HydrogenAudio

CD-R and Audio Hardware => Vinyl => Topic started by: AndyH-ha on 2021-04-07 17:13:49

Title: LPs still interesting?
Post by: AndyH-ha on 2021-04-07 17:13:49
This is not an offer of sale but a request for viewpoint or opinion.

I’ve been collecting LPs, especially over the past 20 years when I began recording them to computer to remove the clicks, pops, surface noise, etc. About 800 albums (some percentage are 2, 4, 8, & 10 disk sets) are finished, in CD specs (i.e. 16 bit 44,100Khz) as FLAC files, 148 GB of disk storage. They cover a wide range of music types, with a few non-music recordings such as poetry reading and hypnotic induction. There are perhaps 300 unprocessed albums but I would simply measure the total in linear feet of shelf space.

Various circumstances have changed markedly. I must move and cannot take many things with me, the LPs and some associated equipment being part of that. My time is short and my resources are limited. I am considering a lot sale of everything at one price, buyer to come and remove product. The FLAC files on 4 USB flash drives.

While the cost over the years has been at least a few thousand bucks I don’t have the time or ability to make separate deals. I will probably ask $100 or $200. The alternate is a trip to a dump or maybe a GoodWill donation.

Does this sound like a deal someone would seriously consider (in order to move pretty quickly) or a complete waste of time and energy on my part?
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: DVDdoug on 2021-04-07 20:18:58
Yeah, you might try eBay or Craigslist.   It would be more fun to find someone who really wants them.  I gave most of my LPs (a much smaller collection) along with a couple of turntables to a younger relative and then he had to move so he probably doesn't have them anymore.

Quote
or maybe a GoodWill donation.
:D :D A couple of years ago I bought a used out-of-print VHS tape (not available digitally) from a 3rd-party Amazon seller for about $20.    It had a $2 Goodwill price tag on it!          

...Somebody probably would love to have some of those records.   But somebody has to take the time to find those people.  Or maybe somebody would love to have the whole collection.
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: 2tec on 2021-04-07 21:23:54
Speaking as an experienced 'dealer', I'd first talk to my family and then my friends and maybe post to your circle of Facebook or LinkedIn friends first, then Kijiji or Craigslist. Your other alternatives, like Ebay, Amazon, Discogs all either take too long or shipping is a big factor. Before you donate or trash them, shop them to the local record stores. A common practice for some less than honest dealers will be to either glean out the worthwhile stuff very quickly and cheaply and then leave you with the crap, or they will try to lowball you or even tell you it's not worth the trouble, but "you can leave them here and we'll dispose of them for you" which is just their way of getting free stock from people in a hurry who either don't care or don't know ... all of this is dependant upon condition, if these are in mint condition, they are worth something, if these are in poor condition, they probably aren't worth anything. I'd also consider keeping the rare stuff to be digitalised first.
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: jaybeee on 2021-04-07 23:39:26
As an absolute minimum please don't trash/dump them, but give them to a charity shop. That's after all other available routes you're able to pursue have been made. Good luck.
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: Porcus on 2021-04-07 23:48:35
I have been surprised at how expensive eighties vinyl releases have become, for example - but since you are not even saying which country, I assume the US, which is a market I don't know.

You might consider to split by genre.
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: AndyH-ha on 2021-04-08 04:03:46
I don't have time to do any sorting, it has to happen in the next few weeks during which I will be running as fast as I can just to stay in place.. I don't have any way to transport 1000+ albums anywhere. I can't even think about some way to pack them and ship them. Things have happened too fast.

I see that there are a few used record shops in the area. It would be nice to sell them for something, even far less than the thousands of dollars spent on them, but just getting someone to come and take them may have to do.

Obviously it is my problem. Someone may want them but no  one I know. I don't know if any thrift shop would come and haul them away.
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: jaybeee on 2021-04-08 08:31:10
Add to ebay as a job-lot and buyer must collect. Add some decent photos. Give an honest description of the condition. And add some of the release titles. Estimate the full rrp so then people know the original value. I bet someone would be interested.
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: soundping on 2021-04-08 09:43:55
If you look at Discogs most of the sales are LP.
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: 2tec on 2021-04-08 13:28:46
Obviously it is my problem. Someone may want them but no one I know. I don't know if any thrift shop would come and haul them away.
It all depends upon the condition. If they are in good condition, you may be able to convince a record shop to come and take a look. If you advertise them as free and in good condition, someone is more than likely to take them.  Most people would be surprised at how often music collections are just dumped off at used record and thrift stores. It happens regularly.

There's a big difference between a bunch of random albums in some boxes, and a collection that's been cared for, is enumerated, graded and sorted. Just cleaning them and making a list of the items, and their goldmine grade easily doubles the value of a collection in terms of a dealer or shop.
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: 2tec on 2021-04-08 13:39:11
If you look at Discogs most of the sales are LP.
As a Discogs seller however, most of my sales are CDs. However, you're correct in that the interest at Discogs is vinyl-centric, and you can see that reflected in the "Items For Sale" numbers:

41,473,148 - Vinyl
17,036,877 - CD
1,098,690 - Cassette

However, Discogs is actually a great place to go for CDs as oddly enough, while Discogs has driven up the price of vinyl, it's driven down the price of CDs. Most mainstream CDs in near mint condition can be had for half the original price. If people order sufficient quantities, there's even occasionally free shipping. There's never been a cheaper time to buy music. Cassettes can also be had these days for almost nothing. I regularly get mint cassettes from thrift stores for fifty cents each.
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: AndyH-ha on 2021-04-08 16:36:17
There are some good recommendations here but most are not realistic. I know the LP conditions vary from played once (in order to record to computer) to rather poor but I have no idea how discs are graded. When buying used ones I looked for scratches and scuffs, which were not always easy (or possible) to see under the available conditions. I bought some that had obvious damage because I wanted the music and hoped to (and usually succeeded) in making adequate repairs after getting them onto my computer. After recording them (after machine cleaning them) they just went onto the shelf, never to be touched again.

Even more importantly, I have zero time or energy to fiddle with them now. I can provide a list of the ones I converted to digital (album name and artists), because I have that on compute, but no list of the few hundred more never recorded (but many or most were cleaned with the intention of processing). I have no labels of music type or other classification. I can’t have a dealer coming to evaluate conditions or selection of individual albums; there is no time or space for that.

If anyone wants them, it has to be all or nothing. I have no packing boxes. I can help someone load them into their boxes and into truck or van, or carry by the armful to their transportation parked outside my front door, but that it all. The necessity of moving out is sudden and soon, with no time for extensive planning.
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: 2tec on 2021-04-08 17:07:27
I know the LP conditions vary from played once (in order to record to computer) to rather poor but I have no idea how discs are graded.

Grading: https://www.goldminemag.com/collector-resources/record-grading-101 (https://www.goldminemag.com/collector-resources/record-grading-101)

Many people have been in your shoes, which is why used record store owners often arrive at work to find boxes piled up at the back door.

Sorry to hear about your too quick move. My sympathies, I know I don't like being rushed.  :(
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: AndyH-ha on 2021-04-09 21:35:15
While I wrote earlier that no one I know would be interested in the collection, I decided to take the advice offered here and contacted them. A couple hours later one replied that his son wants them. They seem to understand the conditions (they come and take, everything goes at once). An appointment was made for early next week.

I realized that getting a large volume of anything out the door was going to require an easy path from inside to outside, as well as the fact that a few furniture items that have to leave are quite balky and heavy. The first task was removing my equipment stand with power amplifier on the bottom shelf and turntable on the open top shelf. Everything needed to be disconnected, some equipment needed to be partly disassembled and speciality packed.

The process took most of a day, close to seven hours. Several saved original shopping boxes were accidently destroyed a decade ago. Various pieces are now boxed and sealed, either in their original boxes or in something I happened to have on hand that I could shoehorn them into. Several other pieces are ready for a box when I find one to fit them (their width is too great for any kind of box I currently have). The equipment stand itself is inconveniently in the way, in another part of the house, holding those several pieces that are ready for boxes.

Now, once I get about 400 CDs into some kind of shipping container, I can move that shelving case and have an unrestricted path out the doorway. I suppose I don’t really need those CDs either as they all exist as FLAC on hard drives but I still have a lot of work figuring out what to do about thing that are more difficult to package or move. I can’t spare any energy on incidentals.
Title: Re: LPs still interesting?
Post by: 2tec on 2021-04-09 21:53:39
Sounds like progress. Personally, I find the trick is just do one thing at a time, I make a list, and I try not to think about the whole job at once, since I don't have to do the whole job at once. It also can't hurt to verify those rips. :)