"Rare" albums prices. How much is too much?

It's an individual thing really.

If your favourite artist happens to be David Bowie and the only recording you don't have is the one at £1500 and you have the money available, I guess you'd happily pay it.

On the the hand, if David Bowie isn't your thing, you're unlikely to buy it unless you think £1500 is a bargain for something "so rare" that prices "must" be heading skywards.

I've never paid more than £80 for an album but maybe, just maybe, if I "really" want something otherwise unavailable, I "might" be tempted.....

Good question , how much is to much .. too much is when you are 17 and  have just spent a weeks wages on an unreleased Jesus  and mary Chain live album test pressing. that sounded terrible and was never released because of the sound quality.

As someone who was once a collector of test pressings, mispressed singles or anything non standard primarily because it was different,  i can understand the desire to have that item to complete the collection.. the problem i found is when you have everything you then start  to look at collecting bands or artists on the same label just to have the catalogue numbers ( Reception records for me ) .  then it starts to get silly or obsessive.. that said when i moved into CDs collecting lost its appeal and a large chunk of hard to find vinyl paid for my new Hi-Fi.

Too much is when you have got that rare record  with nothing to play it on as you sold all your possesions to fund it.

"The value of a thing is what that thing will bring".

Is a Monet worth £40 million?

If someone is willing to pay £40m for it then it obviously is.

Hi Tony,

There are certainly instances of misprints and other errors leading to high prices for LP's but in most instances the very high prices are for LP's relative scarcity. There are many instances where an album may have been successful over time but the number of 1st presses in excellent or mint condition are relatively few and far between. In the case of my Turquoise Led Zepplelin LP this cover had a very limited run. As I pointed out, I think it was to SteveC, the 1st press Orange Led Zep is the one and the same LP. The solid blue triangle Dark Side of the Moon is another example. Other expensive albums are expensive because of true rarity. Over the years I collected Blue Horizon LPs. There were some like Fleetwood Mac and Chicken Shack that sold well but the majority of the catalogue didn't. It has become a very collectable label and many go for high prices. Other examples are Leafhound and Black Cat Bones on Decca Nova which had very short production runs. People also like to collect labels like Vertigo Swirl. Then you have the Holy Grail LPs which are exceedingly rare. Blue Horizon label was started by Mike Vernon who ran a Blues magazine in the '60s. Two LP's were sold through the magazine and less then 99 were printed. The most valuable of these is Dr Isaah Ross 'Flying Eagle'. This hardly ever comes up for sale. The book price is £1500 but it has been this for years and only reflects the price of the last one sold. If one was sold today I would expect a figure of £3-5000 as a conservative estimate. 

Prices are also reflected by the popularity of an artist in the present day when they weren't so popular in their own time. A classic example of this is Nick Drake.

I'd better stop there but these are just a few examples of why some LP's go for big money. 

Steve

I forgot to mention. Even I was astounded last night to see a copy of Neil Young's Sleeps With Angels go for £50 on eBay. They aren't that rare and, sorry Richard, I don't think it was NY's finest hour.

Hi Steve,

Not sure why but there is quite a lot of NY vinyl selling at a premium at the moment, even that which is not of his finest hour!

Richard

I would approach your question in a very straight forward way. There is the question of the real value of the music or the specific recording. Sometimes meaning a good pressing will have a cost price of twice what you normally pay. Then there might be the aspect of rarity as such - which would add again a 50%....and that would be it....... any other value would need to be related to value you can get back in the marketplace (collectors wanting to pay something special) - but then you would treat that as an investor and not as a person interested in the record.

So conclusion: normal average record maximum 250% of the base retail price (pressing and some rarity factor). + potential collectors value which is know and stays the same....

1500 Euros is definitely for me not falling into the range.

Some first-press Blue Note LPs (in mint nick, of course) go for absolutely stupid money - which not only reflects their superior audio qualities but their rarity.

Oddly enough, there are items which go for big bucks on eBay but which can be found in the same or even better condition on, say Discogs or Amazon for a good deal less. And vice versa.

Interestingly, one thing that radically improves (from the seller's point of view) the performance of an item on eBay is A)the photgraphy and B)the copy. The better these are, the more item record sells for.

There are also early 78 RPM records which were one-off special recordings, the only one of their kind.

instead of a tape recording, there were some artists who had their live performance recorded directly to 78.

These records were (or are) extremely valuable. Elderly friends of mine had a massive collection of such recordings which the BBC borrowed for exclusive broadcasts & eventually, my friends sold a large part of the collection to the Getty Museum for several million ££££.......

Thank you everyone  for all for the contributions to  what was just an outburst to what I consider an over inflated market.

Steve, we discussed  some LZ original pressings  in the past and did agree some of them were just appalling and I am still surprised people are still prepared to pay over the odds for them. Still...

supply and demand i suppose.

At the end of the day I buy records to play and maybe I should wise up and that should pay for the next Naim upgrade!

KR

Tony

I paid £135-00 for depeche mode playing the angel on Vinyl. One of my all time favourite albums. Not everyones cup of tea, but the quality is fantastic.

Ghost Reveries by Opeth has been fetching real silly money until a couple of days ago, when they decided enough folk were clamouring for a re release.. So for those who paid daft money, a quick draft of hemlock may be in order.

What kills me is the collector element that keep the prices so high, when us mere mortals just rip off the cover and play the darned thing.

Lifes little games eh.

I have the 24 bit download from HD tracks.  If I sell my hard drive what do you think I will get?

:-)