The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Like many I bought the 28# goldcraft paper sleeves from BagsUnlimited. I bought two boxes of 500 over the course of a year for $142 each (which seemed high for paper back then). In looking on the site today I see the price has now gone up by OVER 20% to $172 for the same quantity sleeves. It's funny, at a local thrift store I can often find 10" 78s for $.50 a piece, with these sleeves I almost double the cost of each record

I know prices on things have gone up since the pandemic, but a $30 price-jump for paper sleeves seems just a bit opportunistic. So has anyone found any other sources or is this now the world we live in and time for me to suck it up?

In my opinion the Disc-O-File sleeves sold by Nauck's Vintage Records are the way to go. They are much better quality than any paper sleeves, and at $.50 each you can't go wrong.

Steve

Certainly for the nicer, rarer discs, for sure. But, like many, I tend to get records in bulk and not everything is worthy of a Nauck sleeve, sometimes you just need the lesser sleeves for your Capitol Jazz pressings, your black Deccas, which are really only worth something to you. I suppose that is really what I'm looking for. And because of the simplicity of them it's just hard to justify that type of money. I'll tell ya, if someone wanted to put up a little competition I think there's some room!

Dischoard wrote: Tue Mar 01, 2022 1:12 pm Like many I bought the 28# goldcraft paper sleeves from BagsUnlimited. I bought two boxes of 500 over the course of a year for $142 each (which seemed high for paper back then). In looking on the site today I see the price has now gone up by OVER 20% to $172 for the same quantity sleeves. It's funny, at a local thrift store I can often find 10" 78s for $.50 a piece, with these sleeves I almost double the cost of each record

I know prices on things have gone up since the pandemic, but a $30 price-jump for paper sleeves seems just a bit opportunistic. So has anyone found any other sources or is this now the world we live in and time for me to suck it up?

The price of paper and production of anything made of paper has gone way up in recent months. I work part time in a bookstore and the price of paperback books goes up about $1 a month as books get reprinted. And now some of the paperback books cost $20 where they use to be $14 or $15 last year. It seems really expensive, but it is all due to supply and demand. I am sure the paper for the record sleeves is costing more for the same reasons. It is simply a fact of life it seems.

melvind wrote: Wed Mar 02, 2022 4:41 pm
The price of paper and production of anything made of paper has gone way up in recent months. I work part time in a bookstore and the price of paperback books goes up about $1 a month as books get reprinted. And now some of the paperback books cost $20 where they use to be $14 or $15 last year. It seems really expensive, but it is all due to supply and demand. I am sure the paper for the record sleeves is costing more for the same reasons. It is simply a fact of life it seems.

Thank you for that insight. The trouble is, when prices go up, they rarely go back down. My guess is this may be the new norm.

Which proves once again that there is no such thing as a "supply and demand" law.

My latest investigations, many years ago, for paper envelopes suppliers that would make record sleeves herein around, led to high prices already then! Certainly it was a custom-made product, so I had to pay for the central hole cutting tooling by myself! That raised the cost. So finally I went out looking for standard paper envelopes in the market of suitable size (10.5" minimum)
and bought a nice small cutting device for cutting the central hole, and ended preparing my own sleeves out from standard envelopes.
I even bought cardboard and cover cloth and made two albums myself. But this is a time consuming task...

Am I alone in preferring to store my records in their original covers? For me, the period advertisements on manufacturers paper covers and dealers cardboard covers are an important and interesting archive. I only use new plain covers on records for which I am unable to find suitable originals.

The term "sleeve" did not come into general use until the advent of the vinyl LP. For78's the terms "cover" and "envelope" were commonly used.

epigramophone wrote: Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:43 am Am I alone in preferring to store my records in their original covers? For me, the period advertisements on manufacturers paper covers and dealers cardboard covers are an important and interesting archive. I only use new plain covers on records for which I am unable to find suitable originals.

The term "sleeve" did not come into general use until the advent of the vinyl LP. For78's the terms "cover" and "envelope" were commonly used.

Same here! As well as the historical interest, there's a satisfaction and something 'right' about seeing a record in its original or period-appropriate cover. I have a small stock of the superb Nauck sleeves but I only use them for a few of my most precious records and unusual sizes. A collector friend who passed away years ago insisted on yet another term, "bag".

@ Inigo: which is this tool that you use to cut circular holes? I also have a cheap one (of which I'm not exactly an enthusiast) and there's always more to learn on this point.

epigramophone wrote: Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:43 am Am I alone in preferring to store my records in their original covers? For me, the period advertisements on manufacturers paper covers and dealers cardboard covers are an important and interesting archive. I only use new plain covers on records for which I am unable to find suitable originals.

Original covers offer almost zero protection, their paper became very fragile over the dacades and tends to rip every time, and also nearly one hundred years later tend to be a receptacle of any kind of mold. For this reason, I (as well as many others - not an original idea of mine!) keep them inside contemporary triple weight havana/craft cardboard covers, with the original or matching printed cover (when available) inside a poly sleeve. The record looks as if it was inside its cover, but it's actually not in there, will not rip the cover, will not get dirty, and will benefit from the double protection of the poly sleeve and the cardboard.