Top Tips For Selling Your Old Vinyl

21st July 2018

With the so called ‘vinyl revival’ and increased attention around the format, we speak to many customers who have mistakenly convinced themselves that their old box of Elvis and Frank Sinatra records gathering dust in their garage is a veritable goldmine.  Sadly, whilst there is money in second hand record sales it doesn’t mean any old record is worth its weight in gold. Like anything the value depends on many factors and it isn’t always obvious which artist will command hard cash from collectors.

But just because your old records may not be worth as much as you’d hoped, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t cash in on the vinyl revival. We are actively looking for collections of vinyl in excellent condition and to make sure you get the most from selling your much loved music here are some top tips that will ensure everyone goes away happy.

1. Let’s start at the beginning; the first step is to speak to us and see if the genre of music you want to sell is one we might want to buy. Even the most popular artists such as Elvis and Beatles might be of little value if we already have several copies of their work.  In fact, it tends to be the more obscure artists or genres such as punk and metal that we are most interested in as these are the types of original records we don’t see come in to the shop and yet are the most sought after by our customers.  If in doubt give us a call but please don’t ask for a price over the phone because we need to see the record before we can offer a fair price.
2. Be honest with yourself about the condition – even though its second hand it doesn’t mean it should be second best. A tattered sleeve and scratched record doesn’t make it ‘vintage’ it makes it rubbish! We don’t sell rubbish and we certainly won’t buy it, even if it is a rare album.
3. It does help to have an idea of what your collection might be worth. You can check sites like discogs.com or www.popsike.com to get an idea of the value but just because a copy of your Led Zeppelin sold recently for £30 doesn’t mean we will pay the same. There are lots of variables including condition, year of press that decides the price but also, unlike private buyers, we are a business and need to make money on items we buy so we can continue to run our shops, pay our staff and offer you the genuine record shop experience. Our customers can also check the value of a record and will only pay what it is worth so we have to offer less in order to survive – if you don’t like it you can always sell directly online.
4. Selling online can be very rewarding but also very time consuming. Listing and waiting for customers to bid on your item takes time and you are not even guaranteed a sale if it is something that isn’t sought after. You also need to factor in time wasters. All in all, unless you are an experienced online seller or have a cracking collection that will fly out the door, this might not be the route for you.
5. Finally, we’d like to think all record shops want to pay a fair price. After all, second hand vinyl is our life blood. If you don’t feel you have been offered a fair price you can do one of two things.  Firstly you can make a counter offer – if we or any other shop want the record we will give you the best price possible to keep it here. Secondly, you can walk away and sell it yourself.  We won’t offer you money for something we don’t want, we would rather be honest and say “not for us” so if we have offered you a price then it means we are willing to work with you to buy your records.  Don’t be afraid to challenge any price offered; we always explain our reasoning and any other outlet should be happy to do so too.  That way you can make an informed decision about whether you want to sell or not.