The Rare Record Price Guide 2024

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Many albums from Japan from the late 1950s through the early 1970s were pressed on dark red vinyl. Japanese pressings were also issued with a paper sash, or “obi,” that wrapped around the cover and provided information for the buyer in Japanese. Some artists tend to have a longtime following, while others are popular only while they are actively recording. With the former, such as Elvis Presley, Pink Floyd, blues singer Robert Johnson, or the Beatles, many of their records remain both valuable and highly collectible long after they stopped recording or even after their deaths. In the case of such records, a mint copy might sell for 50 times as much money as a worn-out copy of the same record.

In many cases, the records that can be sold for the most money are the ones that were produced in extremely limited qualities. Something like God Save the Queen from the Sex Pistols is rare, so it would go for a high value. Similarly, an album with the original picture sleeve of “Street Fighting Man” by the Rolling Stones would be valued highly as well since they withdrew it before release. As acetates are cut one at a time, they are understandably rare, and command a high value in the market place as they are both rare and unusual. As we always say, however, there is no fixed price for a second-hand record, no matter how rare it is. There are still bargains to be found out there, while in other situations like a feverishly competitive online auction particularly sought-after items can fetch prices way above their ‘book' value. The price of a rare record is purely determined by what people are prepared to pay for it. Ultimately, it’s up to you to choose the direction you want to go when selling pieces of your record collection. Just make sure you don’t part with any albums that you’ll miss! Conclusion Another avenue you might consider is selling your records at an auction house. Possibly a good combination of being able to achieve a high price without all the work. You might be right, but there are still fees here that will be charged for you selling the item. Probably more importantly are the fees that will be charged to the winning bidder. These can be as high as 20% so the winning bidder does need to factor this when bidding. Again it’s all an impact of the value of your record collection. Selling your records in BulkThe exception to this would be records from companies that do not ordinarily release records, such as the Franklin Mint. Over the years, the Franklin Mint has released a number of recordings as limited edition sets, usually spanning many volumes. Most of these recordings were also pressed on colored vinyl and the sets were marketed in mass media to consumers who were not record collectors. These recordings have little value unless they are offered in complete sets, some of which came with as many as 100 records. Once you choose a record to appraise, the first step to take is determining its condition. Obviously, a record in mint condition has a higher value than a damaged one. In this step of the appraisal process, look at the following attributes: • Warping: Is your record warped? If so, its sound quality and physical integrity may be compromised. Warping can be caused by improper storage methods, extreme temperatures, and other factors, and it’s one of the main reasons some rare records sell for less than others. Julie London – Collection of 67 Still Sealed… A collection of 67 still sealed U.S. albums by pop… (1,961)

Common” is also relative; records that sold well in the 1950s and 1960s still sold in substantially smaller quantities than those sold in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1950s, it was rare for even a popular album to sell much more than a million copies. By the 1980s, albums selling more than 5 million copies were relatively common. It also really important to consider how you want to sell your record collection. There really can be potentially two different values on a record collection. One is the individual selling value and the other is the bulk selling value. What ever type of collection you have I am always keen for you to get in touch. Of course I may want to buy your record collection, but I’m also happy to just offer some advice and options as to what you could do with it depending on your circumstances. Please do get in touch with me here. Record collecting is a fascinating hobby, however, and the many factors that can go into determining vinyl records value are among the things that keep the hobby interesting to collectors.Record changers, which were phonographs that were capable of playing up to a dozen records in sequence, were popular in the 1960s and 1970s and were particularly prone to adding scratches and abrasions to a record’s playing surface. Many covers were poorly stored, leading to ring wear or splits in the covers. Furthermore, owners often wrote their names or other information on the record’s cover or label. Condition matters a lot. We have written an extensive article about the Beatles Butcher cover. You can read it here. (new window)

This is one of the factors that pretty much has no exceptions; a record with a picture sleeve is always more valuable than the same record without one.This factor is pretty straightforward when it comes to vinyl records value; records that sold well and are quite common are going to be less valuable than records that sold poorly or are hard to find. A lot of albums sold in the 1970s and early 1980s sold millions of copies when new, and as such, it isn’t difficult to find copies in nice, playable condition. If a record routinely sells for a lot of money, there is a good chance that the title in question has been counterfeited. Many albums by the Beatles, along with other popular artists such as the Yardbirds, Elvis Presley, and Pink Floyd, have been counterfeited. In a few cases, such as the Beatles album Introducing the Beatles, counterfeit copies may actually outnumber the real ones.

This online edition of the Rare Record Price Guide is the largest and most comprehensive ever. It has been compiled by the expert research team of Record Collector, the world's leading magazine in the field.In this post, we’ll go over a number of factors that may determine the value of a particular record. Keep in mind that there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration, and it’s quite rare for a record to be valuable based on one factor alone. It’s usually a combination of things that add to a vinyl record’s value, and other factors can sometimes turn a valuable record into one that isn’t worth all that much seemingly overnight. Autographed records with provenance, such as a photograph of the artist signing the record, tend to bring the highest prices of all. In the late 1970s, for example, Todd Rundgren and the Cars were highly collectible, but these days, there’s little interest in their recordings. On the other hand, records by the Beatles are selling for the highest prices ever and prices remain steady more than 50 years after they released their last album. Whenever there’s a commodity that is worth money to people, there are unscrupulous people who try to take advantage of them by forging that commodity. Paintings have been forged, currency has been counterfeited, and unfortunately, so have many rare records. Plenty of factors can come into play when you’re appraising the value of vinyl records, including age, rarity, condition, and more. It’s often tough to know where an LP in your collection ranks in these categories. That’s where we come in.