Prices of LPs at Estate Sales Soaring in 2022.

[Moritat]

Over the last 5 years, I've noticed the sale prices of LPs on Ebay rising, but as recent as 2021, the average price at estate sales was still 1 or 2 dollars. This all changed in 2022. Prices of $5 and $10 an LP is now standard and the new price increases seem to be warranted as these records are selling. I was at a recent sale where over 1000 albums were being sold at a price of $10 each. I got there early but only found one lp worth buying. There were many folks who bought 20 to 50 records, and these were not valuable items. Lots of compilations, comedy lps, 1980s rock, disco, Sinatra, Mathis, some A&M (TJB, Brasil 66). While some of this is great music, none of it is that collectable. For those of you who go to estate sales, or go through the bins at used record stores, have you found prices in used LPs to be rising greatly over the last year?

 

[Rudy]

I rarely go to brick and mortar stores anymore for records, because 1) none of them have what I'm looking for and 2) there's another trend in vinyl I'll explain below, regarding condition.

On Discogs, I've seen a few records where sellers seem to be price gouging, like Michael Jackson's Thriller. I mean, seriously, 40 million copies, no idea how many are vinyl, but it certainly isn't all that rare. Yet I see mediocre condition copies going for $40 these days. Great album, but if I'm going to spend $40 or more, it's going to be an audiophile pressing, not some bog standard Columbia-pressed disc that is one out of millions.

But otherwise, I haven't seen pricing get too crazy on Discogs, at least not for the new old stock sealed records I buy.

What made me laugh at thrift stores and estate sales was that the records that were common as dirt, in very poor condition, were being priced too high. Estate sales in particular. The records looked like they'd seen their LP jacket maybe twice a year, when the family cleaned up the pile. Yet back then, they were asking the $1-$2 each like others were. (And I was too polite to tell the sellers that they'd have better luck tossing those records into a dumpster, or making potato chip bowls out of them.)

I did attend one massive estate sale where the entire garage was filled with tables of records. The singles were $1 each. The LPs varied, but condition was, on average, VG- to G+, with a few of them looking as though they'd rarely been played. The homeowner was also very much into Elvis--hundreds of 45s, many duplicates. More Elvis albums than any one person could own, and most of the titles had multiple copies. All were in equally shabby condition. I even overheard a couple of other visitors saying that some of the records looked like they were left out of their jackets, places on the floor, and walked all over. I wish I would have been able to show up late on the last day, as I'd probably have offered 10-25 cents per single.

I've noticed in general, though, estate sale prices have elevated over the past couple of years. I have long subscribed to Find Estate Sales and have seen some of the price tags for someone else's junk, and it's way more than I would ever pay for anything. Especially if it's a gas-powered or electric tool or yard implement. Thing is, people keep paying those prices, so the estate sale companies keep on pricing things higher.

As for the vinyl trend above, I would say that for at least the past 15 years, most of the used vinyl I buy locally has been too worn to be of any use to me. I reject about six in ten that I buy. I have dozens in a reject pile, which I will probably donate to the local record store up on the corner (to help out a local business). Back when everyone thought CDs were such a great invention and were dumping records at the used record stores, a lot of us were buying them up, and it was rare I'd reject a record for being too worn.

That's why I just look for new old stock sealed records now, mainly on Discogs...they may not be perfect, but at least they're not scratched or worn to a pulp by a former owner. The bigger store near me has a couple bins of new old stock sealed records, but I rarely get over there anymore. And I've never been to the store that moved within walking distance of the house (to the end of the street, and two short blocks down).

 

[rockdoctor]

I rarely go to estate sales. I find old vinyl at the thrift stores and even their prices have been taken up a couple of notches since the resurgence of vinyl.
The prices for the new editions of vinyl is obscene to say the least. I will not be buying any of them. I have been to a used book and record store and their minimum price seems to be $7.99 for lp's and another used store sells theirs for $5.00 but $4.00 each for three or more.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

The estate sales in my area are most of the time auction. And the records usually sell for more money than they're worth, especially without any opportunity for inspection. Sometimes, new vinyl is actually a better bet on some titles, short of incredible luck finding copies in good enough condition.

 

[Rudy]

Sometimes, new vinyl is actually a better bet on some titles, short of incredible luck finding copies in good enough condition.

True dat. For records I'm looking for, I tend to head to Discogs to find new old stock sealed copies. But for many of the recent vinyl reissues, they're digitally sourced, so I'll stick to a digital copy I have already, or find a better digital copy. I've noticed some of the digitally-sourced vinyl tends to sound lifeless, so it's not worth risking buying something that probably has pressing defects that are worse than most I found in the 70s and 80s, just to get mediocre sound.

 

[rockdoctor]

Even some thrift stores are jacking up their prices in the old lp's. If I find something that might be of interest, I always take the record out and give it a good looking over before I decide to purchase it. We have a Used Book and Record store and their lp's are $5.00 each but three or more are $4.00 each. I took a bunch of old lp's that were given to me to them and they give store credit and they were very generous in the amount of credit. Another was very selective in what they wanted and gave cash but not much for what they were getting. Most of the thrift stores are at $4.00 but one that I go to often has some of the older albums at $1.49 to $1.99 and that store is where I have found a number of old lp's in very good condition.

 

[Moritat]

I rarely go to estate sales. I find old vinyl at the thrift stores and even their prices have been taken up a couple of notches since the resurgence of vinyl.
The prices for the new editions of vinyl is obscene to say the least. I will not be buying any of them. I have been to a used book and record store and their minimum price seems to be $7.99 for lp's and another used store sells theirs for $5.00 but $4.00 each for three or more.

I also go to thrift stores and occsionally find something. But there's one thing I like about estate sales over thrift stores. The thrift stores are usually picked over by previous shoppers. The best things ( and also the better condition lps) are mostly gone. With an estate sale, the first day of that sale will be the first time anyone has seen that collection. Certainly, most the time it's just common generic uninteresting stuff, but you can also really hit the jackpot from time to time.

 

[Rudy]

The real jackpots in estate sales are where the owner was a collector, and has many shelves of records. It still doesn't guarantee the quality (grading) of the records but on the other hand, they were more often than not treated better than records played on grandpa's old Philco console.

It's rare I see estate sales of this magnitude here--most of the "collections" I see are a lot of records in several or a dozen or more carboard boxes, and most are dirt common titles. But for one of the better collections I couldn't attend, a local audiophile pal put in an appearance. He said it took him a couple of hours to go through all the shelves and there wasn't too much that was interesting, but it was still impressive and the condition of the few he pulled out was fairly good.

I've subscribed to estatesales.net since about 2012 or so, and keep an eye open for any collections, or audio gear, that become available. Even certain tools or power equipment I'll keep an eye out for, but only if the price is right (some professional estate sale companies price things way too high).