What’s my collection worth?

You may have done a google search and found listings of your records for big money…before you get carried away it’s worth considering the following:

• Asking price does not always equal market value -some sellers are cheeky and list items at unrealistic prices and sit tight until someone pays what they’re asking.  Try watching some of these items and you’ll see that they often don’t sell for months/years.
• Compare like with like – on face value a record from the 1980’s may look similar to an original issue of the same album from the 60’s but the values will vary significantly. Many popular albums will have hundreds of different versions with big differences in value – you need to be able to accurately identify the exact version you own.
• Condition – grading has a significant effect on value – a VG record is worth 25% of the same record in mint condition. You need to assess the condition objectively and take this into account.
• Retail prices  – any prices you see listed online are representative of what you might get if you were to sell your records yourself, one at a time.  If you have plenty of spare time and aren’t in a rush this is how to get the most for your collection.