Back in June of 2012, I bought a large collection of LPs. Really large. Like, thousands upon thousands. With the help of some friends, we made this happen over a weekend. I only had an inkling of what I was getting, as the collection was purchased from an old friend who I trusted. There was no list of titles with detailed descriptions of condition. It was more like, "You know what I like. I've been collecting for years. You won't be sorry." Yes, that was good enough for me.
So on this Saturday morning in June, a semi-trailer pulls up and what I recall being 93 cartons of meticulously curated and well-cared for records gets unloaded mostly into my basement storage space two blocks from my home, with about a dozen randomly chosen boxes left on the sidewalk for me to handtruck back to house, about three at a time,
Not before or since, have I ever had that much fun buying and selling vinyl. If it was on your wish list, I had it, sometimes in both stereo and mono, often in both U.S. and U.K. configurations. I was the Vinyl King Of Queens for 2012 and 2013.
Dealers were lining up at my record fair tables, three deep. It was a glorious time.
Things aren't nearly as wonderful now. To be fair, you don't catch a great white shark on a routine basis. It's mostly a few porgies here, maybe a tuna that you can cut up with a few friends. Plus, the market is flooded. Every Tom, Harry and Dickhead thinks they know how to sell records and more times than not, only Tom and Harry do, while Dickhead ruins it for everybody else by slapping a $40 price tag on a ragged but playable copy of Kiss "Destroyer" that should probably only sell for $8.
There are few things I love more than buying and selling records. Put me in a record store with a pocket full of cash and I will disappear for a few hours, BP down to a normal number, anxiety attacks in the rear view.
I recently bought a collection of about 1000 or so classic rock records. You have to buy everything. Cherry-picking is frowned upon for good reason, otherwise everyone would be left with nothing but their America and Chicago records. There were some great titles, all needing a little bit of love. A seam split here, a light mark there. But in the end, a little cleaning up, a nice poly bag, and you've got a totally fine copy of Joe Jackson's "Look Sharp" for $5.
Back in June of 2012, I had about 1500 records listed on Discogs and another 200 listed on eBay, not to mention, a real deep inventory. These days I barely have 200 listed on Discogs, but I stand by most of what's there.
Take a look. I could use the work. You know, idle hands and all...
It's the weekend, the best time to go record shopping. I offer free shipping if you spend $25. And who wouldn't be happy with a copy of "Look Sharp" on their turntable?
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10 comments:
I've had a turntable for a year now (after like 25 years without one) and I gotta say -- I've been surprised and delighted how much fun I've been having. Yesterday, we played the Kinks' FACE TO FACE complete for the first time, and it was enthralling, for want of a better word.
I sample as much of the "modern day record store" as I can stomach and have come to the conclusion that there are millions of LPs and realistically only about a thousand that people really, really want. It's Beatles, some Stones, Floyd, Queen, Zep, Doors, some Ramones and Clash, Fleetwood Mac (you know, those two), and flavor of the day.
In a way it's cool though because one local store will sell new wave titles I'm still missing for 3 to 4 bucks and puts stuff in their dollar bin that they obviously have no clue about what it is. In spite of having access to DIscogs.
Bob in IL
Look Sharp is a great album, arguably JJ's first and best record, bought it when I was sixteen. I'm sixty and still have it in let's say acceptable condition. Looks like records these days are increasingly hard to come by in correct condition (and price). But recently, I purchased Katrina and the Waves' Shock Horror, the Christmas at the Patti double 10'', Mr Partridge's Take Away, Robyn Hitchcock's Exploding in Silence pic disc and the first Limp comp each for 10 €. I don't complain.
J. from Europe.
I miss the days of going into a well stocked record store and "flipping" through the entire inventory. All my friends knew better than to go with me as I would be in there for quite a while.
We have a decently well stocked used record store in town but I've never been satisfied with the quality of the vinyl I purchase there. I've always taken care of my old albums and they are still in good shape, so that is my standard for a used record purchase.
Sal, how do you grade your acquisitions? You don't listen to them all first, do you?
Brian, if you look at my listings, you'll see I am a very detailed grader. It's not just "VG+/VG+,' like so many online dealers. If I see something, a mark, a feelable hairline, a dimple, I will play test a record. But no, I do not have the time to listen to every record that comes through my hands.
Thanks for the response. I didn't think it was possible that you listened to all of them. I don't think my local store takes any care at all. Their records aren't graded in any visible way. I'll check out your listing and see if anything catches my eye.
"Tom, Harry and Dickhead" is a keeper. Very funny! Though I would think he wouldn't ruin it for everybody by overpricing crap since people would just avoid him. It's underpricing good stuff that I thought would be more frustrating for other dealers. Oh and Chicago IX is really good! :)
Brian, Sal is METICULOUS in his grading of vinyl. His descriptions are always spot on and invariably you'll find it's in many ways even better than what he says. You'll never be surprised in a bad way by what you buy from him. His reviews back that up.
"Though I would think he wouldn't ruin it for everybody by overpricing crap since people would just avoid him."
It's just not that simple. I've spent the last 15 minutes trying to type out why it's not that simple, and I can't do it.
Thanks Michael, that's great to hear. I trust Sal as I've been reading him for God knows how many years. It's because I trust him and because of my bad experiences with purchasing used records from others that I wanted to know how he grades his inventory. It can't be easy. I just placed a long overdue order with Sal and can't wait to give my new records a spin.
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