Best way to sell a record collection


Hello, last fall I sold my record player and decided to go all in on cds. Now I have a bunch of records that I don’t want that are taking up space. Some of the records are really good finds and according to discogs I have some pretty valuable records as well. My question is, what’s the best way to go about selling? I really don’t want to deal with putting the whole collection on discogs and having to ship out one at a time and dealing with packing and shipping. I’ve never sold records so I’m trying to make it as painless as possible while also getting maximum value out of the records that I purposely acquired for their rarity or value or whatever. Does anyone have experience with this? Thoughts, opinions, advice?

jawillia
dill

2,429 posts

 

Sold my vinyl gear and am in the process of selling my albums now. I use eBay, ordered cardboard record mailers and ship USPS Media Mail. Sold about 350 so far in less than a year and a half and have about 150 to go. I get good prices and the process is easy.

That is one of the reason why ebay would not make sense. Discogs a-bit better, because not spending as much time of listing. Listing 1000 records on ebay may take a couple of weeks of full time labor 40 hours per week. In addition they have draconic fees.

 

@czarivey  I hate the ebay fees. 13% or so, and the same fee on the shipping which I is not income. I have sold 0 on discogs though, and many on ebay, so I don't know how discog works. 

After I retired I went through my collectiion, about 2,000 and pulled about 400 lps. Took the best 100 to 3 of my favorite used shops and sold a few to one shop. The low ball offers I got resulted in me keeping them. No ebay, no Discogs- too much work. So I decided to sell them myself in local record shows. I did 2 in my town and 1 each in towns close to me. Great results and fun. Meeting true vinyl and music lovers. Other vendors were buyers also. Just search for records shows in your area, contact the coordinator of the show, price your lps (I used slightly less than Discogs mid price. I want to move ‘em - not pay bills with proceeds). I never sell a record I would not buy myself or play on my system. I have not done another show in a couple years - but will and have a couple hundred left, boxed and ready. Vendor entry fees are about 50-60 for an 8 foot table. Just need to re-price them against the current market. Plus helping others with music knowlege is always fun. For example, many younger buyers tell me they like jazz but dont know what to buy. Serious collectors attend these shows and they buy. Some vendors specialize in genres- soul, rock, etc. some specialize in imports. Some vendors have physical stores.