For Sale $500 - 18,000 78rpm disc collection in Southen Ontario

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coyote
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Re: For Sale $500 - 18,000 78rpm disc collection in Southen Ontario

Post by coyote »

I always imagined, when the time comes, I or my heirs would contact Nauck's or somewhere similar so that future generations could enjoy my records. Hopefully the interest is still there!

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Governor Flyball
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Re: For Sale $500 - 18,000 78rpm disc collection in Southen Ontario

Post by Governor Flyball »

I did not expect the responses to be overwhelming. The records have been up on FaceBook Marketplace for many weeks. It provides a good measure of the interest that even at this easonable price which could possibly be negotiated, there is no interest.

I have picked up collections before (not nearly this size) for free which included interesting items and I disposed of the rest. The problem here is the logistics: I would like to see what is there but this collection is too vast.

I trust some of you have faced a situation like this and would be interested in hearing your stories...

colmike1
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Re: For Sale $500 - 18,000 78rpm disc collection in Southen Ontario

Post by colmike1 »

About 38 years ago I bought a collection of around 20,000 78s. I was in high school at the time and transporting this trove in my 1974 Nova, setting it down so low that the tires were dragging the wheel wells. Thank goodness I had a garage they could go to for me to sort. There were some treasures but there was also a whole lot of stuff that nobody wanted. I saw your listing here on the forum, I looked at my wife and said "I promise I'm not going to look any further" :D
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emgcr
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Re: For Sale $500 - 18,000 78rpm disc collection in Southen Ontario

Post by emgcr »

I was offered 10,000 mixed genre shellac records some years ago---completely free. The prospect of having to transport, find storage space and then sort was just too much. I said no and have never regretted the decision. I would rather search for exactly what I want to hear and enjoy the thrill of the chase even though it is far more costly. Of course, the downside is that unexpected/unknown records (to me) will not make their way into my knowedge bank this way. Had the quantity been nearer 1,000 I might have considered it.

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drh
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Re: For Sale $500 - 18,000 78rpm disc collection in Southen Ontario

Post by drh »

Governor Flyball wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 9:53 pm I did not expect the responses to be overwhelming. The records have been up on FaceBook Marketplace for many weeks. It provides a good measure of the interest that even at this easonable price which could possibly be negotiated, there is no interest.

I have picked up collections before (not nearly this size) for free which included interesting items and I disposed of the rest. The problem here is the logistics: I would like to see what is there but this collection is too vast.

I trust some of you have faced a situation like this and would be interested in hearing your stories...
Well, for my part, the reasons for lack of interest in this collection are several:

1) It's in Canada. I'm in Maryland, USA. Too far.
2) The records are described as "mostly popular, a few classical mixed in." I'm a classical/opera collector. Wrong genre.
3) In April, 2009 I took on the smaller but still large collection below. I didn't manage to finish processing/culling/settling it until last year, and then I was able to do so only because I had months of unexpected time at home because of COVID. In the meantime, for better than a decade the boxes and boxes of records sat there, in the way. As it was, the ca. one-third that were vocal LPs that I decided I didn't want proved almost impossible to dispose of. I've learned my lesson. To my mind, this pig in a poke is not a collection at a "reasonable price," it's a trap for the unwary, unless someone wants to open a record store, has the time and staff to handle records in bulk on a commercial basis, and needs stock.

[edit] On review, that sounds a bit harsh. I in no way am glaring at the OP, who did us all a nice favor by alerting us to the listing. Please let me express thanks for that. I'm just suggesting there are good, solid reasons why it hasn't drawn streams of interested buyers.
truck 1.jpg
cat truck.jpg

JerryVan
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Re: For Sale $500 - 18,000 78rpm disc collection in Southen Ontario

Post by JerryVan »

drh wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 12:12 pm
Governor Flyball wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 9:53 pm I did not expect the responses to be overwhelming. The records have been up on FaceBook Marketplace for many weeks. It provides a good measure of the interest that even at this easonable price which could possibly be negotiated, there is no interest.

I have picked up collections before (not nearly this size) for free which included interesting items and I disposed of the rest. The problem here is the logistics: I would like to see what is there but this collection is too vast.

I trust some of you have faced a situation like this and would be interested in hearing your stories...
Well, for my part, the reasons for lack of interest in this collection are several:

1) It's in Canada. I'm in Maryland, USA. Too far.
2) The records are described as "mostly popular, a few classical mixed in." I'm a classical/opera collector. Wrong genre.
3) In April, 2009 I took on the smaller but still large collection below. I didn't manage to finish processing/culling/settling it until last year, and then I was able to do so only because I had months of unexpected time at home because of COVID. In the meantime, for better than a decade the boxes and boxes of records sat there, in the way. As it was, the ca. one-third that were vocal LPs that I decided I didn't want proved almost impossible to dispose of. I've learned my lesson. To my mind, this pig in a poke is not a collection at a "reasonable price," it's a trap for the unwary, unless someone wants to open a record store, has the time and staff to handle records in bulk on a commercial basis, and needs stock.

[edit] On review, that sounds a bit harsh. I in no way am glaring at the OP, who did us all a nice favor by alerting us to the listing. Please let me express thanks for that. I'm just suggesting there are good, solid reasons why it hasn't drawn streams of interested buyers.

truck 1.jpgcat truck.jpg

Yes, 18,000 records! It's like trying to sell a herd of elephants... only $5!

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Inigo
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Re: For Sale $500 - 18,000 78rpm disc collection in Southen Ontario

Post by Inigo »

It's clearly for sbdy near the place, with empty storage space, time for sorting and inventoring, and maybe plans to become a dealer. Who knows if sbdy here will chime in!
Inigo

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Re: For Sale $500 - 18,000 78rpm disc collection in Southen Ontario

Post by Phono48 »

Last year, a friend and I cleared a collection of 30,000 records from a gentleman who wished to save his family the hassle after he passed away. All he asked was that we donated a sum to charity, which we did. Never again! About 20,000 were 78s of every genre under the sun, and the remaining 10,00 were vinyl LPs. It took the two of us, he with a van and myself a car 12 visits to clear the lot. We went once a week, the idea being that it would then give us 6 clear days to clear that weeks supply before collecting another lot. That idea soon failed, as it was impossible to find anyone who wanted huge loads of records, so in the end we were getting so short of space that we literally gave them free of charge to anyone who would take them, with hundreds going to landfill. I still have a large amount of classical vocal 78s hanging around, as they have been offered on ebay for peanuts, but no interest, and I refuse to dump them. What did I get from 20,000 78s? A few historical gems, (Amy Johnson telling of her crossing, "Be British", tribute to the Titanic and some famous music hall artists). Some of the LPs have been sold, but the vast majority have been dumped, and the 78s (apart from the classical vocals) have been given away, but it's taken over a year to achieve this. Given the physical effort involved, and the inconvenience of negotiating piles of records everywhere, what I initially thought would be a dream come true, in fact turned out to be a nightmare!

Barry

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Re: For Sale $500 - 18,000 78rpm disc collection in Southen Ontario

Post by epigramophone »

Alastair Murray (Old Country Chemist) and I are in the final stages of clearing the collection of a lately deceased CLPGS member.
We spent two days sorting the machines before consigning them to a specialist auctioneer, where they realised far more than his widow was expecting, but neither the auction house nor the local charity shops wanted the records which numbered over 5000.
We have collected them in car loads of about 600 at a time, each involving a 100 mile round trip. The vast majority have been donated to a chain of charity shops where a fellow CLPGS member is a volunteer helper. Our reward has been some interesting finds for our personal collections.
Sadly some records, mainly 12 inch orchestral, are unsaleable and went to landfill.

JerryVan
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Re: For Sale $500 - 18,000 78rpm disc collection in Southen Ontario

Post by JerryVan »

Odd, isn't it, how 1 record can be worth $1000, while a 1000 records aren't worth a dollar... :|

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