I am in the process (again, every few years) of weeding the Rock LPs. Going through newer stuff to decide to sell to my fav. record store, or keep. I do this every few years to thin out the collection gradually. Eight years ago I did a major cull removing 6,000 LPs of 12,000 to move. Over the last six years I have cut that down to 4,500 (and probably buying 500 of those during that time).For all sorts of reasons it is a good project. Get rid of cobweb covered music I have no use for, (and maybe someone else wants) Frees up a small amount of cash to waste on more Stereo junk.The main thing is the collection gets better, more just what I really like.Anyone else clear out the junk now and then?(For the question already forming... and no I will not sell them here. I have bought tons of stuff at my fav. record store, I like them, and sell all my records to them. LOL)
I did this in anticipation of a move partway across the country. There was a lot of dross that I had accumulated over the years- stuff that I wasn't going to listen to, records for which I had better pressings. I peaked at about 17,000 records and gradually began getting rid of them-- gave away several thousand, had a guy willing to take them, market them on Ebay or whatever and share proceeds-- he handled all the listings, shipping, etc. It was "found" money. I winnowed it down to about 5 or 6 thousand by the time I got to packing and moving-- the last few days before the truck came, and even after it left, there were still a few thousand records that my 'guy' took just to relieve me of them. I gave him my old VPI cleaning machine, a bunch of fluids, applicator pads and the like and wished him luck. He was a lifesaver. Of course, that hasn't prevented me from buying more records since then. But, you are right, @Elizabeth-- it gets you a better collection by culling. I think I still have too many records in the sense that I'm chasing new and different sounds, so a lot of what I acquired and still cherish doesn't get listened to as often. But, there's little point in selling it. Even some of the expensive, collectible pressings, while costly to buy, don't bring as much when it comes time to sell. Buying records isn't a good investment, even though I've gotten some real "scores" over the years in terms of uber records for almost nothing. That means little in the end, though, other than bragging rights.
Why not keep 100 of each major category: Rock, Classical, Jazz, etc.. Next, keep anything with sentimental value. Finally, Keep anything with potential collectable value. Send me the rest!
Anyone got test pressings of Bitches Brew or Mahavishnu Orchestra to spare ? Or El Camaron/Paco de Lucia ? Well, at least Japanese pro. Elizabeth, your 'loyalty' to that record store is unusual, to say the least. Personally, I don't keep what I don't listen to with some exceptions of multiple copies. Like Bill I sometimes chase the best pressings.
Pruning the collection is only good if you can bite the buying beast in the butt and stop making choices that will inevitably end up in the discard pile.People love to buy records for the sake of buying records and i can add myself to that category.I am still cleaning,listening,keeping and discarding records i bought ten years ago,but the stacks are getting slimmer and the losers will find their way to the various libraries that will sell them and fortify the declining funds of those institutions. Oh yeah,don't sell them on this site! It is already riddled with garbage being sold at unreasonable prices and cluttering the "browse" section.Everybody that pays the big bucks to sell the gears gets immediately eclipsed by tons of listings for garage sale crap records at delusional prices.This has got to stop and it is choking this site. Let's celebrate the advantage of a large collection and the boundless choices of music we love,scored over the years from private collections,stores long since closed and the oddball swap meet or garage sale find.It is something the download or streaming collective mentality can never understand or embrace-the divinity of the vinyl record.
My wished for rarity to own but do not, would be a 'white label' promo "Kind of Blue". Miles Davis.Currently I own equal piles of Classical, Jazz, and Rock. Great collection of Jazz, all the best recordings.., pretty good collection of Rock, and an average pile of Classical.I need to clear up the Classical, but am too lazy. I did a big clearance last time. and just do not want to bother with the Classical at this time.(it is very hard to find specific Classical recordings without spending big bucks. Random acquisition is OK, but not to build a killer collection. Jazz was way easier to build a great collection.(I never paid any attention to Jazz, until the mid 90's, SO I just collected all the five star, and am leaning about it.) Rock is easier but generally I just keep what I like.
Well Elizabeth,that must be one special music store.I mean you sold them thousands of lps.They Never buy back at more than a few dollars at most.Unless you have Beatles in wrapped and Mint condition ,First issues.I have sold off my collection a few years ago.2,000 albums only got about $2700 back...years ago we were told to take the plastic off the albums .So i did.But i cleaned my albums and treated every album like gold lol.We cds came out at first i didnt buy them .Then i got a great Onkyo top of line cd player sent well over $700 in like 1990.i have bought back about 500 alot of first issues and imports mostly Rock.i do have like 500 classical,jazz and soundtracks plus 3000 cds ,alot of box sets they are cheat now...but prices are going up and 500 cassettes and R to Reels.So it was good to weed out ...now, I have to weed out some of my Stereo equipment n speakers which are taking over big time.But there are people on this site and you want top dollar for the Carpenters Lps.....come on people.
Yeah when I was hard-up I used to do the same. Seems like "Dark Side of the Moon", "Eat a Peach" and "Frampton Comes Alive" double albums ALWAYS had some shake....wait, what were we talking about??
I have limited space so I do this often. I moved halfway across the country 25 yo, got pence. Again 5 yo, got $$ this time. Just moved to CO from LA, shipped most but I had to stay in a temp apt so kept a couple hundred and a tt there. Hauled them in my car. Was in the truck lane thru the mountains. Suckers are heavy.
Culling with a server means I just buy another 4TB Western Digital Red for the Synology.... my analog collection pales but I do cull, mail them to my brother with the SOTA his joy is endless....
I was in the military for 27 years and had to move every 2-3 years, so culling was imperative. While I was quick to adopt the Kindle (books are heavy, too) I never could bear to separate completely from my records. Now that I am retired my record collection has grown exponentially in a short time. Time to cull again.
Here is my process:
1- is the record in poor condition? Scratched, mold, etc. maybe I bought it as a placeholder at a garage sale and found a better copy. Take it out
2- is it a genre I am no longer interested in? Comedy albums, Christmas, Icelandic Death Metal...take it out
3- is it a collectors items or has sentimental value? Put it back in.
4- Go back and do it all again. This time be brutally honest.
5- Have a garage sale and mark everything for $1
6- anything unsold give to a deserving charity shop. Rejoice in knowing you have returned the vinyl to the wild so I may be found by another collector/hoarder
When I relocated from England to the states I made a huge mistake( in hindsight) by giving all my vinyl away and seriously culling the CD collection ( quite weighty and cost to ship). Paradoxically I kept all the cassettes! So an enforced cull. Of course 18 years in the USA and it got out of control once more but I fixed the CD issue with a Bluesound vault2 and stored the CD in the loft AFTER picking out all the losers and selling on eBay. Actually culled my cassette collection too and sold off job lots on eBay at like $0.25 each! Soon went! Vinyl.....well another story. Keep threatening to go through them but every time I start I just end up putting ones in question on the tt then end up putting them back. Hopeless I know! One day......
The most they have paid me for one LP was $50. just sayin'.My recent sell? 27 Lps and a box set $320. I'm not selling "Sing Along With Mitch"... Or "Firestone Christmas"...Most I made on one LP? Found some old very rare $$$$ beat up LP. paid $0.25 told them and they gave me $25 for it anyway.
Now here is a thread that everyone will have an opinion about. 12K records! Have you ever watched “Hoarders?” But, seriously, my advice would be to ask yourself how long has it been since you listened to certain records in your collection. If it has been years, and you still aren’t motivated to put them on, then sell them. Vinyl is hot now and I suggest you sell them privately, not back to a record store. Have a major sale at your home (garage). Advertise on sites like (well, you know who they are) and wait and see. I had guys (always guys) sitting in front of my house for an hour before I even opened the doors. It worked for me. Give it a try. Just my 2 cents.
tonykay.. I guess you scanned and eyes popped at "12K records"... ignoring everything else, and immediately jumped down to offer your opinion? I have no idea otherwise what you are rambling on about. If you had bothered to read the actual whole sentence the 12K record words were in, you would ALREADY KNOW I dumped 6000 of them EIGHT YEARS AGO, when I moved. (most of the discarded were Classical, and were all given away to charities) And that I now only own about 4,500 as I cull them down. On the other hand I am glad you can hand out advice on ’How to waste endless hours selling records". Glad it worked for you. I have zero interest in either selling them on the sidewalk, or selling them online. Online you need boxes, then you got the complainers, and the crooks. Plus it is like actual work. Not for me. And I LIKE my Record Dealer, he has given me plenty of good deals, and piles and piles of great records. Why would I try to cut him out? I WANT him to do well..Plus he actually pays me a good and fair price.So my suggestion is actually go back and read the post I started this thread with LOL.
Hey, Schubert! Of course I was Air Force! Was it the checklist that gave it away?
i am always fighting that hoarding mentality. Approaching 1500 records and I can’t imagine having 12000 and still being married.
I rarely sell my records but did buy a Simon and Garfunkel record once at a garage sale. Turned it was a rare mono print in mint condition and sold it on eBay for $165 to some guy in Austria.
Elizabeth, I love your comments about supporting your local record shop. I have met a few skeezy ones, but for the most part they are salt of the earth types who love music. I really developed my love of music and records through my local used record shop, the Record Connection in Waterville Maine. I still stop by when visiting my parents and chat with the original owner Bob.
Around here in southern Maryland I tend to frequent the flea markets. Same philosophy applies; musics, friendship and support. If I don’t want a record, and one of my flea market guys can make a buck off of it, then great.
Fiesty as always! 4,500 then...still a houseful. You asked for opinions, and now you have mine, or were you just rambling? You can do what you want (I’m sure you will, anyway). Remind me again, what was the purpose of this thread?
I try to support my LRS where possible as without him I would be stuck with online sources or rummaging through garage and flea markets. My LRS is the only worthwhile one within an hour drive and he is a true music lover and sells cassettes as well as vinyl. Mostly rock and jazz, very little classical. And the largest Elvis selection I have ever seen. When I have found myself with duplicate vinyl from getting better copies etc he has always taken my stuff. However I never get actual cash, he knows me better, just knocks it off whatever I buy instead......lol. But we all should try to support our LRS where possible, we need them as,much as they need us!
Tony vinyl may be "hot" for now but I would add that it will likely, in my estimation, retain a fringe group of enthusiasts because regardless of what naysayers may say "east is east west is west and never the twain shall meet", the analog vs digital element of the equation they are different.
Maybe Elizabeth isn’t so much of a "hoarder" but came across a large stash along her journey maybe from someone, a hoarder perhaps, going through an intervention. Now she has decided is time to unload the dogs. True hoarders often can’t let go without professional help. I didn’t read that Elizabeth was rambling, why the hostility dude, she’s just sharing an experience.
16f4. No, just noticed that when I was in 173rd Airborne Brig. on Okinawa the gang at Kadena always said military whilst the rest of us said Soldier, Marine or Sailor .
If you read the response to my post, you’ll find the reference to rambling. My interest in prolonging this thread has ended. Apparently, no good advice goes unpunished.
You know its funny some if the best albums I have come across in the last couple of years ,were eiither by accident or chance .Most of the time the people are trying to unload garbage ,lousy albums or all scratched and they want top dollar.It gets tired explaining to them that the stuff is worthless.i came across a box of Beatles,Stones,Four Seasons,Beach Boys and a Pet Sounds Signed by the BB while on tour in 67 it didnt have Brian Wilson beacuse he wasnt on the Tour that year .like 30 albums $10 bucks..I went to buy Couple of boxes of cds for $10 bucks and she said you these for $10 to...lol
I keep down to around 1500 vinyl, which is manageable in terms of keeping clean and reasonable usage. Two regrets; I gathered all my doubled up albums from buying job lots, sorted the best condition to one pile, got them mixed up and sold the best ones by mistake. Secondly, in a job lot 10 years ago, I got two sequential albums on Spanish tuition, "what do I need these for?' and sold them on - they were the Andy Warhol artwork albums, and worth $10,000 I find out recently.One other thing is that although I treat my CD's as I do my LP's, they crap out and become unplayable for no apparent reason, possibly my CD player is too fussy as they will play in the car - some of my vinyl albums I bought 45 years ago and still play as new.
Once I grew to understand what kind of jazz I enjoy, I culled all of the major artist releases that had the obligatory strings (elevator music) from the seventies. Surprisingly, the only ones that remained were the CTI releases.
I have a love/hate relationship with collecting anything, so I am constantly weeding. I have had some pleasant surprises though, and found out that albums I got in the budget bin were going for $20-$30. And I always try to buy two of anything that I think will quickly appreciate, so as to offset some of the cost of new vinyl. I know people generally hate "flippers", but it does help to defray the cost of my own buying. And I only have around 300.
I've had a rule for 40 years. If I don't potentially want to hear a recording 3 times a year, it goes. I've sold 18,000 records in the past and have 25,000 LPs/7,000 CDs/7,000 78s. I also have 4,000 LPs and 78s waiting to be auditioned or tossed. I am not a hoarder. I listen to my music 1.5 minimum daily (Saturday-5 hours). I custom built a room to house my collection 25 years ago; unfortunately, I have accumulated about 25% of my collection since then.
Well, it may be similar to books. You read a book and like it, you don't let it go, you put it on a shelf. Whether or not you ever read it again is an open question, you might want to read it second time in twenty years. It certainly would take a lot of time to listen to 25000 records, but if you like them all and have no financial need to exchange them for other records or something else, why not keep them, space permitting ?
I have 3500 books. More than half were my late wife's with history a major part of it. I will part with most of the collection sooner than later as she was actively using the books for various urban archives exhibits as well as other museum exhibits which I am not capable of doing. You are correct about books that I may never read again but my Judaica, art, engraved illustrated and cinema history books are never leaving my home.
As to my cds and records, I am asked by friends and professional musicians to find recordings they want to hear (unavailable on YouTube) prior to performance as I am the archivist for several choirs recordings as well as make recordings of rarely performed works locally in Los Angeles. I just made a 12 track 50 minute CD for my father's funeral of favorite vocal works as he loved music as much as I do. That was a very difficult task knowing how to build up the music with popular music and transitioning to more somber, introspective music prior to the funeral from among 3500 records and cds from one genre of music.
I have no financial need to exchange them and custom built my storage space for 20,000 LPs, 7,000 78s and 5,000 CDs. You know what that means, I have 5,000 more LPs and 2,000 more CDs than storage space built. I probably will eliminate another 3-4,000 LPs in the next few years after auditioning them.
fleschler, I am sorry to hear about your loss. You follow your father, and this is a gain. Just make sure not to accidentally get rid of valuable to you records.
inna, Thank you. It took more effort to construct the funeral music recording than the eulogy last Sunday. My father loved music as much as I do but he became a successful businessman with great sweat equity (he lived to 94 physically very strong, working until he was 89).
I have sold 18,000 records in the past 40 years. I also have another 4,000 which I haven't heard yet. I collect only to listen, not as some (well three) acquiantances who have/had 1 to 1.5 million LPs and don't listen. If I don't potentially want to hear a recording 3 times annually, out it goes. Some genres have such limited release/pressings that I will never part with them as they are nearly or are one of a kind recordings. And, of course, my own recordings I won't part with. Luckily, I'm 62 and fit so I hope to enjoy my music for decades to come.
elizabeth, my collection is smaller than yours and I still feel the need to reduce it. I think many of us end up with records we don't listen to because of duplicate copies, changing taste, finding it was not as good as expected when we bought it, disappointing sonics/damage, etc.
But moving can also be a real stimulant to examining what we want to keep. I made a modest start on that some time ago but that move didn't happen. Now I'm faced with a much greater likelihood of moving in the near future. So that will be a real motivation.
Another point that younger collectors don't likely consider, what are the chances of having time to ever listen to all of our collection? Even with about 3K LPs I'm old enough to admit I'll not likely ever play some of them again. And my favorites certainly deserve more than only one more listen. So I've set a goal to end up with around 1,500 LPs that I know I'll enjoy listening to. That is still many hours of fun and enjoyment.
Just how many is enough. I have 2500 collected over the years and management has made it clear, enough is enough. In the UK we have small houses compared with you guys, just not enough storage.
I read a few years ago about a Chinese enthusiast who'd bought a collection of over 250,000 LPs. My question, why? Someone worked out it would take over 20 years of constant waking hours listening, to get through them.
And finally, an interview with Freitas https://thevinylfactory.com/features/inside-the-worlds-biggest-record-collection-an-interview-with-z... where is says
U.S. Americans have the cult of memory. So the estimation is that the percentage of digitalised music reaches the level of 80% of all works ever released there. In a country like Brazil, it does not reach 20%. I’d say it’s probably even less because this is just 20% of the mainstream commercial market and outside it it must be close to zero. I have thousands and thousands of records with gospel music that were not digitalised. Even the majors that are the most organised of the music labels have no idea of exactly how many records they have produced. The available information is very vague.
And this whereby I must be one of those crazy people:
I have no contact with other collectors. In general they are crazy people. I do not belong to a collectors’ club. I made friends with some, mainly through theatre, but I don’t talk to them about records and music, because they talk about it all day, and I find it kind of a sickness.
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