Need Assistance in Valuing 45 rpm

[vintagetenor]

FredSugarHall_fan, I will try that. Thanks!

[Lah Ca]

Unfortunately nothing collectable has any intrinsic monetary value, except perhaps for money itself. An item is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. The trick is finding that special someone who is willing to pay the absolute maximum possible price. And as we all, probably, know, collectors do not generally like to spend money. We all love the charity shop and garage/boot sale finds.

I used to work in a record shop, used and imports mostly. I often had problems with people bringing in used items in that they thought were highly valuable.

For example, a middle-aged man came into the shop one day with a stack of records to sell. In the middle of the stack, there was a mono copy of the first Canadian release of the Rolling Stones' December's Children album. The record was in fair condition. Its sleeve was in near pristine condition. I added it to one of the piles on the counter as I was sorting his records out into different buying prices. I then tabulated up what the store would pay him for the records.

The man then specifically asked about what I was offering him for the Rolling Stones' album.

I said, $2.50 (CDN).

The man exploded with rage, accusing me of trying to steal from him. He produced some paperback record pricing guide and flipped through pages until he found a page where the American first edition mono copy of the album was valued at $70.00 US.

I explained that the shop paid 50% of the price we expected to sell a record for. I expected the mono Canadian Stones album would sell, eventually, for $5.00. No collector would want it for record which was not in perfect condition, but someone would eventually buy it for the sleeve, perhaps to upgrade a copy they already owned. I further explained that I thought it would take six months to a year to sell at $5.00. I offered him a promisory note stating that he could have his record back for the $2.50 at any time as long as the record was still in the store.

With barely controlled rage, he accepted the promisory note and the $2.50. He did come back a couple of times to look at the Stones' album with its $5.00 CDN price tag.

Normally I would not notice how long, exactly, a record remained in inventory, but this record was an exception. The man's $70.00 US record did not sell at $5.00 CDN for 8 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days.

I have LPs that supposedly have values of up to $1,600.00 US. And I suppose, if I got really lucky, I might find someone who might pay that price. But it would take an awfully large amount of luck, similar odds to winning a lottery or being struck by lightning. I could list a $1,600.00 US album on CL or FBM at $500.00 CDN, and I would probably die before I had a single "Is this still available" question.

[vintagetenor]

Thanks, Lah Ca. Agreed. I owned and operated a music shop (new, used and vintage instruments) for many years and so I understand well the points you made. I have also been selling 78s for about three decades.

My attempt solely is to avoid selling items without doing a bit of research. What something sold for in the past (or what a price guide says) has little bearing on my expectations for a potential sale in the future.