comesatime Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Well, seeing as how I'm trying to sell a record and I'm not much of a seller, I thought I'd ask how you guys establish your prices or figure out the value of the stuff you want to sell. I imagine others might have had similar questions. Sure, the completed eBay listings or a site like popsike! (which tracks certain values) are a possibility, but eBay prices tend to be a bit higher, no? My main reason for asking is that I was considering offering my copy of Elliott Smith's first record straight-up for a Kurt Vile lathe. Now, I've seen people offer the E.S. record for as much as $300, but eBay values tend to be around $40-$50. I think I had gotten mine for $36. Problem is, the lathes are sold out and hard to find, and I really am not sure what the value is. I've a big fan of E.S., but I have pretty much no hope of completing an E.S. collection, whereas the only KV record I'm missing is that lathe. Anyway, point is--where do you figure out your values? Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
museummouth Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 It's hard picking a value. Who's to say what's worth what? Mostly people go by ebay/popsike and price it a bit lower on here. Lately it seems that people are looking for ebay prices here though too. Also factor in condition (sealed/used, bent corners or wear). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamrocks Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 i think youve hit upon the exact reason why most people want to take offers on items rather than provide prices. its very hard to figure out value, because it is invariably higher to the seller than to the buyer, in most cases. moonbeams 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dethrock Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 completed eBay listings or a site like popsike! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apirk Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 You cans see what things have sold for on discogs. You can see the high, low and median and I think last sold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comesatime Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 You cans see what things have sold for on discogs. You can see the high, low and median and I think last sold. I actually didn't know that. Thanks for pointing it out! Funny enough,my Elliott Smith record is worth, at minimum, $90 according to the Discogs history. That seems incredibly inflated, even by eBay standards but I suppose it's really worth what someone is willing to pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooks Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Ultimately it's about what means more to you... If you are going to look at your KV collection and think "Yes, this is so satisfying" every time then it is worth it. If you are going to look at your KV collection and think "God, I wonder what I could have gotten for that Smith record" every time then it is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comesatime Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 Ultimately it's about what means more to you... If you are going to look at your KV collection and think "Yes, this is so satisfying" every time then it is worth it. If you are going to look at your KV collection and think "God, I wonder what I could have gotten for that Smith record" every time then it is not. I never really bought a record to say, "Wow, that's worth a lot of money." I really just love music, so collecting vinyl grew as an extension of buying cassettes, then buying CD's. The vinyl just tends to be a lot more valuable with time. I think the KV collection started as an OCD habit. It was a lot more affordable at the time than, say, Elliott Smith's back catalog. For example, the white press of XO goes for something like $250, whereas I offered about $50 for the KV test press of Fall Demons. I'm not sure what it's worth. All of my KV stuff might be worth a few hundred (probably inflated by my sentiment), but it was never about the money, it was more a feeling of it just feeling cool to have, similar to autographs or something like that. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but I'm sure some of you guys know what I mean. I am a big E.S. fan, and my sentiment is hitting me a bit, but I don't listen to my 7" records that much, and I really can't imagine that ES record hitting the heights of, say, Nirvana's Love Buzz. I don't know, definitely something to think about. Hopefully a lathe will turn up sooner or later and I don't have to agonize. To get back to my topic, I'm in the process of selling some 7" in a thread I have posted, but I was trying to figure out if the system of offering is intimidating or if those bands just garner minimal interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuzzersonKillwell Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 Discogs is a terrible way to judge value I think. So are the inflated eBay prices. Yes, someone is trying to sell XO for $250. They most recent listings went unsold at $69. That XO white has sold for $30 - $50 over the past couple years it looks like. Using Popsike and actual past data is a much better way to judge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apirk Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 I agree looking at what people are trying to sell them for is not the best but looking at what they sold for is a good indication of what they can go for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Hundred Fifty-Two Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 Is that what it sold for or was that what it was listed at? kriss, themeconspiracy, abovetheearth and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comesatime Posted April 12, 2013 Author Share Posted April 12, 2013 Is that what it sold for or was that what it was listed at? I'm quite certain you've won the thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock N Roll Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 Is that what it sold for or was that what it was listed at? Hold on, I have a buddy who knows all there is to know about what it sold for or what it was listed at. Mind if I give him a call? hobohunter48, kriss and bathroommonkey 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uniquemel0dy Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 . And you thought you were going to sell me this plastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingvinyl Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 Unfortunately, most modern records aren't listed in price guides. So, things like completed ebay listings are the only way to show a record's "value". But, ebay is an auction site, so it isn't a true indicator of value because things fluctuate so much due to the pressure of 'winning' the item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bub 85 Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 Put it up for $36. Then you'll be able to sleep at night after because you got more than you bought it for and anyone who bid on it made it happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobfrombob Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 Sounds to me like you should go out and buy the Kurt Vile and then try to sell the Elliot Smith for whatever the Vile costs you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamover Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 Just like beanie babies and baseball cards, there's a magazine that comes out every quarter that has grids of every record and says how much it's currently worth. record stores use the magazine to price most rare records they get in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirrorboxer Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 How can you say that ebay isn't a true indicator of value. Value is defined by what something is worth to someone. In this case we get an assigned monetary value to an object. Auction style listings allow for the market to drive the selling price and allows the seller to capture most if not all of the consumer surplus found on an economic demand curve diagram. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_surplus Take the mean average of recent sold listings and you have an approximate value of your record; or you can go to popsike which has done all of the work already for you. Unfortunately, most modern records aren't listed in price guides. So, things like completed ebay listings are the only way to show a record's "value". But, ebay is an auction site, so it isn't a true indicator of value because things fluctuate so much due to the pressure of 'winning' the item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobfrombob Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 As long as you have a resonable mean. The problem with eBay is it can create crazy outliers. If one person pays $300, it doesn't mean there is a market for that record at $300 - it just means there was one person prepared to pay that, and there may never be another one. So if there are a reasonable number of sales, you can absolutely determine an approximate value from eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRareCreature Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 completed eBay listings or a site like popsike! The above or homework 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drds89 Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 an auction site with plenty of eyeballs watching for a certain product ('demand') is about as good as it gets for sensing what the MARKET is in any collectible. It is true there are confounding factors re: final hammer price, like SHILLING, and two people who get into an auction war-- good for the seller, bad for future buyers, when other sellers see that latter anomaly. in other collectibles I 've been in, (and I've only sold relatively few records so far -- mostly private sales for the same or little what I paid to my friends) on my ebaY listings, I go with the titanium nads route: true auction, 0.01 starting bid and LET HER ROLL....the market will decide. it's been berry, berry good to me on GOOD, quality, low pop, high demand material no matter what the item is, 95% of the time. Sometimes though, you do take a bath on something, but that's life in the grown up world But I like the B/S/T board here and DF alot, too. I might try discogs though; have found some good stuff as a buyer there. Just never sold yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nivek87 Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 i usually look at ebay prices (then factor in i'm going to sell it below that cost) as well as set sale prices from previous sales threads on here. if someone doesn't have it as a set sale and i see its sold, i usually shoot them a pm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirrorboxer Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 You don't need a reasonable number of sales to determine the value. You just need 1 sale because even if there are a small number of sales that would suggest a limited supply available for purchase (not pressed). Then we would be completely reliant on the demand for the record. These are interrelated. There are two sides to the argument. The supply side and the demand side. Small Supply with Large Demand = Higher Price Large Supply with Large Demand = Equilibrium Price (~MSRP) Small Supply with Small Demand = Equilibrium Price (~MSRP) Large Supply with Small Demand = Lower Price Regarding statistical outliers, If they are far enough from the median price and do not truely represent the sample, they can be thrown out and we would then assume a lesser confidence that our projected value is accurate. As long as you have a resonable mean. The problem with eBay is it can create crazy outliers. If one person pays $300, it doesn't mean there is a market for that record at $300 - it just means there was one person prepared to pay that, and there may never be another one. So if there are a reasonable number of sales, you can absolutely determine an approximate value from eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRareCreature Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 You don't need a reasonable number of sales to determine the value. You just need 1 sale because even if there are a small number of sales that would suggest a limited supply available for purchase (not pressed). Then we would be completely reliant on the demand for the record. These are interrelated. There are two sides to the argument. The supply side and the demand side. Small Supply with Large Demand = Higher Price Large Supply with Large Demand = Equilibrium Price (~MSRP) Small Supply with Small Demand = Equilibrium Price (~MSRP) Large Supply with Small Demand = Lower Price Regarding statistical outliers, If they are far enough from the median price and do not truely represent the sample, they can be thrown out and we would then assume a lesser confidence that our projected value is accurate. Were you an economics major too? Word Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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