the dollar lol.
First off, we're talking about expensive records that people would realistically pay large sums of money for, so saying "i'll never get rid of this copy that my parents owned" is just as much a dodge as any, because no one is going to give you $1000 for VG- Superfly OST, or your Biz Markie 12s from BITD, or whatever. We are talking about rare and collectible sh*t.
Second, a great deal of the value that is assessed to records, as with any other collectible or vintage item, is that they retain that value in a way that many other purchases do not. If, when you bought a record for $100, the next day it wasn't worth $10, prices would be much, much lower - people who really don't make a huge amount of money are comfortable and able to buy expensive records because most of the time they can resell them later for at least most of what they paid, sometimes more. The easiest folks to deal with in the record world, and the ones who are the most grounded in reality, are people who really understand this fluidity, that records come and go, change in value, that some things are worth keeping for $50 but not for $300, and can love records and music without being so attached to ownership.
For me, and I've heard this sentiment echoed amongst many people I know, it really comes down to what you do with the money, and whether it's disposable or meaningful income. Whether that's building a business, buying a house or a car, buying studio gear, moving to a foreign country, having a child (all real reasons why myself or other people I know have sold records they would otherwise not part with), there is a big difference between selling records to do some real shit versus blowing the cash on something forgettable. So for some folks who have a lot of disposable income, it's an easy choice, keep the records, but for most people, including SoulStrut folks, it's tougher, and I think that's where the tension in this thread comes from - I don't think there's anyone on this board for whom an extra 10k would be disposable and couldn't be put towards very worthwhile, justifiable uses. It's really just cost/benefit, and since money is only as valuable as how it is spent, it comes down to what benefit is created by selling records.
Also, I find that people who have children, own businesses, or who have family leaning on them for financial support are much more willing to let go of records, and much happier about their decisions, because it tends to be clear where the money is going towards and what greater purpose it serves. Just an observation.
You know what though? I've sold records for thousands and that money is gone.
The whole "but what if the offer was this??" line of reasoning implies that one's collecting is totally devoid of intrinsic joy.
You could offer me $5000 for a record, it's entirely possible that I would get more joy over the course of my life from the record than from the 5k, which will be gone relatively quickly.
Why did u sell the Love, Warmth 45? That would be a keeper for sure.
Look, if I was a rich man this would not be an issue. I would keep everything that sounded good to me. Unfortunately, that's not the case. I am constantly reshuffling my collection by selling certain things to buy others. The fact that records have such values that they do makes them inherently part of my financial milieu, for better or for worse.
Soulhawk acting like my record collecting is a passing trend is laughable. I do not have any plans to stop buying vinyl, and if anything I'm buying more and more with every coming year as I get better at this shit. You should probably fall back at this point.
Comments
Not in the slightest
For example, with Ivan...if someone offered you a million for your Verocai, that'd be enough to sell it, buy another one, FLY down and hire Verocai to give you guitar lessons (and get the LP signed). And still have 97% left over.
However, if you put JP's limits into play: say 5x the "going rate", that's where things get more interesting. One of my most treasured records is a Weldon Irvine LP ("LIberated Brother") he signed (but not for me). 5x would be...about a grand or so?
I wouldn't sell it for a grand. Wouldn't even be tempting to me.
And there's probably quite a few records in my collection that I'd hold onto even if I could earn back 5x on its value.
you sound like a dude who wasn't even into records 3 years ago & will probably end up selling all his vinyl in another 3
awesome.
yeah, im not in this to cash in at all. ill trade doubles to get more i cant find otherwise, and sell extras that come to me cheapo. but for the ones that enter my collection - I love all my records, thats why i keep them and give them TLC. would only ever sell off if faced with severe crisis. i got plenty of records that i dont even think about in terms of $, i just love them, from the music to the vinyl to the jacket to the weird little details - stickers, smell, writing, defects, etc. i do love that some of my records are valuable - but thats just another coolness factor to me, not a vinyl bank acct.
You actually are on point here. I have plans to sell in a year or so. There will be a few that I will not sell, though (for now).
The whole "but what if the offer was this??" line of reasoning implies that one's collecting is totally devoid of intrinsic joy.
You could offer me $5000 for a record, it's entirely possible that I would get more joy over the course of my life from the record than from the 5k, which will be gone relatively quickly.
Space concerns?
I know... I sound poor/an apartment dweller/a married man whose wife likes to keep things orderly.
I mean, if it's an issue of the record playing like shit, sure. But if the record plays fine, I don't really have a problem with hammered classics I got from my parents or from my earliest days of collecting.
just fyi i know a guy who does consignments. he takes 35% but he does get CRAZY PRICES. perhaps crazy enough to even justify selling your fela collection.
Part of the fun in collecting lies in the procurement. Actually keeping the item is different. I thunk of collecting as a series of different experiences, all that offer their own intrinsic joys. There's many records I enjoyed finding/procuring but I don't necessarily feel an attachment to keeping them.
But it's a one-tracker.
are you referring to "mr. clean"? i kinda dig that album but its a bit heavy on the blues aspect...
No, Homey
I can understand that for some, the joy is in the hunt. I like the hunt, too... but I think (particularly in recent years) the joy of procurement - particularly of "pieces" - has begun to severely outweigh the joy of ownership and use. To me, that is not a great trade off. I'm thankful that my years of owning a shop and having tons of great and rare records come through my possession have not turned me into some wheel-n-dealing post-collectro.
"The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing".
it's not a phase
maybe for some of these young whipper snappers today buying records is like a 'collegiate indiscretion' or something - something to 'move past'
To the point about income/expenditure - thinking back, I'm surprised to realize that my approach to spending has basically stayed the same throughout income fluctuations. (Not counting when I or family worked at a record store and then it's not a true representation of cost anyway) I've pretty much maintained the approach of spending what it's worth to me as opposed to its "real" price. The most recent $$$ records I've bought were not when I made the most, but the lucky alignment of big wants crossing my path when the Canadian dollar was strong. I would have bought them even if we down to 50 on the dollar lol.
hopefully Spelunk will be able to get a CRAZY PRICE for you on that Ghetto Brothers
Second, a great deal of the value that is assessed to records, as with any other collectible or vintage item, is that they retain that value in a way that many other purchases do not. If, when you bought a record for $100, the next day it wasn't worth $10, prices would be much, much lower - people who really don't make a huge amount of money are comfortable and able to buy expensive records because most of the time they can resell them later for at least most of what they paid, sometimes more. The easiest folks to deal with in the record world, and the ones who are the most grounded in reality, are people who really understand this fluidity, that records come and go, change in value, that some things are worth keeping for $50 but not for $300, and can love records and music without being so attached to ownership.
For me, and I've heard this sentiment echoed amongst many people I know, it really comes down to what you do with the money, and whether it's disposable or meaningful income. Whether that's building a business, buying a house or a car, buying studio gear, moving to a foreign country, having a child (all real reasons why myself or other people I know have sold records they would otherwise not part with), there is a big difference between selling records to do some real shit versus blowing the cash on something forgettable. So for some folks who have a lot of disposable income, it's an easy choice, keep the records, but for most people, including SoulStrut folks, it's tougher, and I think that's where the tension in this thread comes from - I don't think there's anyone on this board for whom an extra 10k would be disposable and couldn't be put towards very worthwhile, justifiable uses. It's really just cost/benefit, and since money is only as valuable as how it is spent, it comes down to what benefit is created by selling records.
Also, I find that people who have children, own businesses, or who have family leaning on them for financial support are much more willing to let go of records, and much happier about their decisions, because it tends to be clear where the money is going towards and what greater purpose it serves. Just an observation.
curtis or young holt?
Why did u sell the Love, Warmth 45? That would be a keeper for sure.
Soulhawk acting like my record collecting is a passing trend is laughable. I do not have any plans to stop buying vinyl, and if anything I'm buying more and more with every coming year as I get better at this shit. You should probably fall back at this point.