A New Adventure in Jazz Collecting, Part 4
The pix with these posts are copies of some of the records to be auctioned. The real pics will be with the listings.
Looking back, it seems I’ve been going through this existential angst about what to do with my collection ever since I started Jazz Collector back in 2003, and probably well before that. I am sure, among this audience, I am not alone, but I’m fairly unique in that I have this forum to share and explore my experiences, as I am doing yet again. I learn a lot about myself from doing Jazz Collector and from paying attention to the comments on the site.
In this case, I go back to a post I did on June 20, 2022 titled Back in Action. This was another one of those angsty posts in which I shared that my long-term plan for retirement was to spend more time doing Jazz Collector and to go back to selling records on eBay, a la Rudolf and some of the other regular contributors to the site. There were a lot of thoughtful comments on that post but one especially hit a nerve. It was from Mark and this is what he said:
“I think the last thing I would want to do when I retire is sell jazz records online! I mean perhaps selling a few key high end pieces would make sense, but in reality I would rather just consign the whole collection to a big name eBay dealer or store. It also seems that collecting taxes and such is more and more of a thing these days on Discogs and eBay.”
The exclamation point really caught my attention. And I thought: “Is this really what I want to do, how I want to spend my time? Taking pictures of records, putting them online, taking bids, boxing records, going to the post office, shipping them all over the world, dealing with potential complaints about the condition or the slow mail delivery, paying eBay and PayPal fees, paying taxes.”
I realize I’m putting it in a negative light because at one time not so long ago the answer to the general idea of selling records on eBay would have been yes, that would be an interesting way to spend my time. As I wrote yesterday, it could be a lot of fun enjoying the records as part of a process to thin out the collection and only keep records that give me joy.
But, as the reality of retirement kept creeping closer, I realized that was no longer my frame of mind, that I was much closer to feeling like exclamation-point Mark rather than feeling like any previous version of myself. So I had this all in the back of my mind as I was putting the records back in storage, reorganizing my collection once again, hauling records back to New York, and wondering what the hell was I going to do next.
So what was it that finally tipped me over the edge to reach out to Carolina Soul Records? Stay tuned.
Saxophone Colussus is a record you take out a bank loan for or sell your excess stuff for it is that good.
Well I hope this works out for you Al; I still think it’s probably the path of least resistance and aggravation!
Mark, I like your consistency with the exclamation points, although Elaine Benes might give you a hard time.
Mark was and is right. Five years ago, when I sold the vast majority of my jazz lps (once a collection of 2,500+ mostly adventurous to wildly adventurous slices acquired over 45 years).
I asked a good friend and fellow collector to handle it. We worked out a deal where he could skim the lot for holes he wanted to fill at a cost of 60% of market value. (We had a baroque formula using discogs, ebay sold listings, and popsike). Adios to many, many Sun Ra originals, Strata-East, all the JCOA, all but a few BYG/Actuel and ESP, every Cecil, every Ornette, blah, blah, blah. Not a one purchased as an “investment”. I was genuinely delighted to know they were going to my pal.
We had a good run on ebay for the 1,000 albums he didn’t want. He took a reasonable commission for those. Most important to me, we’re still good friends. What better result could one ask for?
I could have made more money on my own and I might have given many a farewell listen.
I would have lost a year…or two. Easily.
call the editor: “Five years ago, when I sold the vast majority of my jazz lps (once a collection of 2,500+ mostly adventurous to wildly adventurous slices acquired over 45 years),I asked a good friend and fellow collector to handle it.”
Al – as a devoted Seinfeld fan since day one I love that comment
Jim – well done..what a nice way to do it!!
(Extra exclamation for Al)
Hi Al. I retired 3 years ago and enjoy my modest jazz collection. I was a little worried about what would happen to my records if something unforeseen happened to me, so I have left my family el telefono of some large European stores, and my most valuable records with their condition and approximate price
For those keeping score at home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjDW31SXuLQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSKn8RlD7Is
Just for the record, DaveS, you left one out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE7hGMMIyfE
I guess everything we do here is just for the record.
You cannot take them with you. So, the hard conclusion is, rather dispose yourself of your beloved objects, than leaving that to your heirs.
I have been selling since nearly two decades, starting with my sizeable collection of doubles. In the beginning it was fun, but since Covid and the new rules imposed by Ebay, it is no pleasure anymore.
Imagine the tax implications for buyers and sellers if you sell a 5000 dollar item. Everything is monitored, you cannot, as in the good old days, declare a nominal value to avoid import duties for your client.
So selling Records has become a burden. The only solution is dedicated private sales to people who come to pick up the records or to deliver a batch, if the buyer lives not too far away.
Selling through consignments may be a solution depending on the country you live in. For a European seller it is practically impossible to sell through a US entity. If one happens to be in the same country as an experienced seller like Vinylspot in Rotterdam, one should be happy and it is certainly a way out. The same for Paris Jazz Corner.
I have no experience with Discogs, only that questions to sellers remain often without reply. If you sell through Discogs, the problem of making the parcel, the hassle of the Post office, customs etc remains. At a certain age one simply cannot cope with that anymore. So for me Discogs is no option.
Selling at the mega-fairs may be the best option.
or maybe the best option is consignment. I’ll certainly provide something of a test case, not only that I’m doing it, but that I’m also writing about the experience.
Yes, I realize that my comment just now may not really be the way for readers outside the U.S., although perhaps it will spur someone in Europe to create a new model.