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Charity Shop Vinyl

I guess the other problem here is that vinyl rarities are not easy to sell in charity shops because the clientele is wrong. OK, Let it Bleed might sell because it is well known, but what about an original Paint a Picture by Fantasy? Nobody would buy it.

Tim
 
onlyconnect said:
I guess the other problem here is that vinyl rarities are not easy to sell in charity shops because the clientele is wrong. OK, Let it Bleed might sell because it is well known, but what about an original Paint a Picture by Fantasy? Nobody would buy it.
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It's the same for any record shop, the real high-value minority interest stuff is unlikely to find a buyer locally. Historically these items were sold in the classifieds in Record Collector and now on eBay. There is just no point trying to sell certain items anywhere else. I know Oxfam have an eBay seller or two - I bought a copy of Amon Düül II's Dance of The Lemmings from them many years back, a very nice strong EX/EX copy as it turned out, and a very fair price as it didn't get many bids.

Tony.
 
I think charity shops with special music/literature/clothing sections make sense. At the same time though, such shops are often overpriced and deter the very people who would otherwise visit. If I want to pay Ex/Ex price as per Record Collector mag for a copy of Andy Pandemonium's "Lamb Kebab" then I'll set aside several hundred pounds and ask Tony to look out for one, I won't sift through oceans of Harry Secombe dross on the million to one chance or turning one up. The draw of the charity shop is that one day you really might turn up that rarity for £2. No, I don't want anything for nothing, but if everything's at top dollar I'll look on Amazon instead.
 
Joe Hutch said:
At the British Heart Foundation shop near where I live the vinyl is sensibly priced, but it always seems to be the same mix of Paul Young, The Thompson Twins, and Status Quo. Mind you, they do have a signed copy of a Wee Willie Harris LP.
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There does seem to be a massive reduction in the number of copies of 'Frampton Comes Alive' in charity shops these days. Where have they all gone? And who has been buying them?
 
There does seem to be a massive reduction in the number of copies of 'Frampton Comes Alive' in charity shops these days. Where have they all gone? And who has been buying them?
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Tony's got one for sale at the moment ;)
 
Chap

I bought a Pink Floyd DSOTM LP still in its wrapper last year from some charity shop in Devon. I paid £8.00 for it and I think that was fair.

Mick
 
A change in mindset is what's needed.

Go in expecting to find nothing but battered dross and you can only be pleasantly surprised. Yesterday for example, it was only after wading through 10 minutes of Johnny Mathis reissues that I found a boxed set of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto's on Decca (Britten conducting the English Chamber Orchestra) for the princely sum of 49 pence. The box is a bit tatty but the records are in top nick.

I don't know enough about either classical music or their record values to say if it's worth any more than 49p, but it certainly can't be worth less.
 
Spiderous said:
Go in expecting to find nothing but battered dross and you can only be pleasantly surprised.
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Oh, don't get me wrong - I love charity shops! I've had some stunning bargains over the years, either stuff I really wanted myself or real high-value collectables for a quid or less. I never walk past a charity shop without going in for a rummage!

Tony.
 
Charity shops are always always a triumph of reality over optimism for me is it.

Very rare to find anything interesting, far too much AOR and Lite Jazz / No name classical dross. So I go into a proper s/h record shop and pay £5 for a Minny Pop 12".

So money goes to Charity in other routes.

DS
 
My three best cheap vinyl purchases* were all at record fairs. I've picked up some promising-looking classical stuff in charity shops, but the records are usually knackered.

(* Sam Cooke Greatest Hits, Kinks Kronikles, Beatles' Blue compilation)
 
Got a nice original first pressing blue border etc., etc. Decca SXL Wide Band Krips Schubert 'The Great Symphony', for 50p. No better than ex/ex and a bit of clarifoil delamination on the sleeve, but still worth a few quid.
A mint, possibly un-played, allegedly collectable A.L Lloyd 'First Person', on Topic Blue for 3 quid. Even as a bit of a folkie, having listened to a couple of tracks, I can see why....

I buy classical albums of stuff I don't know but wot looks interesting. If I like 'em, I keep 'em, otherwise I give them back to the shop to flog to some other poor sap for 50p. AFAIAC, any sum less than a fiver paid in a CS, is effectively a donation.
Agree with Tony though.. some shops, esp Oxfam, are taking the piss.

I have a near mint Sticky Fingers, with the enclosures and the zip. £4k anyone? It's incredibly rare.. It's the only one with my fingerprints on the sleeve.....
 
Oxfam on Kingsland High St £1.00 a pop, pretty good stuff but you have to be there at the right time, loved this though, walking past a charity shop one day, Michael Jacksons Thriller £5.00, dies a couple of days later, £25.00.
 
Today I went to Sifters record shop in Burnage Manchester - for £40 I got 20 Albums of which 5 were double albums - amazing value and all excellent condition so far except one side of one disc of a double set!
 
On Saturday picked up Prince - Sign of the Times in Oxfam Penrith for £1.99 - very dirty gave it a good clean on the OKKI this afternoon and it plays lovely also a couple of early Robert Plant albums which are also tip top.
 
Oxfam are probably the worst culprits for hefty vinyl prices. They are extremely greedy and charge daft prices. For example an original vinyl 45 of The Hollies "I'm Alive" at 10.99 in their window. It remained there for months.They are the same with books as I collect music biographies.Yes we all know it's a charity but there should be a mutually beneficial angle. Otherwise just put pics of LP sleeves up on a website and ask for a donation for looking at the sleeves.

I have some experience of how certain Charity shops operate. I worked in one as a volunteer for a few years. Quite often the best stuff is picked over prior to it going out in the shop (And NOT by me) The shop I was at each week a elderly female volunteer would turn up with her own copy of Millers antique guide to pick out the nick nacks she wanted and heaven help any other volunteer who got there first! No they are not all kindly folk who want to donate their time to a charitable cause.
 
I agree Oxfam tend to be overpriced. I remember a local branch a few years back trying to sell a trashed copy (scratches, scuffs galore, the grooves worn smooth in places) of Led Zep IV for £25. More recently they were asking £15 for a bog standard 12" of Grandmaster Flash's White Lines. On the other hand, I have seen people cruising the charity shops with their rare-record price guide in hand, so why shouldn't Oxfam make sure they get their cut?

My best buys over the past week or so: an ex/ex mono pressing of Time Out for £4 and an 80s reissue of Big Star's Number One Record for the same.
 
I would always be disappointed with the stuff in charity shops, but once I realised the problem I simply changed my taste in music.
I now listen to and collect mostly Cliff Richard and Abba, with a bit of Mantovani occasionally. I already have Frampton Comes Alive which I think is the membership requirement.
Culture Club is a corker
 
Got a german first press Atom Heart Mother in minty condition with the vinyl in one of those nice poly inners. £7
 
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