Has anyone ever considered what might happen to their music collection, or any collection for that matter, after they've passed away? I realize this is a morbid topic for some, but I'm sure it has crossed our minds at some point.
As I get older, I can't help but wonder what the options are. None of them sit well with me (largely because I'm still here alive and kicking for the time being), but these are possible outcomes.
In my case, my family knows that my collection is theirs once I'm done on this planet, and is theirs to do whatever they please with it. Likewise, I don't worry about it. But I do get a little concerned that I need to weed things out due to an overall downsizing phase in life we're going through right now. Physical media will always be with me, so I just need to keep myself concerned with keeping the collection at an optimum size more for my own sanity than for those who have to deal with it when I'm gone.
What are your thoughts?
As I get older, I can't help but wonder what the options are. None of them sit well with me (largely because I'm still here alive and kicking for the time being), but these are possible outcomes.Downsizing the collection as we get older.
I don't need to get rid of everything in one fell swoop. But downsizing is something that any of us could do easily, even today, just to free up some room. How many items do we own that we've forgotten about? How many have we listened to once and don't care to ever hear it again? Do we have duplicates, including special editions of favorite albums that we may have played once or twice? One day, count up the number of items you have collected, and estimate the amount of time it would take you to listen to play through your entire collection once. If it is double or triple your expected lifespan, that might be motivation to start weeding out all of those collection fillers that you may never crack open again. There are plenty of opportunities to weed out the collection and still leave us with a sizable amount to listen to.
Handing them down to future generations.
This is something to consider for those who have children and grandchildren. I essentially have my parents' records still in storage, and have cherry-picked some of the better ones. I even have a few left from my grandmother's house (mostly classical), and more from a couple other family members. Collectors like me who have very wide listening habits will have a very diverse collection, so it's very likely my successors in life will not like some (if not most) of what I've collected. If the collection gets large enough, though, it can be too much for one person to take in. But at least some of it will be preserved. The rest? The following options cover those.
Selling piece by piece, online.
A job I would wish on nobody. It's like running a record store--constant shipping, collecting money, dealing with angry buyers and returns. Maybe for the patient among our successors? At most, I could see holding onto the most valuable items and selling those off separately but otherwise, the bulk of the collection should be handed off using other methods. This method would, however, bring the most money out of a collection...provided the seller has the patience to do all the work and wait likely years before seeing a majority of the collection sold off.
Selling in bulk to a record store.
While the offer will be lower than selling things piece by piece, it covers a few issues at once. First, there is often no effort involved beyond cashing the check. Next, the dealer will usually come by with boxes and equipment to haul them away, if the collection is large enough, saving a lot of sweat and labor. Also, it gets the collection handled in one easy transaction, and the space is quickly freed up for other things.
Estate sale.
Possibly, but it often doesn't end well. Some estate sales price things too greedily. Others don't know what they have, and the resulting sale is like a feeding frenzy where other collectors rush in and try to grab what they want before someone else gets it. Worse, what happens at the end of the estate sale after the popular items have sold and the rest of the collection remains? (I saw this at a big estate sale where the entire garage and enclosed porch were filled with records. There were tens of thousands of 45s remaining when I visited, and thousands of LPs.) Most likely, the family will have to use one of the other methods listed here to get rid of everything.
Selling locally.
This is similar to an estate sale, only the items are listed as public ads on Craigslist, Marketplace, etc. Based on personal experience in my locale, this is something I don't recommend. Few would ever pay an asking price. Most will lowball the asking price. Many will severely lowball the asking price, and toss in a few insults to your intelligence. ("I sell these all day long--I know what they're worth.") That and having to constantly leave the house to meet up with buyers in a public place (I would never let these buyers into my home) gets tiring. The only possible bright side to this is that a dealer sees the ad and that opens a conversation to selling in bulk, as I've mentioned above.
Donating.
Outside of thrift organizations, I can't think of other places to donate a collection. Libraries seemingly don't want to handle vinyl or even CDs anymore. And donating to a thrift store environment results in no cash either, beyond a receipt for a donation that may not even be of any use. (One has to itemize deductions in the US in order to apply donations.) One also has to cringe at the typical thrift store environment, and how a collection would be handled by the grubby-handed public. I'd send old appliances and furniture to the thrift stores, but not something as personal as a record collection.
In my case, my family knows that my collection is theirs once I'm done on this planet, and is theirs to do whatever they please with it. Likewise, I don't worry about it. But I do get a little concerned that I need to weed things out due to an overall downsizing phase in life we're going through right now. Physical media will always be with me, so I just need to keep myself concerned with keeping the collection at an optimum size more for my own sanity than for those who have to deal with it when I'm gone.
What are your thoughts?
