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gordy_hunk
01-15-2015, 02:27 PM
Hi

I'd like some advice from fellow followers of Motown please .

As some will know, I'm attempting to sell my entire record [[and CD) collection. I have about 250-275 Motown LP to sell. Is Ebay the best place to try to sell - and should I sell them as one entire collection - or attempt to sell them separately?

Looking at Ebay today, the box set "The Motown Story - The first decade" - has several different prices - as low as £1.99, but as high as £49.99; others which are not particularly rare, sellers are expecting at least £40 for an LP. Such bizarre figures - and yet, I'm not convinced it's realistic to try to sell any of the LP for that kind of a price!

Any / all advice will be greatly welcomed.

Naturally I'm in the UK - and I don't intend to ship the collection overseas [[due to cost).

Thanks

Mark Desjardines
01-15-2015, 02:44 PM
Sometimes it is a good idea to offer your collection for sale as an entire entity. There may some British record shops that will make a bid on your entire collection. You could try eBay but my suggestion is to place a minimum bid that you are comfortable with otherwise you may be stuck having to sell for much less than you would have wanted to. Another suggestion is to go to the gemm site, get an idea of what others are selling the titles you have, then subtract a % and that will help you reach a fair amount for individual titles. I have several hundred Tamla/Motown lps myself. The main interest may lie in having the original large size album covers. Good luck!

MIKEW-UK
01-15-2015, 03:33 PM
Good question...... I have several thousand albums, some very rare, and wonder how to best market them. I guess the big trade off is the amount of time and effort I am prepared to put into the sale for each individual album, as opposed to just clearing them out for a relative pittance. I have thought about selling them at a record day [[in the UK) , but I have no idea how successful or otherwise that would be. Maybe I'll be interred with them as it is an emotional step to sell off a lifetime's work:cool:.

I hope you get a lot of responses to this question from others who have tried the various ways of disposal, I'm eager to hear of their experiences.

honest man
01-15-2015, 03:48 PM
Exactly the same situation here,my albums 100s-tapes etc are decaying in my Garage a shame ,i also think the same about the love-sentiment of each one but i know they must go soon spring maybe a boot sale or something it is so hard to get it right,but i know they will bring immence joy to whoever.cheers.

detmotownguy
01-15-2015, 04:48 PM
I took the easy way out and donated all of it, incl demos copies, the whole shebang to Goodwill. Had my accountant fig out the value based on eBay mkt val. Felt good to get rid of all that stuff. I just had a few hundred albums, not like the thousands you had.
Good luck

motown01
01-15-2015, 05:51 PM
www.discogs.com is a good site for buying/selling.

thomas96
01-15-2015, 05:51 PM
Depends on how much time and effort you're willing to put into it. Selling it as a whole collection would be a lot easier but you wouldn't get as much money out of it. Listing everything individually would net the most profit. Pricing, you'll just have to do your research on because I couldn't tell you unless I knew every single piece you had, and condition of each piece. Some records could sell for $500+ and some nobody would buy for $1. You just never really know. A good place to find some prices if you can't find them on ebay or elsewhere is popsike.com . Good luck.

motownjohnny
01-16-2015, 07:47 PM
You need to consider who's likely want to buy these and also why you're selling them.
If you want to achieve the best price for them then sell them individually through somewhere like Ebay, Discogs, Gemm or John Manship [[www.raresoulman.co.uk). This will probably take longer, but you will achieve a greater financial return in the end. Also on some of these sites, Ebay for example, you have the benefit of being able to put a reserve price on each item so you don't sell valuable or rare items for knockdown prices and if the reserve price is not met you can always relisted them.
I think it's unlikely an individual will want to buy everything you've got to sell as a complete lot and shipping is also going to be difficult because of the bulk, weight, insurance etc, so if at all feasible I'd suggest you try and sell them individually. A music dealer could buy the whole lot as a complete collection and while this might be quicker, they certainly won't give you anything like the true market value of each individual item.

theboyfromxtown
01-16-2015, 08:05 PM
I took the easy way out and donated all of it, incl demos copies, the whole shebang to Goodwill. Had my accountant fig out the value based on eBay mkt val. Felt good to get rid of all that stuff. I just had a few hundred albums, not like the thousands you had.
Good luck

I'm tempted by this route too. Not sure who to donate to though!

thomas96
01-16-2015, 10:41 PM
I'm tempted by this route too. Not sure who to donate to though!

I'll take it!

theboyfromxtown
01-17-2015, 05:22 AM
I'll take it!

LOL Not quite got there yet...

grapevine
01-17-2015, 06:07 AM
The main interest may lie in having the original large size album covers.

...I know this to be true ...many of the original Motown LP covers are deemed sought-after art works ..to grace many a young student's bed-sit wall ...this bodes well for my collection of 600 Motown and 400 Soul vinyl LPs ...as many have ...I expect ...warped with time...!

:)

mysterysinger
01-19-2015, 01:56 PM
If going down the Ebay route, you will be restricted to what you can charge for an entire collection by your selling limits so might not be able to ask the price you would really want..

motownjohnny
01-19-2015, 03:47 PM
If going down the Ebay route, you will be restricted to what you can charge for an entire collection by your selling limits so might not be able to ask the price you would really want..
Good point Mysterysinger. That's why I still think the best route is to go through a professional seller like John Manship in the U.K. who knows the product and what it's worth and a deal can be struck that will be to the benefit of both buyer and seller. He will obviously ask for a percentage take of the selling price, but at least the seller will know that he/she will get a good deal. It also means that he will take care of all of the administration details - postage, customs etc.