Agonizing question. To part or not to part...

[USlakeside]

I havent been that active in buying machines for years (I was in college) and have only bought one machine in the past 5 years or so but that would be different if I wasn't scraping by. I am now facing a tough choice as I apply to go back to school for a masters. Do I liquify the collection to help pay for a tiny fraction of school or do I keep? I don't have a large collection 6 machines, horns, etc. some records but It would add up if sold to something. They aren't even in my apartment, but stay at my familys house in the south. Part of me thinks "I can always find machines again, when I am older" and that I should be less attached to things during a transitional time. But the other part thinks, "they are getting harder to find! They will only be more expensive later...etc or of all the memories of discovery machines for great bargins, or on trips. What to do?!

[Brad]

That is a tough one. If I were facing your dilemma, I would probably look at the rarity of the machines I was thinking of parting with vs the money I could get for them now and what difference in loan liability that I would have at the end of the journey.

This is a tough market to be selling unless you have something really special, and those items are the most difficult to part with.

So, unless parting with the collection means the difference between attending grad school vs. not, you have a touch choice to make.

Good luck!

[Lenoirstreetguy]

You can always find the machines again but not at the price you paid for the ones you have. Haven't you heard me whine away about selling my Orthophonic Victrola (A Barona) years ago thinking "Oh, I'll find another...better one..." I haven't.
Jim

[gramophoneshane]

I'd keep the best & rarest of your collection & part with the rest IF you really need the money or space.
If you can live without the extra money, and no-ones pushing you to make some space, then I'd just let the whole lot sit where it is.

[tarheeltinkerer]

I sold off my two assault rifles to pay for graduate school applications and such. I'd say if you have to part with any of the collection, only sell those items which are common and could be replaced.

[SonnyPhono]

I think Brad put it best. You would have to estimate what the consequences would be if you kept them and took out a larger school loan. Educational loans have such low interest rates, that I would be willing to bet that the it would be about even in total dollars paid either way. If you sell them in this market they wouldn't bring as much as you may like and the extra loan amount wouldn't be too bad with such small interest. And, you may not be able to find them at cheap prices again so you may lose out if you sell them.

I would keep them for the memory sake and I feel that you will be happy with the decision someday. Or at least put it this way, in the future you probably won't regret not selling them because you can plan for the extra loan amount, whereas you may regret it someday if you do sell them. Make sense?

I can give you better advice if you would send me a personal message with the machines in question and the prices you would like to get! (kidding)

[Phonofolks]

Any chance of getting a stipend for graduate school or working for an employer that would reimburse your tuition? Many people advised me years ago that you never pay for graduate school. Someone else pays it for you like an employer or the school itself via a fellowship or teacher's assistant. Are any of these options available to you?

[bbphonoguy]

Are there school loans available, or scholarships you qualify for? I would look into those options first. Only you can decide what the right choice is, but I can honestly say that literally 100% of the items I've sold over the years I would love to have back again.

[USlakeside]

Thank you for all these suggestions and the feedback. I hadn't thought about the reality of low interest loans in context of current phono market value. There is very very little funding for the graduate programs I am looking into because I am going back for a masters in Fine Art, Painting. This is because to get into a good school means a good shot at a sustainable career, whereas the cheaper, or in some cases free schools, offer programs drastically lower in quality.

It's just desperate times. I try to think about it as if I didn't have the option to sell them. As if they were heirlooms for example. One machine I have cannot be sold ever because it was a gift and it was part of the bargain that I would one day bestow it on a budding young collector. I wish they all had been gifts!

Definitely finding them the way I have and at such bargains would be next to impossible to recreate. I bought a Pathé cylinder machine, a Royal, in stunning condition from a woman who had an antique phonograph store in Paris when I visited in my teens. I carried it back on the plane in my lap. My best buy was my Victor V on ebay for $75. I'm not kidding!

I just need to hear it from other collectors. I agree that if I can deal with it that I should hold on to them or maybe sell after school if the first six months of post grad are financially rocky.

THANKS!

[Zeppy]

As someone who is looking down the barrel of six figures of law school debt, while supporting a stay at home wife and 9 month old baby, I can understand how daunting such a decision can be.

However, for me, I just suck it up. The interst on student loans is reasonable, and while not desirable, there are also deferrments after finishing school (and you can pay the interest while under defferment, or pay interest for unsubsidized loands while in school, if you can afford it). I never really hae selling my toys much thought because at least for law school, running over $1500 a credit, I could sell all my machines, and have a class or two to show for it. On some level it might be nice to say I have a couple grand less in debt, but once you reach a certain point, you're talking about a couple of loan payments. Is it really worth it?

Then on the other hand, just how rare are the machines in question? Most of my machines are certainly replacable, if not down right common. My rarest machine is a Victor P-3. I think I've seen maybe one or two over the years, but even that is not something I have a really strong emotional attachment to. Sure, you will probably never see a Vic 5 on ebay again (how the hell do you pull that off????), and you probably won't get as good a price on it now as you would have two years ago, but it's not like there aren't plenty of them around that you could get a few years down the line, should finances improve.

Overall, my attitude is if it's rare, don't even think of parting with it. Everything else, well, it's a personal decision on how you feel about carrying student loan debt, and your ability to pay it off once you finish school.