How to Price Record Albums
- 1). Acquire some records to sell. We'll just assume you have some records you want to sell and are planning to sell them locally or on ebay. See my other related articles on grading and selling records on ebay.
- 2). Get a current record price guide. Although the Goldmine books are common in large bookstores, I recommend Jerry Osborne's "Rockin' Records", a massive and comprehensive work that dwarfs all others. It's available online at www.jerryosborne.com. He has a CD version, plus other great books and CDs for pricing Elvis, soundtrack, various artists, and other records. The money you spend on it will be recouped by (hopefully) higher prices you get from you records. At least you'll learn a lot!
- 3). Grade your records. See my related article for details.
- 4). Price your records. Here are some general guidelines that will get you the most reasonable amounts for your records. Reasonable means, highest based on the condition they're in. Book prices are based on a record being in NM (near mint) condition, a very high and rarer collectible grade. If your record is not NM, don't price it at NM levels.
SS (still sealed) or M (mint): 120-125% of book. These go for a premium, since they are unplayed and intact. If the cover is damaged, you will have to deduct a percentage.
NM (near mint): 100% of book. Discount for cover or obvious label damage. Some very rare, error, and collectible records may sell for more than book. Check out prices online if you think you have a special pressing. Do your research because sometimes, doubling or tripling of book price is possible.
EX (VG++): 80% of book.
VG+ : 50-60% of book.
VG : 33-50% of book. More collectible records will skew toward the higher end of the range.
VG- : 20-25% of book.
G : 10-15% of book. Again, some highly sought after records may price higher, especially 50's rock 'n roll and R&B.
P and F : 0-10% of book. There would have to be a compelling reason for someone to want to buy a record in these low grades since they're usually not listenable and the cover's hurtin'. - 5). Check for promotional releases. Records that were originally issued with special labels, stamps, or stickers indicating that they are promotional (promo), DJ, or audition copies, can be worth 25-100% more than regular releases. Mostly, records released from 1949-1970 have this appeal to collectors, since it confirms scarcity or an original early pressing. Later records don't usually see much of a bump in value due to being promos.
