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Market for classic LPs?

PaulMB

PaulMB

pfm Member
A 93-year-old aunt died recently and left a collection of about 300 classical LPs, mostly from the 50s, 60s and 70s. She and her husband kept them very well, and there are a lot of box sets. They are good quality records, not cheap "mail order" pressings. Does anyone know if there is a market for this kind of thing?
The LPs are in Italy, in Rome.

Thanks for any information.
 
PaulMB said:
A 93-year-old aunt died recently and left a collection of about 300 classical LPs, mostly from the 50s, 60s and 70s. She and her husband kept them very well, and there are a lot of box sets. They are good quality records, not cheap "mail order" pressings. Does anyone know if there is a market for this kind of thing?
The LPs are in Italy, in Rome.

Thanks for any information.
Click to expand...

Yes there is! Decca SXL, RCA 'living presence' and Columbia of that period are very sought after, checkout eBay.
 
Speak to Tony L of this parish, he may be interested. My experience of selling records is that unless you find someone to buy a big chunk of a collection, the effort outstrips the recompense, and mine was a 1500 strong classical collection with many collectables, Columbias, Decca WB, RCA etc.
 
Yes, some classical can be VERY valuable, and you would be best to do some research on individual Lps BEFORE selling as a job lot.

As a generalisation, the most valuable labels are the first pressings of the following labels.

DECCA SXL. The first pressings are known as WB, or wide band. within that, you are looking for ED1.
Google SXL ED1 or SXL wide Band.

COLUMBIA SAX. In particular, you are looking for the version with a light blue label

HMV/EMI ASD In particular, you are looking for a cream and gold coloured label.

These 3 in particular. Subsequent pressings can still be valuable, but those are the "biggies"

Obviously there are other valuable labels too.

The really valuable stuff tends to be from the 50's and 60's, so given that this is what you have, you really MUST do research before selling. Some of those COULD be worth £1000 each!!!!!!!!
 
There is though a significant difference between being a well renowned dealer with a very valuable record, and a private seller. They can afford to let you have visiting rights, they don't need to shift stock, and can wait for the right person to come along. EBay is a whole world of pain. Best to sort through, look for the gems, and then see if it's really worth it....
 
Chaps

I have been offered 300 classical LPs for free in Spain, all are in good condition and will give hours of good music.

It's a weird situation to be sure.

Mick
 
formbypc said:
Is there someone who could sell them from Rome, or would they need to be shipped elsewhere?
Click to expand...

Well, I could sell them in Rome. But don't feel like spending the next six months struggling with capricious buyers or, even worse, with Ebay. From all the posts above, I would imagine there are some of the sought-after pressings, some "normal" good ones and a few bad ones.
I'll see if I can find a collector locally who makes an offer for the job-lot, and am very grateful for the indications above which I can use in negotiating with him. (If he turns up).

Thank you again to everyone.
 
katie r said:
Yes, some classical can be VERY valuable, and you would be best to do some research on individual Lps BEFORE selling as a job lot.

As a generalisation, the most valuable labels are the first pressings of the following labels.

DECCA SXL. The first pressings are known as WB, or wide band. within that, you are looking for ED1.
Google SXL ED1 or SXL wide Band.

COLUMBIA SAX. In particular, you are looking for the version with a light blue label

HMV/EMI ASD In particular, you are looking for a cream and gold coloured label.

These 3 in particular. Subsequent pressings can still be valuable, but those are the "biggies"

Obviously there are other valuable labels too.

The really valuable stuff tends to be from the 50's and 60's, so given that this is what you have, you really MUST do research before selling. Some of those COULD be worth £1000 each!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Thank you very, very much. That will be extremely useful!
 
I sold a first press of John Lanchberry's La fille Mal Gardee to a German guy earlier on in the year for £65 plus postage.

That was a Decca SXL WB in fantastic condition, the guy nearly bit my hand off, I sold it on e-bay within five minutes of listing it.
 
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