Having recently started buying and selling vinyl again, I thought I'd better buy a price guide to help me with current prices. I know they have always only been a guide, but at one time most rarities seemed to sell for roughly what was in Manship's book.

 

Since I bought the latest of his guides however, every record I have bought or sold, has born very little resemblance to the guide price. And I don't mean just by a couple of quid either way but hundreds of pounds on the big lads.

 

I don't know how or why it's happened, but the guide is a total waste of ink and paper in todays market place.

 

Your thoughts on the subject?

 

I visit my parents in the USA regularly and they are in a place called Walker Minn, right up North and between the Armish settlement and the Indian reservations and almost fell off my perch when I walked into the local bookstore and amongst the usual Harley Mags, romance novels and Harry Potter books was Manships Guide to Rare Soul! Jesus I think the population for the immediate area is less than 800 so christ knows why they got one in, or how! That said it pretty much screwed me for picking up the 45s in numbers as I had been doing for the previous 36 years!!!! Gutted

I've only been collecting since Christmas and at first I thought I was purchasing real bargains after using the price guide.... The Three a Degrees - Driving Me Mad on Swan for £5.00. It goes for £50 on certain websites, but I've since never seen the 45 go for more than £10...

Another example... Carl Douglas - Lean on Me demo on UK CBS. The price guide says £50. The website has the record for sale at £100, and I've seen it go for as little as £30 on Ebay in NM condition.... It's just all a little confusing when you haven't been collecting for very long.....

I've only been collecting since Christmas and at first I thought I was purchasing real bargains after using the price guide.... The Three a Degrees - Driving Me Mad on Swan for £5.00. It goes for £50 on certain websites, but I've since never seen the 45 go for more than £10...

Another example... Carl Douglas - Lean on Me demo on UK CBS. The price guide says £50. The website has the record for sale at £100, and I've seen it go for as little as £30 on Ebay in NM condition.... It's just all a little confusing when you haven't been collecting for very long.....

 

I have a Three Degrees now and was going to try £15 on it.  I had the Carl Douglas, which is rare, but no demand for it.  Think I got £30 for that.  You'll find out that some websites have records at triple their real values.  Best way is to do a search on here and then you'll get an average real world price.

 Hi All, There are some basic rules to follow as a buyer of rare records, PETE has mentioned 2, the 1st thing is to remember is to find out some background of the seller is he/she a dealer (a person who makes a living from record sales, or a DJ, most DJ sell records, remember you should expect to pay up to 50% more for the record, dealers have to make a living, they have a good network of contacts & will buy & sell to each other before they list a record, this way they can move stock about,

Then you have the record collector, many collectors want the latest big sound, often they do DJ spots, so they will often part with top sounds of yesterday, to get their big one, as such expect to pay just under the book price.

next is the part timer, they attend gigs with a box of records, many a bargain has been found in a small box, but also many duff records also, so check the condition every time as record bars at soul doo's as dark & noisy places, also you may of had a couple of pints or other chemicals, so take care, 

years ago most of us took a box of records with us, as most people on the scene used to sell or swap as a part of their night out, sadly this has gone from the scene, some venues I have attended in the last few years have had no sales boxes or very few.

this small list is just a potted guide, there is no real price guide as such, as PETE SAYS "IT'S OFTEN A MATTER OF DEMAND NOT HOW RARE THE RECORD IS" my own experience of selling records back in the 7ts & 8ts is I wish I had them today as the classic sounds have gone from £10 to £100s,

all the above are my preferred ways to buy, as you can haggle with the seller, however most of you will buy from the internet,

EBay is the most common, most dealers are good but lots of rip off merchants do their best to get your wonger, many over charge on post, again get to know them read feedback, the Soul source sales are very good but can be top price on sales,

Finally avoid lists that say it was £300 on Manships, the  site is a well established and has a reputation of quality, and also it would please me,

Please add your comments to improve my comments, as this is just a potted view point from myself,

 DAVE K    

I don't really agree that you should expect to pay up to 50% more if you're buying from a dealer. A record is worth what the market dictates, it's not really the buyer's fault that that's how someone chooses to make their living. It's not like most of them have physical shops, either - and overheads like photocopying lists and buying stamps for mailing lists are all but over. If a record is worth £50 and a dealer wants to charge £75, good luck to them. With ebay I'd say it's more likely the buyer who determines the final price...

Edited August 4, 201410 yr by cover-up

I don't really agree that you should expect to pay up to 50% more if you're buying from a dealer. A record is worth what the market dictates, it's not really the buyer's fault that that's how someone chooses to make their living. It's not like most of them have physical shops, either - and overheads like photocopying lists and buying stamps for mailing lists are all but over. If a record is worth £50 and a dealer wants to charge £75, good luck to them. With ebay I'd say it's more likely the buyer who determines the final price...

 

 

I agree with you.  Sometimes the mark up is as little as a couple of quid.  The idea is to sell the thing so a fiver, a tenner, that's a profit.

I don't really agree that you should expect to pay up to 50% more if you're buying from a dealer. A record is worth what the market dictates, it's not really the buyer's fault that that's how someone chooses to make their living. It's not like most of them have physical shops, either - and overheads like photocopying lists and buying stamps for mailing lists are all but over. If a record is worth £50 and a dealer wants to charge £75, good luck to them. With ebay I'd say it's more likely the buyer who determines the final price...

 HI ALL   I Take your point, but it is sadly not how the market works or how it runs, for example who prices those worthless counterfeit records that flood the market if you sold them at £1.50 you would make a profit? £10 £12, or a special demo £20, it's the dealers that priced them in the 1st place,  knowing that they mark up I always try to haggle the price down, in the 30 odd years of living in the West Midlands it is noticeable when walking around local markets that people do not haggle, in London you always haggle, the price you pay will always be different to what the dealers will pay every time, they haggle when they are buying, references like "it's not Mint, there's no demand & so on & if they know you need money the price gets lower & you wate longer as the cherry picking starts, sadly most of us over pay for every thing in our capitalist society,  DAVE K