Largest Record Collection for Sale

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by D.P.Johnson

I think it's already happened with the vast majority of post 1980 cards. I've had people ask me to help sell their collections, and I've had to tell them there's really no market for them...

So true...I recently purchased a large collection of probably close to a million cards...luckily there was enough vintage baseball and 86 Fleer basketball to double my money, but I'm still sitting on a million cards minus a few hundred. We have a local weekly consignment auction that I've been dumping about 5 to 10,000 cards a week which usually gets me a measly 20 bucks.

[Matthew H]

I've been collecting vinyl since I was a kid and I've recently seen a spike in value. It seems to be making a comeback.

If someone told you they have 3 million baseball cards you might automatically assume there's probably a lot of junk in there. Same goes with records. I mean no disrespect to his collection, but 3 million of anything would be hard to unload.

[travrosty]

huge collections worth millions rarely find one buyer to keep it intact. barry halper couldnt find one either. most people buy collections and split it up piecemeal to make a profit anyway. the high grade t206 set a few years back suffered the same fate. it went card by card at auction because nobody came up with the asking price for the entire set.

[barrysloate]

I have a big record collection too, but records are made to be played. Wouldn't want to buy one so expensive that I was afraid to play it. They are pretty cheap today, but I bet the supply will dry up. You need first pressings for them to be valuable. I'd rather just enjoy it and not worry about what it's worth.

[packs]

I don't see a huge relation to baseball cards. There are literally millions of Beatles and Rolling Stones etc. in circulation either currently or at one time. It's hard to have a truly rare record from the height of the recording industry, which I'm sure comprises most of his collection.

It also seems foolish to insist that 3,000,000 records be purchased in one lot. Even at a dollar a record, who has the space and time to piece out that kind of collection?

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

I have a big record collection too, but records are made to be played. Wouldn't want to buy one so expensive that I was afraid to play it. They are pretty cheap today, but I bet the supply will dry up. You need first pressings for them to be valuable. I'd rather just enjoy it and not worry about what it's worth.

My thinking exactly. I only have one that I'm really, really careful about playing - it's probably my favorite, and it's not available except on a 1977 pressing.

[GoldenAge50s]

I have all my 45's I bought while in HS back in the early--late '50's. Kept them all as I did my cards & just about everything I had from that era.

The cards are worth some $$, but not so much the 45's. Elvis, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee on the Sun label---All seem to be plentiful on EBay & cheap!

Some of the picture jackets are worth more than the record!

Guess there are more copies of "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus out there than '56 Topps Mantle's!

[barrysloate]

I would guess the sleeves on the 45's are worth more in many cases than the records themselves.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Matthew H

I've been collecting vinyl since I was a kid and I've recently seen a spike in value. It seems to be making a comeback.

If someone told you they have 3 million baseball cards you might automatically assume there's probably a lot of junk in there. Same goes with records. I mean no disrespect to his collection, but 3 million of anything would be hard to unload.

Agreed. And at least you can confine 3M cards to one room if nessesary. 3M records requires a warehouse. All collectors have a focus, even if it's a broad focus. Buying 3M of anything is just wreckless abandon. How many of those have to be completely worthless and unlistenable (either in the quality of the physical record or the quality of the song writing)? Even assuming he has 100k unbelievable records, that still leaves 2.9 million pieces of junk.

[barrysloate]

There's probably a business in there somewhere, but how many of those 3 million records are sellable? Sure, vintage blues, jazz, and rock albums are easy to sell and would be in high demand. But what do you do with "Learn Italian in 10 Easy Lessons", or "Alvin and the Chipmunks Sing Il Pagliacci"? Those could be hard to move.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by jcmtiger

No I don't think this is the future of BB cards. I have bought and sold records as well, you must have a rare record to get a great price. Most of the others are not that sought after, there are more available than collectors.

joe

agreed. If you have a turntable and like listening to vinyl, best to just keep them. In Seattle there are so many used record stores that I'm surprise they stay in business - I have been able to find every single record I've ever looked for, and all were cheap. Not that I collect anything rare.

This could all change someday, as records are being pressed again and young people are getting into them. Old records might start getting collected by young folks, just as old baseball cards now are.

I still love looking through old vinyl.

[Matthew H]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

There's probably a business in there somewhere, but how many of those 3 million records are sellable? Sure, vintage blues, jazz, and rock albums are easy to sell and would be in high demand. But what do you do with "Learn Italian in 10 Easy Lessons", or "Alvin and the Chipmunks Sing Il Pagliacci"? Those could be hard to move.

Those will have to go to the Goodwill, where they can frustrate people who thought there might be a good record somewhere in the bin.