The subject of LP prices interests me, because I have collected them for many years (apologies if similar comments have already been posted, I havent the patience to read 27 pages to find out). My sources are second hand dealers and ebay, though I only use ebay for checking prices, I have never bought or sold anything there. As someone just pointed out, it is the bids on ebay that count, not the asking price, although having said that, many of the sellers are experienced dealers and if they are asking a thousand quid its because they have a shrewd idea they can get it. You do also, of course, find naive optimists asking a thousand quid for something that any dealer would tell you isnt worth a fiver.
There is a small but significant collectors market for second hand classical vinyl. Certain labels, notably first issue stereo Deccas (SXL 2000 series) and stereo Columbias (blue and silver SAX series) can go for startling sums. Violinists are the most collectable, and if you've got any blue and silver Leonid Kogans, you're sitting on a fortune. SAX 2329, Lalo Symphonie Espagnole just sold for £3320 and a copy of SAX2531 is currently bid at £1500.
You may well ask, who in their right mind would pay three thousand quid for an LP, especially if, as is usually the case, it has been reissued as a CD? I can only respond, firstly, that I wouldnt pay that kind of money because I dont have it. It is also the case that collectors are to some extent obsessive and therefore not in their right minds.
I have a 2006 Rare Records Price Guide which suggests a first label SXL 2290 is worth £85; admittedly the guide is rather out of date, but I doubt any dealer would now be asking more than a hundred quid for it.
It is almost too obvious to be worth noting, but prices reflect supply and demand. You can have the only copy in the world, but it is worth nothing if no-one wants to buy it. Among violinists, you can get a fortune for Kogan, good money for Oistrakh but not much for Menuhin. This is no reflection on Menuhin's playing, just that he sold very well at the time and there are more than enough copies of his LPs to go round. Kogan by contrast was little known and full price at a time when money was short, so he didnt sell at all well: now everyone wants his records and there arent enough to satisfy demand.
There is a small but significant collectors market for second hand classical vinyl. Certain labels, notably first issue stereo Deccas (SXL 2000 series) and stereo Columbias (blue and silver SAX series) can go for startling sums. Violinists are the most collectable, and if you've got any blue and silver Leonid Kogans, you're sitting on a fortune. SAX 2329, Lalo Symphonie Espagnole just sold for £3320 and a copy of SAX2531 is currently bid at £1500.
You may well ask, who in their right mind would pay three thousand quid for an LP, especially if, as is usually the case, it has been reissued as a CD? I can only respond, firstly, that I wouldnt pay that kind of money because I dont have it. It is also the case that collectors are to some extent obsessive and therefore not in their right minds.
I have a 2006 Rare Records Price Guide which suggests a first label SXL 2290 is worth £85; admittedly the guide is rather out of date, but I doubt any dealer would now be asking more than a hundred quid for it.
It is almost too obvious to be worth noting, but prices reflect supply and demand. You can have the only copy in the world, but it is worth nothing if no-one wants to buy it. Among violinists, you can get a fortune for Kogan, good money for Oistrakh but not much for Menuhin. This is no reflection on Menuhin's playing, just that he sold very well at the time and there are more than enough copies of his LPs to go round. Kogan by contrast was little known and full price at a time when money was short, so he didnt sell at all well: now everyone wants his records and there arent enough to satisfy demand.
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