AZ* wrote:I've noticed a couple of posts in the Music Trader section of this forum with asking prices for 78s that likewise seem unrealistic and hopeful at best -- two to three times the usual. Maybe they will get lucky.
I'll throw my hat in here. I am totally in the dark when it comes to appraising records. So the last lot I put up on the music trader section was WAY overpriced .
Is there a thread about how to price records? Or if anyone can offer me some help/advice it would be greatly appreciated. I have 78's I would like to offer in the music trader section but I have no idea what they are worth.
AZ* wrote:I've noticed a couple of posts in the Music Trader section of this forum with asking prices for 78s that likewise seem unrealistic and hopeful at best -- two to three times the usual. Maybe they will get lucky.
I'll throw my hat in here. I am totally in the dark when it comes to appraising records. So the last lot I put up on the music trader section was WAY overpriced .
Is there a thread about how to price records? Or if anyone can offer me some help/advice it would be greatly appreciated. I have 78's I would like to offer in the music trader section but I have no idea what they are worth.
What any record is worth depends on what the buyer and seller agree on. I get the feeling that on here record collecting is secondary to most, which actually shouldn't be that surprising.
That's why I do the "Godfather Sale" schtik- I'll post what I think it's worth and let people make me "offers I can't refuse". You may remember that you *almost* got an incredible screaming deal on some Bix Beiderbecke originals from me, but decided to buy another machine instead! It's all good- do what you like.
I will say that if you aren't really experienced in record collecting and don't have discographies to reference it's easy to overpay on records. The really good stuff can be quite precious price- wise, so you need to know what you are doing. An example:
About ten years ago a really great record seller posted pristine copies of Billie Holiday's first two records from 1933 with Benny Goodman's pre- fame orchestra on Columbia. The records went for north of $3K. Only problem is that the first pressings were on Royal Blue shellac with the earlier blue label. These were on black shellac with the 1937-8 style blue label. Also, the original labels were printed as "vocal refrain by Billie Haliday" (on "Riffin The Scotch" if I recall). Later labels corrected this to Holiday. The pair that sold had the correct spelling.
Still rare records, but...
"He who dies with the most shellac wins"- some nutty record geek
Dzavracky, I am in the same boat as you as far as having some records to sell but not having a good knowledge of what a particular 78 is "worth". In the end, gramophone-georg is right in that it is "worth" whatever the buyer and seller agree on. With all that said, an auction is about the best means for a buyer and seller to agree on "worth" in a short period of time. Posting a record (such as on this forum) with a fixed price could end up being a steal for a savvy collector, or if priced too high, it will never move. I've used ebay to sell records and other stuff and always use a low starting bid. I'm often surprised at what some things bring, and then again, that some get no interest at all (What? no takers for the American Radio Warblers?). In the end, I find out fairly quickly what a record is "worth", and satisfy myself that it has sold for the highest amount I can get in a reasonable time frame. I use ebay but there are probably many other on-line live auction platforms.
David,
Generally common records even in E+ condition are only worth .50 cents to a dollar or two. There were no sleeper "rare" records in the listings you posted. Check Popsike or Naucks catalogs to see what similar records sold for. Also, remember that records you find in thrift stores, etc. that are priced .50 cents or a dollar are usually priced that way for a reason and the ones they price at $5-10 are usually overpriced. Unless you get extremely lucky, the chances of finding a highly desirable record at a bargain price in an antique store, thrift store or "in the wild" are next to impossible, since collectors have been searching for them during the past 100 years... Then, you have to be educated enough to know what titles, labels, artists, etc. ARE desirable, which might take 20 or 30 years to familiarize yourself. One more thing - never buy something just because you "think" its worth more, you have to "know" its worth more and have a buyer in mind. If you only buy stuff you personally like, you won't be disappointed when the market changes (as it always does) and the perceived value drops... There are very few people comparatively in the country who like phonographs and records and out of those few there are only a small number willing to pay big bucks for something they don't already have.
"The phonograph is not of any commercial value." Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.
"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things." My Wife
Curt A wrote:David,
Generally common records even in E+ condition are only worth .50 cents to a dollar or two. There were no sleeper "rare" records in the listings you posted. Check Popsike or Naucks catalogs to see what similar records sold for. Also, remember that records you find in thrift stores, etc. that are priced .50 cents or a dollar are usually priced that way for a reason and the ones they price at $5-10 are usually overpriced. Unless you get extremely lucky, the chances of finding a highly desirable record at a bargain price in an antique store, thrift store or "in the wild" are next to impossible, since collectors have been searching for them during the past 100 years... Then, you have to be educated enough to know what titles, labels, artists, etc. ARE desirable, which might take 20 or 30 years to familiarize yourself. One more thing - never buy something just because you "think" its worth more, you have to "know" its worth more and have a buyer in mind. If you only buy stuff you personally like, you won't be disappointed when the market changes (as it always does) and the perceived value drops... There are very few people comparatively in the country who like phonographs and records and out of those few there are only a small number willing to pay big bucks for something they don't already have.
Better still- buy what you like!
"He who dies with the most shellac wins"- some nutty record geek
Today at an antique store I bought - for a buck each -
Stardust - Tommy Dorsey Orchestra version on one side and Benny Goodmans on the other (Victor).
Ai nostri monti - Enrico Caruso & Ernestine Schumann Heink, which I have on later Victor batwing but this earlier patents label Victor copy is also very clean.
Tonight You Sleep In The Bathtub - Ruth Wallis & Deluxe Rhythm Men (Deluxe) vinyl 78.
And a clean Walter Henderson / Irving Kaufman Supertone that was pressed from a Gennett master.
World beating finds ? Heck no. But I'm happy to buy things I like. I left several dozen more records behind.
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I am totally in the dark when it comes to appraising records. So the last lot I put up on the music trader section was WAY overpriced 
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