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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
djspinner's avatar
djspinner
59 posts
 

Most value and least painful are two competing goals.  

Pick out the most expensive or in demand records, purchase a 20 pack of record mailers, and try to sell them on eBay or discogs to get a feel for how much fun or a pain the process is. If you have no history and thus no seller feedback/rating, it might be difficult at first.  Keep in mind after listing fees and paypal fees you're going to take about a 16-20% hit on the final transaction proceeds.  

If you're actively a CD buyer, your best value might be to get trade in (store credit) from your local record store. If they don't have your desired CD in stock, I'm sure they'd be happy to special order for you. Best to bring in a couple dozen at a time, rather than your whole collection, since you're likely to get a better deal that way.

 

grislybutter
2,309 posts
 

USPS media is $4.50 in the lower 48. I posted about 30 albums for a best offer on ebay and it sells at around the rate of one a month. I like the idea that you sell the best ones individually. You can also sell them as a lot and set your price. It may take 6 months but you will get offers 

dill
2,451 posts
 

"it’s pretty painful to list them and mail them one by one at the post office"

- nah, I print the shipping labels though the eBay system and just give them to my mailman.

"So selling one at a time and dealing with shipping is hassle free and worth it?"

- yes, I think so, I buy the cardboard mailers from sellers on eBay, 50 at a time, under $1.00 each. I add the cost of the shipping, ebay's cut and the shipping cost to the "Buy it Now" price.

One of my listings

noromance's avatar
noromance
9,488 posts
 

Share your Discogs list and look for offers on the collection. 

mahler123
3,062 posts
 

The trade off is money vs convenience.  You will make more doing it piecemeal, particularly if discogs has told you some of them are worth something.  If you send them have value.  However it’s time consuming, and be prepared to deal with disgruntled customers on the other end.  Some people get angry if the record has normal surface noise, and then there is the real possibility that it might be damaged by the shipping company 

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