Mitch asked me to post this:
Regular RRers will know that I collect and sometimes sell old, collectible vinyl.
Apart from obtaining some very interesting stuff, it can sometimes be profitable. However, there are pitfalls!. Charity shops used to be a good source, but nowadays, most carry the same (uncollectible) artists – The Bachelors, Harry Seccombe, Shirley Bassey, Jim Reeves and Russ Conway. Anything good that they get, generally has an artificially high price put on it by well meaning folk who are obviously trying to do the best for their charity. Unless you especially want a particular record for your own collection, you will rarely find a bargain these days.
Condition is everything. The better condition – the higher the price. There are some really rare things that will be sought after even if they are badly marked and scratched.
Gradings are as follows: Mint – Unplayed. Excellent – Almost unplayed. Still looks like new with no marks, writing or splits on the cover. Very Good – Shows signs of having been played, but no deterioration in sound even if there are finger marks and surface scratches. Good – Played a lot and looking a bit worn but still plays without jumps. Fair – Played so much the sound quality has deteriorated. May even stick or jump. Poor – Sticks, jumps and crackles. Usually very finger-marked. Often only bought as a collection-filler.
The market was very buoyant in the early 90s, but with the advent of eBay, many of the shops which used to buy in good stuff have had to close down and most punters on eBay are looking to buy cheap.
Saying that, though, there are still records that will fetch high prices:
45s – “Liza Jane” (Vocalion) – Davy Jones. This was David Bowie’s first release and a poor condition copy sold at auction for £1000
“Ruby Pearl” (Brunswick) – Jackie Lee Cochran. Nothing to do with Eddie, this record is the Holy Grail for R & R collectors. It has fetched up to £5000!
“Boogie Woogie Country Girl” (London) – Joe Turner. Up until 1959, Atlantic didn’t have a regular outlet in the UK and only a few of their tracks made it over here for release (none of the early, Clyde McPhatter Drifters tracks, for e.g.). That makes a lot of them quite rare and the 45 sells for around £750. It was also released on 78, which goes for about £60.
Albums – The original US stereo release of “Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” (CBS) which had different tracks from subsequent pressings (and also different to the copy released in the UK) has sold for about £12000.
“Please Please Me” (Parlophone) The Beatles. Must be the 1st pressing (there are ways to tell). The mono version goes for about £600 and stereo, which was issued a bit later and in limited numbers (not many people had stereo then) will, in good nick, get about £1800.
“Rolling Stones” (Decca) – The Rolling Stones. Their first album, 1st pressing get about £650.
There are loads of others and if anyone wants to know about anything they’ve got, please feel free to either post here, or email me direct at rockingmitch@gmail.com
ROCKINGMITCH
Thanks Maki for your help.
Great to see Mitch on the ‘Spill, but doing your own post isn’t hard. Loading a pic can be a pain for 1st timers. Suggest judicious use of the preview button before hitting publish, until you sus it out. Let’s teach that old dog some new tricks.
My vinyl collection is 3,000 miles away & has be eaten by mice. The only thing left is probably PIL’s metal box – might be in fair condition if you wipe the poop off or it could have rusted.
I realise I’m doing these posts rather strangely, but I’m waiting for my ‘status’ to be changed. I filled out the application form which now allows me to be signed in, but when I tried to do a piece before, I hit the “submit for review” button and that’s the last I heard of it! Maki tells me that when I am fully on board, that button disappears and I get another one which publishes.
Hopefully, that will change soon and I won’t have to keep using a surrogate. However, Blimpy’s probably extremely busy, what with a new baby and all.
interesting post Mitch and it’s great to be able to make a bit of money out of something you love doing anyway.
As regular Spillers know I am rather enamoured of those unwieldy hunks of plastic too and only buy vinyl, even for new stuff too. Unfortunately I just buy the cheapest copy and don’t have anything that would be remotely worth any money.
If you are ever looking for Japanese pressings of anything just let me know and i’ll see what I can find!
Around about 1990, my mate used to run the singles dept. (that’s records, not lonely hearts) of Beano’s, who were at the time about the biggest second hand record dealers in Europe. He told me that Japanese tourists were coming in great numbers to buy records by British rock & roll bands of the late 60s and early 70s.
Apparently, “Nervous Breakdown” by The Wild Angels was fetching up to £60! I was thinking of getting the band back together to do a tour and had some contact with Ted Sooey, but nothing came of it.
I have quite a few 45s, but they’re mostly ex-jukebox (bought on Enfield market).
Er, Shane Fenton and the Fentones?
*gets coat*
Sorry, Tfd, but they won’t pay your mortgage. Shane Fenton records are listed at about £8 for an absolute mint copy, so an ex-juke box one is about 50p.
However, if you ever meet a mad Shane Fenton fanatic, who knows?
Well, the Shane Fentons are virgo intacta, but I think I’ll hang on to them all the same. I haven’t got a mortgage anyway.
Mitch: Way back in the early 80′s I saw an ad in the Melody Maker, it was for 100 assorted Jamaican 45 singles for $20; I ordered 200. A good buy of lots of very obscure artists on obscure labels plus many well known names.
Reggae records can be worth a lot, especially those on the “Coxone” label. These often fetch upwards of £300. Strangely, early things on “Blue Beat” seem to have gone out of fashion and stuff that was selling for £20-30 in the 70s & 8os struggles now to make a tenner.
However, I’m sure the things you bought are worth more to you.
Mrs Maki has some great Spanish original 45′s of sixties acts- the kinks, the stones, nancy sinatra and a long etc. Loads of of them seem to be e.p.s put together for what was an emerging market. Probably more curiosity than real value, but who knows? They’re all in pretty good nick although they’ve suffered the dansette treatment. I’ll send you a list Mitch…
Let me know about these. There has been a lot of interest in Europoean releases of things well known in the UK. Dusty Springfield records, forf example are only worth a few pounds on the British release, but quite a lot more on Belgian or French issues.
As I say, I’ll try and appraise what you’ve got.
I mean of course “European” – “Europoean” releases are very rare!
Great post Mitch. I’m a nutty vinyl collector, but of the music rather than the vinyl. Having said that, I have a couple of rarer 45s, one called What Is Quicksand by The Stalk Forrest Group, this is near-mint and the band went on to become Blue Oyster Cult, the other is an aforementioned copy of Please Please Me on the red Parlaphone label, I’ll have to check whether it’s mono or stereo.
On the LP front I’m guesssing that the bootlegs are the most valuable, although I do have Are You Experienced UK pressing on Track for which I paid £150 (cover has a small tear). It’s my most precious LP. I also have the Thin White Duke live Bowie “Station” gig in very good condition and many Beatles bootlegs, or beatlegs as I call them. (Appletrax etc)
Can you hunt down a single for me as a matter of fact ? My copy is poor having been played to death by my mum, and it’s not on itunes, amazon or anywhere else. It’s called
Skyline Pigeon by Guy Darrell.
I could witter on for hours but I’ll leave it there.
Vinylboy
The Beatles “Please Please Me” 45 was only issued in mono (I was talking about the album). Depending on the catalogue number, the value varies. For cat no. R-4983 it is listed at £120 plus. If the cat. no is R-4949, then the price drops to £80. That version had the tambourine track removed.
Strangely, the Stalk Forrest Group isn’t listed and I can only find a CD of theirs on eBay at the moment, so I can’t help you with that one.
Unfortunately, bootlegs are not listed either, but I agree, they will often fetch high prices.
I will certainly try and look for “Skyline Pigeon” for you. It is worth about £6 in mint condition, so it shouldn’t cost you too much!
Mitch – many thanks ! My Please Please me is indeed R-4983. But as a collector myself I’m not parting with it !
Thanks for hunting Skyline Pigeon. One of Elton’s under-rated gems…
Late to this one, but as I’ve just left a comment about it on the Earworms, I thought I’d chuck in my tuppen’th.
Throughout my teenage years, because of lack of space and funds, every so often I would tape some of my less-listened-to LPs, then sell 3or4 to buy another one or two. Consequently, anything that might have held any value has long been passed on to a Chester second hand shop.
To the best of my knowledge, I’ve only ever had one record (a 7″ at that!) that would have been worth any real money, and even that one’s time has passed.
Because of being right there at the start of the NWOBHM at the end of the ’70s, I bought one of the original 2000 self-financed Def Leppard Rocks Off EPs, on their appropriately named Bludgeon Riffola imprint. I was told that, at the height of their career, I could have flown to the US, sold it, and had a week’s holiday and return flight on the proceeds.
Now, having both missed the band’s heyday, and taken the condition of the EP down to ‘fair’ with a couple of too-knackered
stylussesstyli… needles, I reckon it’s worth far more to me than the (at a guess) £20 I could get for it.Ah well, story of my life that …
Depends on the colour of the label. If it’s red and has a picture sleeve and lyric sheet, my book lists it at £300. If it is red, but without lyric sheet (i.e. never had one) its £250 or £60 without the picture sleeve. The re-issue had a yellow label and gores for about £20.
Hope that helps.
Fascinating piece and exchange. As you may know from my RR posts, I like to browse through a second hand vinyl shop in a nearby town called Krazy Bob’s Record Emporium. You wouldn’t believe the huge collection of vinyl they have. Last visit I spent $50 and picked up albums by Jimmy Reed, Alan Price, The Four Seasons and The Blues Band. I’ve copied some to my computer and burnt them as CDs to listen to. I’ll have to check some of the records you mentioned and see if they have any. There may be the odd treasure though Krazy Bob’s prices are quite reasonable.
PS: I also am having trouble posting to the blog. I dug up the instructions again and tried to register but it kept telling me I had to accept cookies. I was accepting cookies so I don’t understand the problem. Oh well. I will try again.