Collection Too Big..?

[eric-adams]

im kinda stuck, i have about 2500 records, i know for sure i deffinatly want to keep about 500. but every time i go to sort them i put them all back or find reasons to keep them. i started doing ebay sales earlyer in the year. i managed to shift about 30 records, i made quite a bit, but i wanted space really. it looks like i havent even started to clear them.

now do i..

be harsh and sell a load on ebay
get someone in to make me an offer (obviously after ive sorted the ones i want)
list on discogs and wait until lthey sell
boot sale a load
do a table at a fair....

actually i dont even know how to get to the point of sorting them properlly

[Expiry2011]

im kinda stuck, i have about 2500 records, i know for sure i deffinatly want to keep about 500. but every time i go to sort them i put them all back or find reasons to keep them. i started doing ebay sales earlyer in the year. i managed to shift about 30 records, i made quite a bit, but i wanted space really. it looks like i havent even started to clear them.

now do i..

be harsh and sell a load on ebay
get someone in to make me an offer (obviously after ive sorted the ones i want)
list on discogs and wait until lthey sell
boot sale a load
do a table at a fair....

actually i dont even know how to get to the point of sorting them properlly

Give them all away to a charity shop of your choice thereby recyling many records into the wild, helping a worthy cause, and creating the space you want, in one fell swoop

[eric-adams]

no way, not round here, they would probably just bin them all.

i think i need to be harsh and just sell them.
to be honest i havent even played a record this year. i just dont have the time anymore. constant hoarding has now took its toll. i want to move later this year, but to move all these records would be rreally hard. id rather sell loads and then have a really condensed collection of my favorite ever albums.

i really dont need who records, or rolling stones or Bowie, i only bought them because they were cheap and i wanted an excellent collection, though my choice of excellent changes daily.

[Plainstone]

Frisbee them at approaching zombies

[RobLilley]

You could sort them and ebay as a job lot, or if you have time list individually... Other than that, throw them my way!

[No, LordNo]

Decide which to keep and call over a buyer (maybe someone from the board?) to make an offer on the rest. It doesn't sound like you have the patience to sell the whole thing yourself on ebay/discogs.

I hover around 450 records filed in my collection and there's very little excess weight. It feels good, try it out.

[Sie Vulture]

Decide which to keep and call over a buyer (maybe someone from the board?) to make an offer on the rest.

Yeah, get a dealer over... you'll get perhaps 60% of the full value for the lot, but they'll all leave the house at once.

[eric-adams]

Decide which to keep and call over a buyer (maybe someone from the board?) to make an offer on the rest. It doesn't sound like you have the patience to sell the whole thing yourself on ebay/discogs.

I hover around 450 records filed in my collection and there's very little excess weight. It feels good, try it out.

that sounds like the kind of thing i have been thinking of.
ill have to start sorting out properlly.

[someblokecalledfuz]

I've been whittling down the collection now for as long as I can remember...

It's hard work trying to get decent money for them, some would say a full time job...

I am close to just getting the unwanted ones out of the house by the shortest route possible though...

Getting rid of unwanted clutter does feel good.

The fair I sold at recently was a fun and profitable experience shared with likeminded people, the feeling of leaving with some cash in my pocket and lighter crates put a spring in my step.

The fact that any money earned from this ongoing process is going to be spent on buying as much vinyl as it will stretch too later in the year, has nothing to do with the feel good factor - honestly !

[reza]

Could do same as me on here last year

750 records will trade the lot for one or two records I really want, must collect

Worked for me, ended up with one lp value couple of hundred quid

[theeman]

Could do same as me on here last year

750 records will trade the lot for one or two records I really want, must collect

Worked for me, ended up with one lp value couple of hundred quid

great idea. another option is to trade them with a record shop or dealer for credit. they'll give you more 'value' than if you ask for cash. then you trade in your credit for one or two really expensive records.

this is the only way to build a British Jazz collection

[eclipsechaser]

short of getting a dealer around you could put op job lots of similar records on ebay. Say for example you had 40 to 50 70s folk lps. List the the contents on the advert and off you go. Buyer could even sort out postage or you could do pickip only if you cant be arsed with postage etc. A few of those lots would whittle the collection down.

[eric-adams]

all good ideas.
i think ill feel alot better looking at the collection if a few hundred records were to vanish. i think id also want to buy again if i could clear space.

[Plainstone]

this is the only way to build a British Jazz collection

Or come to Japan. I've seen more copies of the Brit Jazz grails here than I ever saw in the UK.

Just a shame about the prices ...

[emperor tomato ketchup]

I listed about 600 items on discogs 6 months ago and sold about 100, often I was the cheapest one there. About another 100-200 where there were more than 20 copies or multiple copies going for under £3 I just didn't bother and took them to the shops (traded a few in rest to oxfam).

So I've 300 left in a few boxes and I could bring half of those into town tomorrow without feeling like I was making a major loss.

I've tried ebay and I tried fairs and this has been the best method for me, packing is a bit of a pain and there's a few time wasters but I got decent wedge. Possibly the girl in the post office thinks I fancy her too. Some of the fairs I was lucky to sell 20 records.

But there's no easy way to get maximum cash value - its a trade off between time and effort and return you get. You decide what model suits you.

[RobLilley]

I'm sure someone on here would take them off your hands at a fair price........

[mr sayers]

You missed the Leeds fair, which would have been ideal mate.

[lord dunsby]

you can never have to many plant pots.

[eclectiktronik]

If thinning it out is the main idea, I'd advise you to think in terms of 'replaceabilty' - the 'classic ' albums by stones, bowie, zeppelin, etc, or the VV cheese, should be the first to go.
These can usually be found again with minimal effort, should you later feel the need, whereas you're unlikely to stumble across, say, early Beefheart or albums like 'Weasels ripped my flesh' in your average record stall or charity shop!

[awesomewelles]

If thinning it out is the main idea, I'd advise you to think in terms of 'replaceabilty' - the 'classic ' albums by stones, bowie, zeppelin, etc, or the VV cheese, should be the first to go.
These can usually be found again with minimal effort, should you later feel the need, whereas you're unlikely to stumble across, say, early Beefheart or albums like 'Weasels ripped my flesh' in your average record stall or charity shop!

That's really good advice, actually. I've shifted on plenty of records that, while not rare, might be harder to pick up again should I want to hear them at some point in 10 years time. Meanwhile, contantly loitering in the shelves is a glut of easy to find stuff that for some reason never reaches the trade/out pile.

Time to re-visit the out-pile strategy!

[d7bohs]

When I'm short of cash - which has been often - I tend to move stuff I can get a decent price for: doubly so when it comes to ebay - so there are some things I've shifted, that I wish I still had, and a lot of semi-chud that no one is ever going to give me money for that really just takes up room.

So, when I build up the moral courage to tackle this properly - or if I end up moving- I'd like to pick 1,000 records that I really like, rare or common, and get rid of the rest by whatever means suits them - ebay, shop credit, charity shop. Problem is, of course, differentiating between records you like, and records you like owning is not as easy as all that.

[medlar]

Stick a few of them on here as freebies eric

[piglit'n'rolf]

I'll pop round sometime and help you sort if you want someone to bring an objective eye to it. Might even take a few hundred off your hands...?

[ROCKPROF]

It is easy to accumulate a lot of 'sell for 99p on ebay' records. I filtered through my collection and found at least 100 like this. I may go via the discogs route again but got stung for charges even though a buyer didnt pay up. I would suggest doing bulk amounts on ebay, Im going to do this soon with the some of the 60s/70s singles I dont want.

[eric-adams]

ace, ill let you know when ive got a pile to be shifted.

[emperor tomato ketchup]

Which to keep

a) a record with one killer and a lot of crap
Or
b) a record that is decent B+ listen all the wya through
Or
c) An album you love but rarely play as you played it laods when you were younger

I suppose the answer is none of the above if you want to get down to a quarter of your current collection.

[Punker]

If you posted your address, and the times when you were OUT, I'm sure they would be gone in no time

[bongolia]

. I may go via the discogs route again but got stung for charges even though a buyer didnt pay up.

you can 'cancel order (non-paying buyer)' and get your fees refunded. or if the deadline has expired and you've been billed there's still a way to do this up to 3 months (i think) later - the system's just changed, i don't know the details, it used to be via a form somewhere in the help pages, but they've made it simpler now

[eine]

Which to keep

a) a record with one killer and a lot of crap
Or
b) a record that is decent B+ listen all the wya through
Or
c) An album you love but rarely play as you played it laods when you were younger

I suppose the answer is none of the above if you want to get down to a quarter of your current collection.

I'd still keep a). b) goes and as to c) - I'd keep around 5 records.

[emperor tomato ketchup]

I'd still keep a). b) goes and as to c) - I'd keep around 5 records.

C was prompted by mention of the Velvet Underground...I have their records in my head.