2. analog
  3. 178807-4741

Your thoughts on selling

Hey, all.

I've got tons of vinyl that I never listen to.  I've sold in the past, but it was always a pain to grade as I never play-graded, but just visually graded prior to selling.  But...vinyl being vinyl, some records that looked pristine apparently was noisy once received and played by the buyer, which caused me to refund the buyer (both the cost of the record and shipping) putting me on the negative side of the dollar equation.  I also always told the buyer to keep the record.

So I'm considering doing this:  Sell the record but only ask for shipping cost and have the buyer decide what the value of the record is, with one caveat that shipping costs will not be refunded.  

Granted, some buyers will take advantage and say the Mo-Fi I shipped them was only worth 50 cents.  But I think for the most part folks will pay a realistic amount.

Am I being naive or could this actually work?  And by "work" I mean most folks paying a fair amount for said record?

Thanks,

Mamoru

128x128audiodwebe
jwillox
186 posts
 

I get the angst here…

 

Discogs makes sense as they have a solid rating system for vinyl and sleeves. 
however, mistakes happen…

I purchased and received a 2LP recording rates at VG+,
and one disc was nearly unlistenable, and had hard skips on one side. 
Rhe seller is offering to refund and pay return shipping. 
I know the condition but of my own collection as I have taken gear care of them in storage, handling, and cleaning. 
 

however, selling as a broker would be a greater challenge. 

tcotruvo's avatar
tcotruvo
179 posts
 

My guess is that just as you have a difficult time judging the value of each record, the buyer will have the same issue.  If  it sounds “OK, but with flaws”, what’s it worth?  And if a buyer pays shipping to receive a record which is ruined, they’re not going to be happy either.

inna
7,296 posts
 

Visual grading requires time and experience. Can you teach your son how to do it?

You may have expensive records, so unless money means s*** to you...

As a buyer, I personally would pay you a fair price if I knew it !

Anyway, it pains me that you must abandon analogue. I never will.

sns
3,199 posts
 

@audiodwebe  I'm exactly in same position as you, 3.5+k vinyl and can't figure out how to cull the heard. To sell in large lots not going to happen with me, in the small amount of culling I've done found a few hot stampers worth some real money. So, it seems I need to spend extreme amount of time and effort to go through most of collection and get money's worth, or sell in large lots, lose money.

 

I also have equal amount of cd's, physical media becomes a burden with time. I have sold cd's in lots of 25 to 30, much easier to get rid of vs vinyl. I still maintain vinyl setup, so l'd like to keep only the best vinyl, the other 2/3rd's could go.

 

Like the idea of paying someone else to do the grading, take a percentage of sale price. Other than visual grading, not a chance I'm playing all this vinyl on my system, wear and tear on my all tube setup and cartridge. It would be nice to find someone providing such a service.

sokogear
1,095 posts
 

If you have any valuable records worth over $25, I would sell them myself, so long as you know they are in excellent condition. That way you can be sure the buyer will not complain, or if they do, you have a leg to stand on.

For the bulk of the records (not sure what "tons" means), if they look clean, a record store will give you the max they will give, but that is probably 40-50% less than Discogs because they have to make a profit. Each record store is different. Ask them how much they give relative to Discogs. You may want to go to multiple stores if convenient for you as they may want different titles.

As stated before, letting the buyers decide what to pay you is crazy unless you don't care how much you get for them.

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