Craziest record score ive ever had, pics included.

[xxmartinxx]

I don't think anybody is right in all of this. There's too many variables that can't be predicted. All it takes is for a band to gain the slightest bit of exposure and a brand new crop of vinyl collectors that were previously oblivious to the band are going to start collecting them and what may have been considered an inflated price just became the floor. And it may never drop back down. But by the same token, most of the 1950s records that were worth a shit ton 10-15 years ago are only worth a fraction of the price and not necessarily because of the artist's credibility or popularity. Sure, part of that is the fact that the internet made everything a lot more available but a lot of it is because people die off in time and/or quit collecting with age. Will Elvis ever really be less popular? I doubt it, but from a collecting standpoint his moderately rare records have dropped in value dramatically as have most artists from that era. Those used to be the cream of the crop. You just can't predict this shit. The only thing that seems to hold true is that the very rarest records by the most popular artists don't seem to ever come back to earth.

Can't you predict that records will (sooner or later) go down in value?

[xxmartinxx]

Matt, I do disagree that eBay prices aren't the market value. eBay IS the best real time judge of market value for nearly everything.

Hmm, I'd have to agree w/ that point I guess - in "real time". But doesn't that fly in the face of how the longevity of the value of said product is determined? (Maybe I am not explaining well enough, but I really am asking and we can take this discussion into PM's if you want). I just think it is all much more complex in determining the long-term cash value for a record than what a microcosm of a sub-culture is willing to pay now.

I suppose what I am asking is: isn't there a clear difference between real-time market value and market longevity?

To use one of your [very good] analogies - look at what has happened because of real-time/short-term real estate values vs. the longevity of said market. It's vastly more complex, I know, but it seems to me that a large part of the problem was that people were led to believe that what they owned was worth much, much more than what they could realistically value it at - and that seems to happen with records. Just bcs I happen to get lucky and sell a "rare" single for, say $75, on ebay one week, that same single in the same condition can go for $10 the week after. So, it seems obvious that the conditions surrounding the two examples have less to do w/ what the single may actually be valued at and more to do with fluctuations in bidders' habits and actions from week to week.

Or am I missing a part of your explanation?

There are always anomalous sales (high or low) in any market.

If you look at what created the overvalued market conditions and then the bursting in the bubble of home prices, it's very similar to those of record collecting. You had speculators and flippers buying up properties, driving up prices. Once people could no longer afford them, people started to dump properties, driving the market lower and lower.

[chiefwahoo]

I don't think anybody is right in all of this. There's too many variables that can't be predicted. All it takes is for a band to gain the slightest bit of exposure and a brand new crop of vinyl collectors that were previously oblivious to the band are going to start collecting them and what may have been considered an inflated price just became the floor. And it may never drop back down. But by the same token, most of the 1950s records that were worth a shit ton 10-15 years ago are only worth a fraction of the price and not necessarily because of the artist's credibility or popularity. Sure, part of that is the fact that the internet made everything a lot more available but a lot of it is because people die off in time and/or quit collecting with age. Will Elvis ever really be less popular? I doubt it, but from a collecting standpoint his moderately rare records have dropped in value dramatically as have most artists from that era. Those used to be the cream of the crop. You just can't predict this shit. The only thing that seems to hold true is that the very rarest records by the most popular artists don't seem to ever come back to earth.

Can't you predict that records will (sooner or later) go down in value?

No, I don't think so. You would have to know for a fact that the band is past their popularity/hype peak. And with an active band, you can never know that for a fact. And once a band breaks up, they only seem to get more popular as more people learn about them. Ever since I have had a good job out of college, I have bought OOP records when I wanted them because I had the money and didn't have the patience. eBay was too tempting. Things it 'killed' me to buy back then are absolute bargains now because many of those bands only got more popular. I'm so glad I bought them when I did.

I think Dillinger Four's Midwestern LP on white is one of the few I refused to shell out $35-40 for several years ago. I thought there was no way in hell it would stay that high for long. And two just sold for $200+ despite a repress. I'm sure arguments can be made for the opposite thing happening as well, but I can't think of a single instance where I personally overpaid.

I think you're about my age. Doesn't it amaze you to see all of these 1980s albums selling for good money even though millions were probably pressed? I'm not talking about Air Supply, but any band whose music holds up from generation to generation gets eaten up. Records there used to be tons of copies at in record stores are non-existent now.

In my 25 years of collecting, I've really never seen the bottom fall out at all

[xxmartinxx]

Can't you predict that records will (sooner or later) go down in value?

No, I don't think so. You would have to know for a fact that the band is past their popularity/hype peak. And with an active band, you can never know that for a fact. And once a band breaks up, they only seem to get more popular as more people learn about them. Ever since I have had a good job out of college, I have bought OOP records when I wanted them because I had the money and didn't have the patience. eBay was too tempting. Things it 'killed' me to buy back then are absolute bargains now because many of those bands only got more popular. I'm so glad I bought them when I did.

I think Dillinger Four's Midwestern LP on white is one of the few I refused to shell out $35-40 for several years ago. I thought there was no way in hell it would stay that high for long. And two just sold for $200+ despite a repress. I'm sure arguments can be made for the opposite thing happening as well, but I can't think of a single instance where I personally overpaid.

I think you're about my age. Doesn't it amaze you to see all of these 1980s albums selling for good money even though millions were probably pressed? I'm not talking about Air Supply, but any band whose music holds up from generation to generation gets eaten up. Records there used to be tons of copies at in record stores are non-existent now.

In my 25 years of collecting, I've really never seen the bottom fall out at all

You've never seen a band or style go for selling for a lot to selling for a fraction of that price in the past 10 years? I find that hard to believe. There is stuff that I would have lost money on had I held on to it when I started selling off my collection around 7 years ago that I was able to pick up for less than half of what I sold it for.

Not sure which 80's bands you're referring to. Bruce Springsteen records are pretty easily available for less than $5.

[chiefwahoo]

No, I don't think so. You would have to know for a fact that the band is past their popularity/hype peak. And with an active band, you can never know that for a fact. And once a band breaks up, they only seem to get more popular as more people learn about them. Ever since I have had a good job out of college, I have bought OOP records when I wanted them because I had the money and didn't have the patience. eBay was too tempting. Things it 'killed' me to buy back then are absolute bargains now because many of those bands only got more popular. I'm so glad I bought them when I did.

I think Dillinger Four's Midwestern LP on white is one of the few I refused to shell out $35-40 for several years ago. I thought there was no way in hell it would stay that high for long. And two just sold for $200+ despite a repress. I'm sure arguments can be made for the opposite thing happening as well, but I can't think of a single instance where I personally overpaid.

I think you're about my age. Doesn't it amaze you to see all of these 1980s albums selling for good money even though millions were probably pressed? I'm not talking about Air Supply, but any band whose music holds up from generation to generation gets eaten up. Records there used to be tons of copies at in record stores are non-existent now.

In my 25 years of collecting, I've really never seen the bottom fall out at all

You've never seen a band or style go for selling for a lot to selling for a fraction of that price in the past 10 years? I find that hard to believe. There is stuff that I would have lost money on had I held on to it when I started selling off my collection around 7 years ago that I was able to pick up for less than half of what I sold it for.

Not sure which 80's bands you're referring to. Bruce Springsteen records are pretty easily available for less than $5.

No, I honestly can't cite any examples off the top of my head. The records I've paid attention to have either gone up or stayed the same. I haven't paid big money for anything and then had it decline in value. Granted, I tend to get into bands early in their careers, so maybe that's why.

There's a record store in Pittsburgh called Jerry's Records. They have millions of records and their stock is constantly replenished, so I consider it a good indicator. They used to have more copies of many 1980s albums than you could imagine. Stacks of every album by Guns N Roses, the Cure, Beastie Boys, etc. They couldn't have been more common. Now they never seem to have one copy of those records. The same thing happened with the 70s rock albums a decade earlier. The "good stuff", if you will, continues to be bought up by people.

[xxmartinxx]

No, I honestly can't cite any examples off the top of my head. The records I've paid attention to have either gone up or stayed the same. I haven't paid big money for anything and then had it decline in value. Granted, I tend to get into bands early in their careers, so maybe that's why.

There's a record store in Pittsburgh called Jerry's Records. They have millions of records and their stock is constantly replenished, so I consider it a good indicator. They used to have more copies of many 1980s albums than you could imagine. Stacks of every album by Guns N Roses, the Cure, Beastie Boys, etc. They couldn't have been more common. Now they never seem to have one copy of those records. The same thing happened with the 70s rock albums a decade earlier. The "good stuff", if you will, continues to be bought up by people.

Again, there has been a huge influx of people into vinyl collecting. That's where those records have gone.

Just off the top of my head, Naked Raygun, Mineral, Christie Front Drive, Saetia, PG. 99, Necros, Leatherface, Code Of Honor, Isis, and 76% Uncertain are bands who have seen the prices of their vinyl increase then decrease. That's a pretty broad list of bands.

[chiefwahoo]

No, I honestly can't cite any examples off the top of my head. The records I've paid attention to have either gone up or stayed the same. I haven't paid big money for anything and then had it decline in value. Granted, I tend to get into bands early in their careers, so maybe that's why.

There's a record store in Pittsburgh called Jerry's Records. They have millions of records and their stock is constantly replenished, so I consider it a good indicator. They used to have more copies of many 1980s albums than you could imagine. Stacks of every album by Guns N Roses, the Cure, Beastie Boys, etc. They couldn't have been more common. Now they never seem to have one copy of those records. The same thing happened with the 70s rock albums a decade earlier. The "good stuff", if you will, continues to be bought up by people.

Again, there has been a huge influx of people into vinyl collecting. That's where those records have gone.

Just off the top of my head, Naked Raygun, Mineral, Christie Front Drive, Saetia, PG. 99, Necros, Leatherface, Code Of Honor, Isis, and 76% Uncertain are bands who have seen the prices of their vinyl increase then decrease. That's a pretty broad list of bands.

I still don't expect to see stacks of those records at used record stores ever again. I'll be more than happy if I'm wrong about it.

I'm either fortunate or I don't pay enough attention. I paid $30 on eBay for a perfect mint copy of Mush five years ago. I haven't paid attention since but don't people say that's a $100 record these days? I think demand only continues to outweigh demand.

I guess you expect a large number of people to stop collecting vinyl relatively soon whereas I see it as bands with cross-generational appeal having the supply permanently dry up since their records are out of print.

[xxmartinxx]

Again, there has been a huge influx of people into vinyl collecting. That's where those records have gone.

Just off the top of my head, Naked Raygun, Mineral, Christie Front Drive, Saetia, PG. 99, Necros, Leatherface, Code Of Honor, Isis, and 76% Uncertain are bands who have seen the prices of their vinyl increase then decrease. That's a pretty broad list of bands.

I still don't expect to see stacks of those records at used record stores ever again. I'll be more than happy if I'm wrong about it.

I'm either fortunate or I don't pay enough attention. I paid $30 on eBay for a perfect mint copy of Mush five years ago. I haven't paid attention since but don't people say that's a $100 record these days? I think demand only continues to outweigh demand.

I guess you expect a large number of people to stop collecting vinyl relatively soon whereas I see it as bands with cross-generational appeal having the supply permanently dry up since their records are out of print.

"Mush" goes for more, all their other records go for less.

I hope that people continue to buy and collect vinyl. I hope that any new (new meaning in the past five years) collectors stick with it. Unfortunately I believe a lot of them will burn out on it. I don't think that will happen soon, but I think it will happen. It's the same thing that happens with anything "collectible", whether it be comic books, baseball cards, or Pokemon, or Beanie Babies.

[mattstrike]

[…]or Beanie Babies.

Man, fuck Beanie Babies!

[iliketurtles]

Good article in the latest Razorcake on the impeneding (or not) vinyl bubble.

I've been buying records since the late nineties and no one can argue that demand has certainly increased which has in instances been awesome ie this site and all the new and oop vinyl releases that have come about because of it.

However, you have to wonder how those obscure variations you pay out the nose for now be worth much once demand levels off.

Buy records for listening purposes if it's rare or you're a completist awesome, if you're looking at it like a 401k plan you will be disappointed.

[xxmartinxx]

Exactly!

[chiefwahoo]

I still don't expect to see stacks of those records at used record stores ever again. I'll be more than happy if I'm wrong about it.

I'm either fortunate or I don't pay enough attention. I paid $30 on eBay for a perfect mint copy of Mush five years ago. I haven't paid attention since but don't people say that's a $100 record these days? I think demand only continues to outweigh demand.

I guess you expect a large number of people to stop collecting vinyl relatively soon whereas I see it as bands with cross-generational appeal having the supply permanently dry up since their records are out of print.

"Mush" goes for more, all their other records go for less.

I hope that people continue to buy and collect vinyl. I hope that any new (new meaning in the past five years) collectors stick with it. Unfortunately I believe a lot of them will burn out on it. I don't think that will happen soon, but I think it will happen. It's the same thing that happens with anything "collectible", whether it be comic books, baseball cards, or Pokemon, or Beanie Babies.

Only Leatherface LP I own, I guess I lucked out.

I was around/involved for the baseball cards and comic books so I definitely know what you mean. In a way, I am all for cheaper vinyl prices across the board, but I'd also hate for it to be because people quit collecting. I want it to be as popular as possible.

[kurtz]

The Bronx Social Club (ALL THREE) 7" mint condition.... for $22.50. you all know the story behind these, as i lurk this site every couple days while bored at work. I have seen just ONE of these go for over $100 recently on eBay... its insane

LOL. The guy you bought this off of made a thread about how low it went on VLV today. http://board.vivalavinyl.org/?func=topic&id=77022&r=34

I'm not really into the Bronx, but it seems like you got a pretty sweet deal.

[ryanwood]

hahaha.. fuck i kinda feel bad.... and by bad, i mean STOKED AS HELL.

that is pretty funny..

[180gramparamedic]

"falcon 10"

paid like $12

got $3"

Wow its way to early to try and flip that falcon 10" ... I'm pretty sure everyone who wants that record already has it. VC still has the 'royal blue' in stock.. right?

Oh well, he will make some cash off those D4 records he is selling. I was even considering bidding on those as well, but, with the whole "christmas" and "mortgage payment" due soon... i figured i dont really need those, like, at all.

[bruins4ever]

I just got "These Arms Are Snakes - This Is Meant to Hurt You" on clear pink used for $4.00 in great condition. Not an epic steal, but pretty great.

[180gramparamedic]

I just got "These Arms Are Snakes - This Is Meant to Hurt You" on clear pink used for $4.00 in great condition.

I really like that record. I know nothing about the pressings or even how limited that LP is, but i would pay 4 bucks for any color or pressing of that, just to own it.

If you have time, throw ye old iPhone in front of that record and take a picture of it. I love seeing pink vinyl for some reason. (omgz secretly gh3y?)

xo

[daniel]

I just got "These Arms Are Snakes - This Is Meant to Hurt You" on clear pink used for $4.00 in great condition.

I really like that record. I know nothing about the pressings or even how limited that LP is, but i would pay 4 bucks for any color or pressing of that, just to own it.

If you have time, throw ye old iPhone in front of that record and take a picture of it. I love seeing pink vinyl for some reason. (omgz secretly gh3y?)

xo

I love pink vinyl. I chose pink copies of Four Minute Mile and Planet of Ice over their blue counterparts.

Girly guy.

[andrew13]

they want to try to cancel the auction now over there. haha. and the falcon 10"s i've seen have all done decent, maybe the guy just fucked up the title.

here's my 2 best scores, both in the last few days:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270316366437

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120346469679