Sell Records

We are often asked whether we buy used or old records. Yes, we do! Hopefully, this page can help you to determine whether the records you have are ones that we might be interested in purchasing. Of course, you are always welcome to simply call our shop during open business hours (Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekly) and we can ask you a few questions to see if it might be a possibility.

Consideration Number 1: Condition. 

In real estate, they have a saying: "Location, location, location!" 

In record collecting, there is a very similar one: "Condition, condition, condition!" 

First and foremost, we are always looking for records that are in excellent condition. This is more important to us than what kind of music genre the record may belong to, or how rare or popular the record might be (although, those factors matter a lot too.)

The value of vinyl records typically works like this: The highest value occurs when a record is in excellent ("near mint," or "like new") condition, is relatively or extremely rare, and is highly sought-after by collectors. However, even common records (think, records that are very popular and sold well when they were originally released, such as Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" or Michael Jackson's "Thriller,") can still hold some value, so long as they are in excellent condition. Even a rare and highly sought after record's value will be greatly diminished if it is not in excellent condition. A record that may be worth $50.00 in perfect condition, can easily become a $5.00 record or even a $1.00 record if it has not been well taken care of. When considering condition, another thing that must be made clear is that the condition of a record's jacket/sleeve/cover affects its value just as much as the condition of the actual record itself. Just because a record does not have a single scuff or scratch on it, if its jacket is torn, stained, split, or has been extensively written on by a previous owner, that will degrade the value quite a lot. 

So, again, firstly consider what sort of condition the records (and their covers!) you are interested in selling appear to be in. Please don't painstakingly inspect each one, it's better just to make an estimate about the average condition across the entire collection, whether you have 50, 500, or 5,000 records. If most of them are in excellent shape, it is very normal for there to be a few duds in there, especially with larger collections. That's to be expected, and that's why it's not worth wasting your time inspecting each and every record you've got. Conversely, after reading this, if you feel like your collection is mostly pretty beat up and trashed, it might very well be worth going through and finding the few that somehow remained unscathed over the years. You can always still donate records that are in rough shape, but if they are not in good condition, please be aware that you are very unlikely to be paid much money, if any, for records in rough condition.

Consideration Number 2: Genre, Artist, and Title

There are types of music that are popular with today's collectors, and others that are decidedly not. Just like fashion, sometimes what goes around comes around, but there are also categories of records that just wind up in the dustbin of history and usually that has happened for one or more reasons. Sometimes, even within a genre of music that is largely forgotten, certain artists remain popular with current collectors. An easy example is Frank Sinatra. Still a solid seller, many other artists from his time who played similar styles of music are no longer sought after by most collectors. This has nothing to do with the quality of the music made by those artists.

Meanwhile, certain other artists such as Martin Denny, whose records languished for decades in grubby thrift store bargain bins, are now sought after by tiki-bar aficionados, however they are still generally sold at modest prices even when in excellent condition.

Lastly in this area, is the title of a record (for example, two different titles by Willie Nelson are "Stardust" and "Red Headed Stranger.") Some artists have made 10 or more albums, but only one or two became wildly popular. Over time, this can work in a few different ways. Usually the most popular record made by an artist in this case is the one that still sells the best, but typically that title will be nearly the least valuable, because it is the least scarce, or the easiest to find. Sometimes, in the remainder of that artist's catalog, one or more records may be a "cult favorite" that has become valuable over time, but this is not common. Your local record store often knows which records by any particular artist are currently sought-after, and usually they will be happy to tell you which titles they would be happy to purchase if you have a copy.

Consideration Number 3: Supply and demand. 

You may have a rather excellent copy of the Eagles' "Hotel California" on your hands, which was a huge hit when it originally was released, and still remains a perennially popular record for collectors seeking a bit of nostalgia. Your copy might even include the original poster that came with early copies of the record (great, collectors love that!) -- however, if other people have brought in collections before you that resulted in a shop already having 5 or 9 copies of records just like this one (ones which also still had the poster in them,) then it's harder for us to justify taking more of them. After all, we have only so much space to store back-stock records. The more rare a record is, the less likely we already have multiple copies in our backstock. Rarer records tend to be more enticing for advanced collectors, however, rarity is not always a good thing-- some records are rare because they simply stunk! Not every rare record is an amazing cult favorite such as those by The Velvet Underground or Big Star. It's just something to think about if your assumption is that once-popular records are the ones that current collectors are looking for (which is only partially true,) or that anything rare must automatically be valuable (which is also only partially true.) 

Consideration Number 4: Let the professionals assist you!

People who work in record stores watch records sell to their customers every day, and every store has a clientele of collectors who regularly check in there. Store clerks often know what their clientele are looking for. It is always better to offer to donate a box of records in shabby condition than to throw it in the trash, but if your records are not in excellent condition, please be aware that a store is not likely to offer much for it. You could always consider asking for store credit.

If your records ARE in excellent condition, then you may be able to sell them rather than donating them. Record store clerks can often assess the relative value of a collection MUCH faster than most people can, and many people interested in selling records often waste a lot of time investigating the records in their possession in the interest of trying to avoid being ripped off. Consider this-- Any reputable record store will offer you a very fair price for a worthy collection, after all, their businesses and reputation depend on it!

If you have records you are interested in selling, whether a large or small collection, we would love to help! Please contact us. 

Additional selling FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions):

Q: Do you buy CDs (Compact Discs)?
A: Usually, no. However, if you have CDs that are clean and in like-new condition, we would be happy to take a look. We are always happy to take donations of CDs (beats throwing them in the trash, we can always do that for you!) but we only pay money for CDs that are rare and out-of-print. We recommend just bringing in what you have, rather than spending time trying to determine what is or is not out-of-print.

Q: Do you buy Cassette tapes? 
A: Same answer as above for the Compact Discs. 

Q: Do you buy DVDs / Blu-Rays / LaserDiscs?
A. No. Just no. Our store has limited space and if we wanted to offer a section of these items, we would need a larger store in order to do it in a way that would please us. So at this time, we are simply not interested.

Q: Your store sells vintage clothing too. Do you buy clothing?
A: Sometimes, yes. Just like with records, any clothing that we may potentially buy must be in excellent condition -- no stains, tears, rips, or alterations - and generally, we do not often buy clothing that was manufactured after the year 2000, though there may be rare exceptions. We are always willing to take a look if you have clothing in immaculate condition that is from the 1940s through the 1980s.
For this, please stop by or call the shop during open business hours.
(Thurs-Sun, 11am-6pm, ask for Sara.)