Today's music is usually bought in CD form but there are many people that think LP's have a better sound. I truly believe that if you grew up in the time of records, 78's, 33 rpm and 45's you convince yourself that these records do have a better sound. However, it is common knowdledge that the more wear on an lp there is the more surface noise you'll pick up and that does interfere with the quality of sound. ***
Even the best maintained vinyl records will develop scratches and mars. Vinyl will deteriorate over time, even when kept in the original packaging. The grading system runs from excellent to poor and of course a LP in new unopened or excellent or mint condition will be far more valuable than the same record in poor condition.
***
To grade the condition of vinyl records use the following guide. A new record is still in cellophane, unopened. Excellent or mint condition shows only slight wear. The surface is still very shiny. The cover is in almost new condition and the sleeve is intact. A record in very good condition is clean but somewhat worn, there is a gray color that can appear in the grooves, especially in louder sections and surface noise is noticeable. A record in good condition does show wear, grayness in the grooves, light mars, abrasions and scratches. The album sleeve is usually missing and the surface noise is not only noticeable but can overwhelm the music. There is usually not a retail market for fair or poor because the record has several scratches, abrasions and mars, only very rare records would sell in this condition.
***
I use to be able to buy huge stacks of records at estate auctions for next to nothing. I would bring them home and sit in front of the computer for hours plugging in each album in the search box in hopes of having something valuable. Since the market is pretty well saturated there are very few valuable records these days. However there are a few, for instance if you have picture albums ( a picture pressed into the record itself), limited editions, sealed records, colored records, first records of popular artists and collections of one particular artist you might want to check these out.
***
If you are a seller rather than a collector it would behoove you to sit in front of the computer and do a little research. There are several record price guides on the market today, our small library has 4 different books by four different authors and they all seem to be over valued. My favorite guide for everything I resell is eBay's completed auctions, I find they are much more accurate if I actually want to sell them.
***
I do have a few words of advice for storing your vinyl records. Temperature, humidity and moisture are all emenies of vinyl records. Heat will cause vinyl to warp and humidity will cause mold and mildew to the album, the album jacket and the inner sleeve. It is best to keep you collection in air-tight plastic sealed boxes to avoid mold damage. One last tip would be to store your records vertically but not tightly in your plastic containers to avoid damage to records and covers.
Check out my eBay Store: http://stores.ebay.com/Madison-Place-Flea-Market
No comments:
Post a Comment