I know that this has probably been discussed many times. I'm getting to the stage in my life due to my age and health I'm thinking about selling my records as they rarely get played but they mean so much to me. I have a few things that I could never let go but I do have a fair few , do I sell and enjoy the money or keep them. It's such a big dilemma for me. Would like your positive and negative thoughts please..if you have had to do the same

Edited Tuesday at 07:282 days by Greedy Mick

Pick out your fave/best 200 45’s and put them to one side,get rid of the rest,after some time when the collection has gone,you can see how you feel about your remaining 200.

Northern soul is a big market,so much for sale at any one time,so be prepared for some hard work!

Hope this helps with your decision mate

Lee

Sell em and enjoy the money, if you don't or hardly play them, keep hold of a few that hold memories but cash in on the rest, most tracks can be accessed on cd or other digital forms so not going to miss the sound just the physical owing of the records but as you said getting older and health , enjoy the money raised.

Keep them! Don't sell your soul😊!

I am enjoying the money, buying great records💫

If I sold my records, the money would just flitter away on this and that semi-meaningless things!

Edited Tuesday at 06:132 days by Solidsoul

I would go down to top 5 that mean something, frame them , if you live in a big house top 10 , then pull another 30 you just can’t let go - they mean something to you.

After that split your collection down and bleed out the collection, either through SS or evil bay one at a time , big money top times first , slowly work yourself back to the £10 boots - and loads of Motown - then what ever is left - contact one of the record dealers like Rob Smith yea I know he’s only going to give you £2 per record for what’s left but hey someone else can enjoy them .

or you go straight to plan B and sell the whole lot - and as you close the door after they’ve gone you think - is that it , am left with nothing 😢

I sold my first 7’s collection in 2005 when my daughter was born - only 500 records but every one was mint / ex - I came on the scene 84 so literally cleared up in my home town - and had a great mentor in my mates big brother who put me on to lads selling up after the casino - it was over for them ! So I then collected albums - only started collecting 7’s again in last five yrs - only got 300 this time round - quality over quantity - but where am going with all this is - prices - some records are just so expensive and commanding astronomical amounts - my daughter and son aren’t interested - so I’d cash in and enjoy the money if I were you and enjoy the memories !

No one can tell you what the right thing to do is; its subjective and very personal. You could take advice from 100 people here, but only YOU will be impacted by either selling your records or keeping them. But it may help to consider the following (mostly philosophical) issues:

1. If you sell, later when the money is gone, then what; how will you feel?

2. Like many of us, your records will have been the soundtrack of your life; so if you sell, does a significant part of you go with it?

3. Are you selling to cash in, coz some records fetch good money now, or are you selling coz you’ve had enough of (some) them?

4. As above, if most of your records were worth pocket change, would you still be considering selling them?

5. If the premise for selling is that yre getting old and cant take them with you; doesnt that also apply to every other asset you own? You cant take with you the money you get for the records either, if your demise occurs before you spend it all!

6. For many of us of a certain generation, the records we bought, and own were cheap, and now ‘owe us nothing’. So the percentage gain in selling them now is enormous. But we never bought them as investments; we bought coz we were/are emotionally invested in them. Are you still; or have they (or some of them) lost some of that for you?

7. Back in the day, the only way to hear records we loved, in our own homes, was to buy them (originals or boots), or tape them ‘live’ at a venue. Now this is no longer the case; we can now own nothing, yet have pretty much 99% of mainstream and obscure records on mp3 via YouTube etc, streamed right into our homes. So if you sell, you can still listen to everything you currently own (and more). So the question is really about to what extent the ownership of the physical product/entity means to you.

8. If these records/collection have been a part of you for most/all of your adult life (maybe before that), and been the soundtrack of it; if you sell them will you still be the person you were/the person you’ve been???

9. Is there a way for you to assess the value of what you sell, and the pleasure that money (or what you do with it) will give you, against the pleasure of continuing to keep them? Whatever the answer to that is, may well be the right way to go.

10. Finally; take note of all those before us who’ve sold up, and how many of them express regret; coz they wish they hadnt, coz records have shot up ridiculously in price since, coz they miss them, etc etc. How will it feel to be one of the many constantly saying..”I used to have that”😜

I have been slowly selling, mainly by answering wants on here and Rare Soul Wants on Facebook. I will end up with 3 small boxes, US, UK and Canadian.

I do, however, still go to all the record shows and will still pick up stuff when I see it as I just like being around and buying vinyl.

the money you achieve will be more useful to your children than the records if they don’t know the values or dont have the inclination to put time and effort into finding out before they were to sell. So as something to pass down money may be better as you will know quickly what’s worth a lot and what isn’t.

I sold quite a lot of expensive records but kept a collection of cheaper records that I really like or haven’t got the time or energy to sell for little return.

When I was most active it was constant buying and selling but as I’ve drifted away from the scene I’m happy just to listen via internet and can’t see a scenario where I would spend a huge % of my disposable income on 45s.

A lot of older guys will be sat on great collections pondering this right now….

I’d sell rare or in demand bits one by one then probably stop when the effort to reward dropped off

4 hours ago, Colouredman said:

No one can tell you what the right thing to do is; its subjective and very personal. You could take advice from 100 people here, but only YOU will be impacted by either selling your records or keeping them. But it may help to consider the following (mostly philosophical) issues:

1. If you sell, later when the money is gone, then what; how will you feel?

2. Like many of us, your records will have been the soundtrack of your life; so if you sell, does a significant part of you go with it?

3. Are you selling to cash in, coz some records fetch good money now, or are you selling coz you’ve had enough of (some) them?

4. As above, if most of your records were worth pocket change, would you still be considering selling them?

5. If the premise for selling is that yre getting old and cant take them with you; doesnt that also apply to every other asset you own? You cant take with you the money you get for the records either, if your demise occurs before you spend it all!

6. For many of us of a certain generation, the records we bought, and own were cheap, and now ‘owe us nothing’. So the percentage gain in selling them now is enormous. But we never bought them as investments; we bought coz we were/are emotionally invested in them. Are you still; or have they (or some of them) lost some of that for you?

7. Back in the day, the only way to hear records we loved, in our own homes, was to buy them (originals or boots), or tape them ‘live’ at a venue. Now this is no longer the case; we can now own nothing, yet have pretty much 99% of mainstream and obscure records on mp3 via YouTube etc, streamed right into our homes. So if you sell, you can still listen to everything you currently own (and more). So the question is really about to what extent the ownership of the physical product/entity means to you.

8. If these records/collection have been a part of you for most/all of your adult life (maybe before that), and been the soundtrack of it; if you sell them will you still be the person you were/the person you’ve been???

9. Is there a way for you to assess the value of what you sell, and the pleasure that money (or what you do with it) will give you, against the pleasure of continuing to keep them? Whatever the answer to that is, may well be the right way to go.

10. Finally; take note of all those before us who’ve sold up, and how many of them express regret; coz they wish they hadnt, coz records have shot up ridiculously in price since, coz they miss them, etc etc. How will it feel to be one of the many constantly saying..”I used to have that”😜

Top stuff this Tim.

One would say once you start with Northern Soul, then you are hooked on it for life. I am at present selling my collection a hard and prolonged process. A some stage in your life you have to decide what to do with all these records. Fact is you can t take them with you when you leave planet earth

If I was ever lucky enough to have such a record collection then like others have said keep your favourite ones then gradually sell but before maybe take images of the labels and make a memory album of them.

Maybe book a dream holiday with the proceeds of your first high value sales

Good luck with your decision x

1 hour ago, Dogsarse said:

One would say once you start with Northern Soul, then you are hooked on it for life. I am at present selling my collection a hard and prolonged process. A some stage in your life you have to decide what to do with all these records. Fact is you can t take them with you when you leave planet earth

Totally agree about it being a hard and prolonged process. I had a modest collection and it takes a lot of time and effort.

7 hours ago, Colouredman said:

No one can tell you what the right thing to do is; its subjective and very personal. You could take advice from 100 people here, but only YOU will be impacted by either selling your records or keeping them. But it may help to consider the following (mostly philosophical) issues:

1. If you sell, later when the money is gone, then what; how will you feel?

2. Like many of us, your records will have been the soundtrack of your life; so if you sell, does a significant part of you go with it?

3. Are you selling to cash in, coz some records fetch good money now, or are you selling coz you’ve had enough of (some) them?

4. As above, if most of your records were worth pocket change, would you still be considering selling them?

5. If the premise for selling is that yre getting old and cant take them with you; doesnt that also apply to every other asset you own? You cant take with you the money you get for the records either, if your demise occurs before you spend it all!

6. For many of us of a certain generation, the records we bought, and own were cheap, and now ‘owe us nothing’. So the percentage gain in selling them now is enormous. But we never bought them as investments; we bought coz we were/are emotionally invested in them. Are you still; or have they (or some of them) lost some of that for you?

7. Back in the day, the only way to hear records we loved, in our own homes, was to buy them (originals or boots), or tape them ‘live’ at a venue. Now this is no longer the case; we can now own nothing, yet have pretty much 99% of mainstream and obscure records on mp3 via YouTube etc, streamed right into our homes. So if you sell, you can still listen to everything you currently own (and more). So the question is really about to what extent the ownership of the physical product/entity means to you.

8. If these records/collection have been a part of you for most/all of your adult life (maybe before that), and been the soundtrack of it; if you sell them will you still be the person you were/the person you’ve been???

9. Is there a way for you to assess the value of what you sell, and the pleasure that money (or what you do with it) will give you, against the pleasure of continuing to keep them? Whatever the answer to that is, may well be the right way to go.

10. Finally; take note of all those before us who’ve sold up, and how many of them express regret; coz they wish they hadnt, coz records have shot up ridiculously in price since, coz they miss them, etc etc. How will it feel to be one of the many constantly saying..”I used to have that”😜

I keep reading this. 90 % of my records were bought in the late 70s upto 88 when I bought a house then got married. Most expensive was my Tomangoes. Got back into the scene in 2012 . Then bought things I could afford and didn't find 1st time around but nothing more than 2 or 3 hundred. Your reply is amazing in many ways.. my son went to niters with me for 12 years and is aware of values.. I think I have to spend some time thinking of what to do. Thanks for such an amazing and open response ✊️

Well priced classic oldies tend to go really quickly, unknown or out of favor ones not as easy.

Sell a few that don't matter as much to see how it goes. You could replace them with reissues if you still want them on vinyl or replace on cd

50 minutes ago, Greedy Mick said:

I keep reading this. 90 % of my records were bought in the late 70s upto 88 when I bought a house then got married. Most expensive was my Tomangoes. Got back into the scene in 2012 . Then bought things I could afford and didn't find 1st time around but nothing more than 2 or 3 hundred. Your reply is amazing in many ways.. my son went to niters with me for 12 years and is aware of values.. I think I have to spend some time thinking of what to do. Thanks for such an amazing and open response ✊️

Yre very welcome. These are all things Ive pondered on and been introspective about many times, so it was all there in my head; I just had to put it down in writing. Good luck with whatever you decide. Its definitely a ‘First World’ problem, which is nice for a change. None of us could have predicted the way its all gone, and if our records were all worthless financially now, we wouldnt be talking about any of this. But here we are; it is what it is, so think it through every which way, and Im sure you’ll make the right decision for the right reasons.👍🏽

23 minutes ago, Colouredman said:

Yre very welcome. These are all things Ive pondered on and been introspective about many times, so it was all there in my head; I just had to put it down in writing. Good luck with whatever you decide. Its definitely a ‘First World’ problem, which is nice for a change. None of us could have predicted the way its all gone, and if our records were all worthless financially now, we wouldnt be talking about any of this. But here we are; it is what it is, so think it through every which way, and Im sure you’ll make the right decision for the right reasons.👍🏽

Thank you Tim, I'm more confused than ever 😆.. I have only bought records I love alot of them from you at oddfellows 😁😁like you say we never bought them as an investment. That's what my pensions were for. This is going to be a hard and long decisive thing to do.. from my very first record J D Martin and my last the other ones the two of us... It is going to be a hard thing to sort out..

6 minutes ago, Greedy Mick said:

Thank you Tim, I'm more confused than ever 😆.. I have only bought records I love alot of them from you at oddfellows 😁😁like you say we never bought them as an investment. That's what my pensions were for. This is going to be a hard and long decisive thing to do.. from my very first record J D Martin and my last the other ones the two of us... It is going to be a hard thing to sort out..

Oddfellows; now that was a good venue

7 minutes ago, Greedy Mick said:

Thank you Tim, I'm more confused than ever 😆.. I have only bought records I love alot of them from you at oddfellows 😁😁like you say we never bought them as an investment. That's what my pensions were for. This is going to be a hard and long decisive thing to do.. from my very first record J D Martin and my last the other ones the two of us... It is going to be a hard thing to sort out..

Oddfellows, now that was a good niter; I enjoyed it there; Gary, Adam, The Vicar djaying as I recall. Think it through from every angle Mick, and you’ll make the ‘right’ decision👍🏽.

4 hours ago, Carty said:

Top stuff this Tim.

👍🏽

your decision and anyone else making such a decision will have to reflect on what their collection might be worth, and then factor in their own financial circumstances.

if you had a £30k, £50K, £100k, upward collection then that would be a slightly different thought process than say if a collection was worth £15K -£20K, and then you would need to factor in what that money means to you.

9 hours ago, Colouredman said:

No one can tell you what the right thing to do is; its subjective and very personal. You could take advice from 100 people here, but only YOU will be impacted by either selling your records or keeping them. But it may help to consider the following (mostly philosophical) issues:

1. If you sell, later when the money is gone, then what; how will you feel?

2. Like many of us, your records will have been the soundtrack of your life; so if you sell, does a significant part of you go with it?

3. Are you selling to cash in, coz some records fetch good money now, or are you selling coz you’ve had enough of (some) them?

4. As above, if most of your records were worth pocket change, would you still be considering selling them?

5. If the premise for selling is that yre getting old and cant take them with you; doesnt that also apply to every other asset you own? You cant take with you the money you get for the records either, if your demise occurs before you spend it all!

6. For many of us of a certain generation, the records we bought, and own were cheap, and now ‘owe us nothing’. So the percentage gain in selling them now is enormous. But we never bought them as investments; we bought coz we were/are emotionally invested in them. Are you still; or have they (or some of them) lost some of that for you?

7. Back in the day, the only way to hear records we loved, in our own homes, was to buy them (originals or boots), or tape them ‘live’ at a venue. Now this is no longer the case; we can now own nothing, yet have pretty much 99% of mainstream and obscure records on mp3 via YouTube etc, streamed right into our homes. So if you sell, you can still listen to everything you currently own (and more). So the question is really about to what extent the ownership of the physical product/entity means to you.

8. If these records/collection have been a part of you for most/all of your adult life (maybe before that), and been the soundtrack of it; if you sell them will you still be the person you were/the person you’ve been???

9. Is there a way for you to assess the value of what you sell, and the pleasure that money (or what you do with it) will give you, against the pleasure of continuing to keep them? Whatever the answer to that is, may well be the right way to go.

10. Finally; take note of all those before us who’ve sold up, and how many of them express regret; coz they wish they hadnt, coz records have shot up ridiculously in price since, coz they miss them, etc etc. How will it feel to be one of the many constantly saying..”I used to have that”😜

I hope all you youngsters on here are taking all this in , hindsight is everything but advice & knowledge is king .

I sold up 93ish when we purchased a new home , 300 years old & needed rewiring, a Kitchen extension & was working in the south of France , so 14 years later the house was finished, back working in the UK , & decided to go down the cd path which I still have 3k + but nothing beats vinyl ,,,, & now buying vinyl again , probably only 10 that I owned before big tunes but loads of new to me & comtempory new releases , do I wish I'd kept my collection back in 93ish , Yes , should have borrowed the money needed at the time but hindsight again .

What Tim has written above should go down in Northern Soul folklore , as my daughter said when they've gone they're gone , You'll never get them back .

My wife as asked me to value my current collection, by writing the current value inside the cardboard sleeve in pencil , as & when I play them when I'm in the Man cave, she's already valued the CDs , quite surprising what some go for . Neither of my children are interested in the vinyl , but I do believe they will be when I'm gone if only for the money . So this time I'm keeping them & the CDs .

Good luck Mick , It's your choice whichever way you choose .

On 24/06/2025 at 11:45, Colouredman said:

No one can tell you what the right thing to do is; its subjective and very personal. You could take advice from 100 people here, but only YOU will be impacted by either selling your records or keeping them. But it may help to consider the following (mostly philosophical) issues:

1. If you sell, later when the money is gone, then what; how will you feel?

2. Like many of us, your records will have been the soundtrack of your life; so if you sell, does a significant part of you go with it?

3. Are you selling to cash in, coz some records fetch good money now, or are you selling coz you’ve had enough of (some) them?

4. As above, if most of your records were worth pocket change, would you still be considering selling them?

5. If the premise for selling is that yre getting old and cant take them with you; doesnt that also apply to every other asset you own? You cant take with you the money you get for the records either, if your demise occurs before you spend it all!

6. For many of us of a certain generation, the records we bought, and own were cheap, and now ‘owe us nothing’. So the percentage gain in selling them now is enormous. But we never bought them as investments; we bought coz we were/are emotionally invested in them. Are you still; or have they (or some of them) lost some of that for you?

7. Back in the day, the only way to hear records we loved, in our own homes, was to buy them (originals or boots), or tape them ‘live’ at a venue. Now this is no longer the case; we can now own nothing, yet have pretty much 99% of mainstream and obscure records on mp3 via YouTube etc, streamed right into our homes. So if you sell, you can still listen to everything you currently own (and more). So the question is really about to what extent the ownership of the physical product/entity means to you.

8. If these records/collection have been a part of you for most/all of your adult life (maybe before that), and been the soundtrack of it; if you sell them will you still be the person you were/the person you’ve been???

9. Is there a way for you to assess the value of what you sell, and the pleasure that money (or what you do with it) will give you, against the pleasure of continuing to keep them? Whatever the answer to that is, may well be the right way to go.

10. Finally; take note of all those before us who’ve sold up, and how many of them express regret; coz they wish they hadnt, coz records have shot up ridiculously in price since, coz they miss them, etc etc. How will it feel to be one of the many constantly saying..”I used to have that”😜

Blue print and template for anyone in the predicament Tim, you should get it patented 😆 👍

Kev

A big thank you to Tim. I think I have made a decision..

I know I have pensions but not for a few years...

but if my health problems escalate and and can't work then if money is tight then I might have to sell them , like you said I can't take take other assets ie house, pensions etc with me and although I have some records that I could never buy now at current prices.

Things like my Tomangoes, Mac Staten, Alfie Davison and King Tutt 12" mean so much I will never sell .

And Tim I see your favourite is the velvet satins..just sharing, i bought my velvet satins as a 15 year old schoolboy along with Ellusions in 1980 with all my Christmas money and pocket money I had saved up💰 should have bought more.

A really really big thank you for what you said 😊 ✊️✊️

Edited yesterday at 11:571 day by Greedy Mick

JUST ADDING A FOOTNOTE ...MOST ARE NOW BOOTED SO SELL BEFORE THEY ALL ARE ,MY COLLECTION I HAVE BOUGHT AND SOLD TWICE ,SECOND TIME I REGRETTED DUE TO PRICE INCREASES 2 OF WHICH SOLD 300 NOW 1,700-1800,TOTHER 400 NOW 2,000 ONE I GOT BACK FORTUNATELY CHEAPER BUT DISMAY AS BOOTS COMING OUT LEFT RIGHT AND CENTER SO WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE SELL IF IT FEELS RIGHT

Tricky, Ive always regretted selling anything, but I think back on what I actually miss, and I buy em again... if I can... you do have to wonder when you get to 2nd, 3rd or 4th copy of a track, is it worth buying it back!

good luck with your decision, for myself, I'd only sell if they dont make your liver quiver, otherwsie you probably wont miss em...

Let’s not make selling collections a good thing,flogging the bloody market 😂

Joking aside,it’s always tough selling records,you do get more attached to some records than others! There is maybe 5 I regret selling over the years,but for the most part they can be obtained again,though be it at a higher cost! I think if you sell your records off then do it but stay well away from buying again! It’s insane selling them just to buy them back at a higher cost….i speak from experience 😂

1 hour ago, Dobber said:

Let’s not make selling collections a good thing,flogging the bloody market 😂

Joking aside,it’s always tough selling records,you do get more attached to some records than others! There is maybe 5 I regret selling over the years,but for the most part they can be obtained again,though be it at a higher cost! I think if you sell your records off then do it but stay well away from buying again! It’s insane selling them just to buy them back at a higher cost….i speak from experience 😂

My mindset changed when I starting selling more than buying to the point I didn’t really feel the buzz of looking for new things to buy.

I still enjoy hearing new music and still listen to a lot of soul music.

Some great advice from learned soul collectors, I am in the same situation got probably go over £20k value of records , not to say they will always sell for the going rate . What I have looked at is the equivalent records at reissue or boot . Still have the same tunes with a healthy return, I,m not a DJ but can enjoy at home .

9 hours ago, Kev Cane said:

Blue print and template for anyone in the predicament Tim, you should get it patented 😆 👍

Kev

Lol, 😂yeah Kev 👍🏽

9 hours ago, Greedy Mick said:

A big thank you to Tim. I think I have made a decision..

I know I have pensions but not for a few years...

but if my health problems escalate and and can't work then if money is tight then I might have to sell them , like you said I can't take take other assets ie house, pensions etc with me and although I have some records that I could never buy now at current prices.

Things like my Tomangoes, Mac Staten, Alfie Davison and King Tutt 12" mean so much I will never sell .

And Tim I see your favourite is the velvet satins..just sharing, i bought my velvet satins as a 15 year old schoolboy along with Ellusions in 1980 with all my Christmas money and pocket money I had saved up💰 should have bought more.

A really really big thank you for what you said 😊 ✊️✊️

Yre welcome Mick👍🏽The first Velvet Satins I bought, cost me a fortune, £11! It was £11 I couldnt afford and it turned out to be a Simon Soussan boot, lol.

On 23/06/2025 at 18:48, Greedy Mick said:

I know that this has probably been discussed many times. I'm getting to the stage in my life due to my age and health I'm thinking about selling my records as they rarely get played but they mean so much to me. I have a few things that I could never let go but I do have a fair few , do I sell and enjoy the money or keep them. It's such a big dilemma for me. Would like your positive and negative thoughts please..if you have had to do the same

Here's my original post above, this is so ironic 😇 just watched postman on ring doorbell delivering 2 more 45s.. thinking of selling as new ones drop through the letter box.. think I need help🤣🤣✊️