Spoken Word American Phonograph Cultures
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Have you studied your ABCs lately–that is Attics, Basements and Closets? They could yield up a good deal of extra cash and free up a heap of valuable space in your home for other uses. LPs (long-playing 10 and 12 inch discs, playing at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute), 78s (easily breakable discs, playing at 78 revolutions per minute with one tune on each side) and 45s(7 inch discs playing at 45 revolutions per minute) may be valuable. Record gathering as a sideline is just beginning to grow after a lot of other collectables have been conspicuously featured in oldfashioned stores and the media. It is not an highpriced sideline to establish, but disposing of them may be pricey in some ways. HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE VALUE Many people think that just because a record is old that it has great value. Very few records have any real value to accumulators or dealers. Value is based on a combining of three elements - (1) Supply and demand. How available is the record? If millions were initially sold it is likely that a heap of will turn up in thrift shops, employed record stores and in some homes. The scarcity element will have to be present. There must be a demand for that record because of the artisan performing (e.g. a major talent who passed away young and before being competent to make a good deal of records), the label on which it was recorded (the firstborn recording as discerned from a “reissue”), or an oddity concerning the record(e.g. a V-disc, wartime government recording or aircheck-taken from a radio broadcast, an introductory picture disc or a 10-inch LP). The scarcity element may also be affected by whether a record is “out-of-print”(no longer available from the manufacturer) thereby decreasing the supply. “Bootlegs” (records illegally developed from live concerts or broadcasts) are also worthful to collectors. (2) Condition of the record. Those with surface noises and scratches will be of little or no value. If it is in “mint” condition (perfect) or “near mint” condition it will have the most eminent possible value. A record in “very good” condition will have to not have any distorted sounds or loss of sound quality. “Good” means it may have a lot of imperfections, but may be readily enjoyed. “Fair” means it may play, but will have apparent sound disablement and detract from your enjoyment and the value of the record. Some dealers may have a more or less dissimilar grading scale. (3) Content of the recording. Generally speaking there is more interest in music than in spoken word or comedy records and the value therefor would be greater. Certain kinds of musical recordings fetch high sales prices. Jazz, introductory Broadway cast and movie soundtracks tend to provide a more active market and more outstanding value. Also early rhythm and blues records and the doowop sound are also highly valued and collectible. Among classical records the most priceless are orchestral performances, then solo instrumental, chamber music and concertos and solo vocal and operatic arias and in the end finish operas. To a great deal of collectors, whether a record is mono or stereo affects the value. Recently a market started out fabricating for rock records of early vintage, particularly those of deceased cult figures such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. Also, brisk marketing now occurs among gatherers of 45s, peculiarly amongst the 1950s rhythm and blues and early rock artists. Great interest maintains in rare and strange (foreign issues, etc.) in Elvis and the Beatles. However, most of their records have little value because so galore were invented without any distinguishing characteristics. In other words they were all the same. WHO WILL BUY YOUR RECORDS? Records are purchased by collectors, mail order dealers, employed records stores and the usual public, occasionally on a nostalgic momentum or because of a bestloved artist. For genuinely rare records the best prices will come from dealers who know the market and for how much they may resell them. Collectors are aroused and at times fanatical gathering their specialties. They may recompense top prices for queer idiosyncracies. It is strange to get top dollar for a rare record from the “general public’, where only the performance value is recognized, not the resale or selling value. Painstaking exploration and cognition of the record industry and it is artists is required to determine the value of a queer recording. It may be possible to determine a value for a “rare” record once you have determined that it is veritably rare. WHAT WILL THEY PAY? Most records that are not “rare” may fetch only pennies – 25 cents to a dollar – from dealers. The “general public” may remunerate $1 or $2. Rare records may fetch from $25 to the thousands. There are a number of price guides published, but values indicated are in general highly inflated or based on an isolated sale. Obviously, collectors and dealers want to read that records may fetch high prices. Remember, value rests in the mind of the buyer. HOW DO YOU FIND A BUYER? A buyer for each record you wish to trade in all probability exists someplace in the world. How to find that person is a huge problem. It is not not common for people to discover old records in their homes and carry on to spend a heap of dollars (far in excess of the eventual e record) and untold hours in pursuit of a buyer. It may become very discouraging and hindering and now and then obsessive. Expectations almost always exceed reality. Records may be sold by publicity – in local classifieds or collectors’ publications, by retail to local applied record stores, syndication at flea markets or bazaars or by encouraging a garage sale. Start by cataloging the records. List the artist, the title of the record, LP, 45 or 78rpm, the record catalog number and it is condition. Take the list to a record librarian and a good deal of employed record stores for offers and indications as to rarity. Talk to friends and associates. Selling involves potential buyers visiting your home. Or, you may have to pack and cart the records to a store for a price quote and no sale. Damage in transit may make them worthless. Out-of-town chances requires mail correspondence, packing, insurance, carting to the post office, placing postage and sending C.O.D. The buyer may refuse to receive upon receipt. ©2007 Howard E. Fischer |
