Hey vinyl lovers: Need some 78 and LP advice....

My folks recently inherited a large amount (maybe 100) of vintage jazz on vinyl, both 78s and 33s. They'd like to part with them, and I'm giving them a hand. For those of you who buy and sell such things, what's the best way to go about this? I really don't want to sell one at a time on eBay because I can't be arsed to pack 100 LPs. I was thinking about going to a local shop that buys used vinyl, like Village Music in Mill Valley or Amoeba in SF. How do you think this will compare with going online? How do I keep myself from getting ripped off? Or maybe some kind of music fair? Antique dealer specializing in vinyl?

All ideas and suggestions are much appreciated!

[ Edited by: martiki 2005-11-16 07:34 ]

Just how vintage are your 78s? Anything pre-WW II? I may be interested in some of them if there are any that old in the collection...

Don't sell them to a record store. They'll give you only a fraction of what they sticker the record for. If you get 10-20% you'd be lucky.

Sell them on ebay in lots of 5 or 10. That way you don't have to pack as often. You probably won't get as much as if you sold them individually though. You might want to search past ebay auctions or use a monthly or quarterly price guide (found in the magazine section in a book store) and if your parents have something of value make sure you list it separately.

Just give them to me. I'll play them and enjoy them. :wink:

I suggest checking at Down Home Music in El Cerrito, or Village Music. Amoeba doesn't really deal in 78s. They might give you a little for the LPs but I doubt it would be as much as Down Home.

Selling records on Ebay can be tricky. If they're rare and in demand you may do well, but common artists' records (Big Band jazz for example) may not sell at all. You may spend more in listing fees and time than you make.

Can you give us some artist names? What condition are they in?

As an eBay seller, I'm naturally biased, but I agree with Kono - If you sell them to a record store or a dealer, you're only going to get pennies on the dollar.

But I also agree with The Jab - It all depends on how much the records are worth. Check eBay completed auctions and a price-guide if you can get one. If the records are going for $20 or less, then you can definitely sell them in lots or take them to a record store. If, however, you've got some valuable Jazz from the old Riverside and Bluenote labels, for instance, then these go into the hundreds of dollars and you'll probably want to sell them on your own, and individually.

Here's probably the most successful Jazz lp seller on Ebay. This guy has a record store and probably skims all the best stuff that comes in to sell on eBay. Check his auctions for how to do it:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&since=30&userid=atomic_records&include=0&rows=200

Shipping doesn't have to be a chore. If the records are worth it, then invest in some cardboard lp mailer-boxes and some plastic sleeves, inner and outer. Put the vinyl itself into an inner sleeve if it doesn't already have one. Put the dustjacket into in a clear outer dustjacket sleeve to protect it. Ship them separately, on top of each other inside the mailer box. Do not put the record back into it's original dustjacket to ship it - With rare jazz, the movement of the record inside the dustjacket during shipping can cause additional ring-wear, and collectors don't like that.

Here's the guy I buy my supplies from. Give him a call:

Far West Record Supply
P.O. Box 3027
San Dimas, CA 91773
Phone: 626-335-5544

Make sure you buy the 12 5/8" poly sleeves for the outer dustjacket. These ones fit the dustjacket the best.

Also check out some websites. Here's an example:
http://www.vinylrevival.com/packing/

You can buy mailer boxes to accomodate groups of records if you sell them in groups.

I hope you do have some rare one's in that collection. However, if you're like me, then that causes a dilemma. I can't seem to sell my really valuable Jazz. I like playing them too much.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2005-07-19 11:19 ]

Here's an example of record-store pricing. Before I ever sold on Ebay or collected Jazz, I used to take my records to a good little record store and get trade-in value for Exotica albums, (which I collected). I once traded this album in for about $10:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=306&item=4738665791

If I had only known what I know now!

Sabu

Hey Martin,
Have a Tiki Central LP Party!
Or bring them to Oasis.

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I haven't seen the LPs myself yet, so I don't know about the labels or the condition. There is a list, and if I have time, I'll type them up here.

I might have to hang onto some myself!

We finally typed up the list of 78s last weekend. All 268 of them! I've put together a list that's in the hands of a few stores right now. If anyone would like to see the list, PM me with an email address, and I'll send you the file. It's in excel.

thanks again everyone!

hey martiki-

As mentioned in other posts on this thread: do not sell them to a record store, ESPECIALLY if you don't know their value right away. You may be giving away precious cargo to some gouger that will keep his mouth shut when he or she sees the treasure you put before them. Trust me..you WILL get ripped off.

Quite frankly I would sit on these until I knew their true worth, then find yourself a place to sell them. Flea market, record show, whatever. Ebay is okay in my opinion, but I have found that unless you have something that is super rare and in excellent condition, you won't make bank on it. What you may see as rare, Ebay will be saturated with many of the same thing. For that reason Ebay isn't always a great price guide. What may go for $30 in a record store, might go for way less on Ebay when there are 10 other people selling the same thing. Beleive me, I have gone this route to research what I've found and usually I'm dissapointed that it may not be as big a find as I thought.

I don't know about other parts of the country but the WFMU Record Fair happens here twice annually and has dealers with vinyl that range from the very expensive to the very cheap, and rest assured MOST of them, like 95% of them know their real value, and only let them go at those prices no matter how expensive they may be.

Another thing to remember: unless your vinyl is in very good to excellent condition, it's not going to be worth much. Scuffed up surfaces on the record and LP jackets that have seem splits in them will deminish their value.

On one of my last LP hunts when I was in Florida I found a pop compilation from the 60s called 'Out of Sight'. It had a real retro looking cover with some swinging 60s chick holding a guitar and psychedelic lettering. Primo condition, open but still had the original shrink wrap on it. Some of the artists included Joe Tex, Lou Rawls, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and some band I never heard of called The Beachnuts. When I listened to the album, I thought that the singer on The Beachnuts song "Cycle Annie" sounded like Lou Reed. Guess what? It WAS Lou Reed PRE-Velvet Underground. Turns out he was a staff writer for the label "Out of Sight" was on. Now THAT"S gotta be worth something!!! Oh yeah...I bought it for a mere 50 cents!!!

[ Edited by: donhonyc 2005-11-15 22:40 ]

donhonyc,

Now that you've got the list, maybe you can help me get a feel for the value. As you said, ebay's saturation level seems to suggest that they're not worth that much. Condition on them varies greatly. I couldn't find an online price guide for 78s- any ideas?

Tell me- when 78s were new, how were they sold? Just a generic paper sleeve? No sleeve? Many of this collection are in themed albums of 4 to 8 78s, and others are simply in generic albums that the original owner must have purchased to put his collection in. Some are in paper sleeves.

I still think that there's some hope for the 78s. I've given up hope on the 33s in the collection (not included on the list). There's great jazz in there, but most of it is apparently reissues.

78s were sold in paper sleeves - and if it is a artistically designed label, it makes it more desirable for me. Generally, the paper sleeves were thrown away (especially if the owner had an "album" to store the records in). I'd say, based on my collecting over the last few years that about 1/6th to 1/8th of all 78s sold today still have their sleeves.

Here are a few examples of 78s I may have bought anyway, but the sleeves clinched the deal (they display the record so much better):

http://www.christophermerritt.com/78/radiex.jpg
http://www.christophermerritt.com/78/OkehVanEps.jpg

Or in this case, for the label (some labels, like Sabu mentioned are highly collectible regardless of the artist or tune):

http://www.christophermerritt.com/78/AmericanRecordCo.jpg

Of course, as usual - it all depends on how you list it & what the demand is. I just won this one on Ebay today:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4792012143

It ended up being $10.50, but I would have paid upwards of $20, just because of the sleeve & the rarity of the label (and the fact that there is a "rag" on the reverse that I've never heard before).

Of course - I'm talking about pre-WW2 78s here. If many of them are opera, or Big Band / Swing from the 40s, I'm afraid your collection probably isn't worth much. Now if there are any "Black Patti's" in there - that's another story!

Here's a great article on newbies for selling your 78s:
http://www.garlic.com/~tgracyk/tips.htm

Good luck!

Thanks to H2, here's the list online:

http://www.humuhumu.com/martiki78/

From looking at the list there are many popular artists (Big Band and Pop). These records (Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Basie, Peggy Lee, etc.) generally don't sell for much because they were so plentiful. Some of the records by jazz artists (Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Ventura, etc.) may sell for more, unless they were big hits.

I'm generalizing of course.

[ Edited by: thejab 2005-11-16 14:54 ]

... call the surfrider foundation or jewish family services and see if they take the whole lot as a donation... maybe someone from those groups has a lead to maximize the value and put the money to good use...

Hmmm...I am no Jazz officionado by any means. Jazz is somewhat unchartered territory that I am only just starting to explore. I am more of a 60s pop, garage, Beatles, and general all around obscure underground rock freak. I am also big into finding Mono copies of popular rock LPs in good conditon. A recent score was a VG+ copy of Bob Dylan 'Highway 61 Revisited" in Mono...sidewalk sale for $5.

As far as your list Martiki, from first glance I would say from my somewhat undereducated POV that the Gillespe and Gene Krupa 78s may be the most valuable of the bunch. It seems that musicians like them...hardcore Jazz legends...are most in demand. The other stuff you have like Bing Crosby, Mills Brothers, and Tommy Dorsey..things that are swing/big band that border on the easy listening end of the spectrum are not that big a deal, because as thejab noted, that's stuff is everywhere and isn't hard to find.

What I personally found interesting in your collection was the The WNEW Saturday Night Swing Session titles you have. WNEW-AM (1130 on the dial) was one of the first and longest lasting standards/swing/big band radio stations in America. It started in the mid/late 30s and lasted until the late 90s. it was the home of the "Make Believe Ballroom" and had many legendary DJs at it's mic over the years. Since it signed off around 1998 it is now New York legend. So those 78s you have may have some value to not only a Jazz historian/freak, but to a New York City historian as well.