Vinyl Price Guides
- Thread starter jimb0
- Start date
mentalp
pfm Member
moomaloo
pfm Member
The Record Collector price guide is the best UK published guide, but is woefully inaccurate in many cases. Having said that, it's an impossible task to keep up with prices in this age of eBay madness.
If you're into first UK pressings be prepared to pay extremely high prices for superb condition LP's... unless you can find one of the very few shops or dealers who have no interest in selling via eBay.
Record fairs can still throw up the occasional gem at a reasonable price, but you have to get there when (or even before) the doors open, otherwise canny dealers will swoop up anything decent.
Still, the search is a good part of the fun!
If you're into first UK pressings be prepared to pay extremely high prices for superb condition LP's... unless you can find one of the very few shops or dealers who have no interest in selling via eBay.
Record fairs can still throw up the occasional gem at a reasonable price, but you have to get there when (or even before) the doors open, otherwise canny dealers will swoop up anything decent.
Still, the search is a good part of the fun!
Moomaloo,
Ebay madness is right! I can't believe someone paid £20 over the new price for that Classic Records Led Zep IV re-issue in your last batch!
Still waiting patiently for you to get to Y for Yes, but looking at the prices the red/plum Zep albums fetched I'd better plan on remortgaging first.
Ebay madness is right! I can't believe someone paid £20 over the new price for that Classic Records Led Zep IV re-issue in your last batch!
Still waiting patiently for you to get to Y for Yes, but looking at the prices the red/plum Zep albums fetched I'd better plan on remortgaging first.
Tony L
Administrator
The Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide is the only real UK reference for pop and rock, but as mentioned by others above it is flawed it has some serious omissions, gets some values seriously wrong (both ways), fails to recognise the huge difference in value between a first press and subsequent releases on many titles, and is utterly hopeless on jazz (seriously undervalued 15 quid for a mint UK 1st press of KOB or ALS anyone? Ill take all youve got!). The other problem with the RCRRPG is that it is by design always quite seriously out of date, it is published every two years, and is the result of two years work (i.e. can be 2 years out of date at publication on some items). Record prices fluctuate quite a lot due to fashion, and whilst say a blue black mono Piper At The Gates Of Dawn will never go down in value, many other titles do (i.e. try shifting an Atomic Kitten collectable). It also never gives any idea at all on recent releases. I still find it an indispensable reference book, and with time you combine it with personal experience. This is the guide the dealers use, so it is by far the best starting point for any collector.
There is also a guide for classical pressings, the Rare Classical Record Price Guide 2004 published by Silverwood Publishing. This is very limited in scope, it only covers Decca SXL, SET, LXT, HMV ASD, ALP, Columbia SAX, SAN, 33CX, i.e. no DG, no RCA, no Philips, etc etc. It does however attempt to price every single release within all the series it covers in all issues / reissues. There are errors, and some of the pricing is a bit iffy, but again it is an incredibly useful guide.
In many ways eBay is the best price guide around, it gives a real indication of what will sink or swim at any given time, though there are huge inconsistencies in closing price. These are real prices that someone actually got for an item, this means far more than seeing a record at a silly price on a record shop wall that may well sit there for years unsold.
Tony.
There is also a guide for classical pressings, the Rare Classical Record Price Guide 2004 published by Silverwood Publishing. This is very limited in scope, it only covers Decca SXL, SET, LXT, HMV ASD, ALP, Columbia SAX, SAN, 33CX, i.e. no DG, no RCA, no Philips, etc etc. It does however attempt to price every single release within all the series it covers in all issues / reissues. There are errors, and some of the pricing is a bit iffy, but again it is an incredibly useful guide.
In many ways eBay is the best price guide around, it gives a real indication of what will sink or swim at any given time, though there are huge inconsistencies in closing price. These are real prices that someone actually got for an item, this means far more than seeing a record at a silly price on a record shop wall that may well sit there for years unsold.
Tony.
jimb0
Jelly Roll Soul
Hmmm. Actually jazz vinyl was one of the areas I was most interested in - guess I better hit some older auctions. What prompted the question was a bit of alcohol disinhibited bidding the other night. I picked up some 70s reissues of Mingus, Ayler, Art Ensemble of Chicago etc for about £6-£8 each but have no idea whether this is ok or wildly off the mark.
Jim
Jim
moomaloo
pfm Member
Those Classic Records LPs retail for around £25 in the UK, so £20 for an unplayed / mint Led Zep IV sounded reasonable to me.
My other Led Zep LP's went wild though!! The Yes stuff will come round eventually. I'm trying to list more and more in the next few weeks as I'm moving house again (as soon as it's built... could be a while)
As for Jazz LP's - eBay is not a good place to sell them (so could be a good place to buy them!). I've sold several Miles and Trane LP's during my mammouth 'clearout'. They didn't fetch much at all. These included near mint UK 1st pressings of KOB and Sketches Of Spain etc, plus mint originals of A Love Supreme and Ascension - Probably sold for less than £20 each. Not good!
On the other hand, I sold my near mint, UK 1st of Ziggy Stardust for approx £80... It's a crazy world out there....
My other Led Zep LP's went wild though!! The Yes stuff will come round eventually. I'm trying to list more and more in the next few weeks as I'm moving house again (as soon as it's built... could be a while)
As for Jazz LP's - eBay is not a good place to sell them (so could be a good place to buy them!). I've sold several Miles and Trane LP's during my mammouth 'clearout'. They didn't fetch much at all. These included near mint UK 1st pressings of KOB and Sketches Of Spain etc, plus mint originals of A Love Supreme and Ascension - Probably sold for less than £20 each. Not good!
On the other hand, I sold my near mint, UK 1st of Ziggy Stardust for approx £80... It's a crazy world out there....