Oops, HOUSE FLOOD!! Audiophile vinyl collection got soaked. Where do we go from here?

As a collector from my teens-say 1966- I will not buy damaged albums. Worn yes,damaged no, e&oe.

Really appreciate all your comments.

I was fortunate in this incidence in several ways, First, the flood water was overflow of a foundation-level sump (sump pump had failed), so was clean and odorless runoff from the outdoor foundation drain tiles. Second, the albums were shelved reasonably high above ground, so only the bottom few inches were under water, moisture wicking up the cardboard sides being the real cause of damage. Third, catching the problem quickly allowed (i) immediate removal of vinyl to safety; (ii) spreading of paper-towel stuffed covers all over the house for individually-effective and odorless drying; and (iii), after several days’ pressing, substantial avoidance of cardboard warp and cover art damage. Finally, it helped that I have maintained over the years an extremely detailed excel spreadsheet for the 173 albums (378 data rows x 30 spec columns,1 row per platter side, many multi-platter albums), so had all that was needed to support a somewhat sort-of reasonable insurance recovery.

On the subject of divesting, responses so far have suggested either eBay or here on Audiogon as listing sites. There’s no way I’ll sell the albums piecemeal (well, other than if really good individual album offers are received), am way too old to administer all that. So I’d appreciate any other suggestions that would ease selling the whole collection as a single lot. Using album prices obtained pre-flood over several recent years from all over the net, the individual album lot total amounted to just over 14k, of which I was prepared to negotiate down to somewhere near half. Now post-flood, with covers substantially respectable and vinyl still pristine, I guess I’d consider some amount near half of the half, at least as a starting point. I certainly don’t want to be giving anything away, and it’s nice to think the value really lies in the music, but realistically collectors are looking at the whole package, so guess I have to be prepared. One thing for certain, it will be an interesting negotiation.

Any other suggestions, please bring them on. Anyone caring to see the spreadsheet, just ask. Again, thanks to all you responders, been a big help in accepting the reality of the thing, and in swallowing hard.

Insurance paid up when I had a loss. Fortunately my insurance agent had explained the need for cataloging so at his suggestion I allowed him to hire a student ,of his choice, to create an alphabetical list (I paid of course) with details. I only lost a few, to a city caused sewer back up; but one was a 'very' early and rare Elvis Presley. Due to the independent documentation I was properly compensated. Prior documentation is essential for insurance. Perhaps a good summer student opportunity for those of you with valuable collections and gear.

Sorry about your loss.
My lps were ruined in a house flood on August 6, 1985.  I remember the date because my wife had a C section that day.  I was in Grad school, broke, couldn't replace any of them.  There were no second hand stores selling lps then, and worse, no streaming services.  When I finally had a little cash to spend the stores were stocking CDs and my tt was effectively worthless.  I held onto he moldy, smelly lps for a few years but they were unplayable and the wet cardboard stank when it dried.
  You have to keep in mind that what matters is the Music,not the playback medium.  With a streaming service, you can have unlimited access to titles for between $10-$20/ month.  Meanwhile with the current interest in vinyl means that lps, new and old, are available in multiple outlets, so you can start collecting again while still being able to have easy access to your music.
  I would toss the rotting, germ filled slabs of petroleum.  Take it from one who has been there

Stanr ...

Sorry to hear about your loss ... 

I have thousands of LP's that I've collected over the years. I have many mint condition albums ... but I have albums that have really good covers, even mint covers with vinyl that's pretty noisy. I'd be happy to buy a bargain priced LP with a damaged cover in order to get the mint LP that resides inside of that cover.

I'll bet there's a lot of serious collectors out there who would buy some of your albums off of Ebay. Just tell it like it is: "Cover damaged in flood - record is mint." 

OP

All-

my condolences to anyone whom lost his collection to the hazards of Mother Nature.  I barely escaped Hurricane Katrina w/ mine.

Concur w/ the panel- eBay will reach your largest audience with a "lot" sale.
Let the consumer offer you a price.  Audiogon would be a good 2nd option.

God Speed

So I'm not alone, sorry to hear that.

You're right, I'll take a big hit in divesting.  I fortunately have maintained a vastly detailed collection spreadsheet along with partial pics dating back to the late-70s through early-80s when mostly collected, and invited our homeowners insurance company to take a look while drying still was in process, so will be coming away with at least some amount of insurance settlement.  Coupled with the several thou (who knows?) I expect to get when listing here the remaining mix of roughly 180 pristine never-played-and-once-played-to-tape vinyl in not-pristine-but-presentable covers, overall loss shouldn't be totally terrible.

Appreciate your comments on making sure drying is complete.  The cardboard itself was stuffed with paper toweling to hold open for professional restoration company drying fans to do their job (they were here anyway for drying other portions of the house, so re-aimed to blow over the albums the final four days).  The background drone of fan noise took some getting used to, but they did the job.  One unforeseen result was that many of the covers retained a misshapen open condition after the toweling was removed, but four more days' flattening  under 2' x 2' boards topped with considerable weight mostly resolved that, so as said above, ended up being not-pristine-but-presentable.  Overall we were pretty lucky, dealt with the damage quickly, vinyl was untouched, and covers got back to reasonable respectability.  Some other collector overall also will be pretty lucky on divestiture pricing.  I'll take the hit, but cushioned by the partial insurance recovery, so definitely softens the blow.

Dang i’m feeling your pain,I lost a couple thousands lps and like 5ooo cds 10 yrs ago.It’s a pain that will linger :( . my lps were in a different room and evaporated ,the cds were upstairs and got severly smoke damaged .I cleaned and cleaned annnddd cleaned the cds tossed probly 15 beer cases full .The lps i would pay attention to getting those covers dry or trashed well before the lp is returned.The mold is a b----- i would also buy all new sleeves for the lps .There are good deals on 100 lots on ebay etc.
good luck man
As for me and insurance they almost laughed outloud when i said i had that many and there 100k plus value.I got zip ,a lesson to all !! take pics and document that media.The gear was replaceable cj pv12 ,classic 60 , maggies,subs,linn lp12 etc etc still nothing in comparison to the media .

Sorry to hear this!!!!! I had to leave my whole collection behind when moving to the "promised land" with a wife, kid, and just two suitcases, OLESCHOOL lost his priceless collection (and house) to fire... you r not alone!!! If you intend to keep and listen, maybe wash them all with VPI or NittyGritty and get new MoFi inserts, if posted for sale there will be a painful hit, I agree... ;-(   Maybe not too much, personally I look for Mint vinyl, not cover :-)