The Record Deal

It is important for the employees at Gone for Good to have a basic understanding of this market because depending on the value of the record the item will be sold either online or in store.

You see, there are casual fans and die-hard collectors. Casual listeners are driven by sentiment. These folks will browse thrift stores in hopes of stumbling across that one nostalgic Bread record that was the backdrop to a moment which changed everything in 1972. This record is significant to the casual fan but it’s not in high demand and is pretty invaluable to the market.

Dedicated collectors are experienced. These people are going to be online searching specific keywords to find that first edition signed Beatles album. These buyers are fully engaged in a world of competitive sport to nab that record before the next guy does. No matter which shopper you are, the value of the records is important.

78s are any flat disc record made between 1898 and 1950 playing at a speed of 78 revolutions per minute. Old 78s have less value than any of the records manufactured thus far. This is because 78s were released during the time in which the arm of the record player was so heavy that it badly damaged the records. Today it is not only rare, but nearly impossible to find 78s that don’t suffer from irreversible damage.

Realizing that this was problematic for the record industry, a renaissance took place during the mid-50s that made 45s and 12-inch LPs the most valued and most popular for pickers today. Top sellers are Beatles, Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd while easy listening like Neil Diamond and The Motels is the overall lowest valued genre.

Unfortunately, records became so mainstream for the baby boomers in the late 1960s and 70s that their value is depreciated based on the insane amount of copies that were produced. Although there are exceptions of the era like Foreigner, Asia and AC/DC, many of these records were in such high demand that they were mass produced by big record labels to cash in big.

In contrast, new vinyls are super expensive because they aren’t producing them like they used to. It is also more expensive to produce records in 2019 than say 1919, because the cost of petroleum has increased due to its negative impact on our environment.

So, records come and go but one thing is always true, there are a lot of records out there! Whether it’s 78s or 45s there is always a market with casual listeners or die-hard collectors on the hunt. Now that you are an expert at determining the value of one, come on down to the thrift store and browse our selection.