. . . And In Jazz Vinyl on eBay . . .
OK, I’m starting to feel guilty over my minuscule posting production over the past few weeks. I vow to do better and, again, I will post every day this week. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I will just catch up with some items I was watching last week and then move on to some new items.
This seller has had a bunch of items recently with high prices. Many of the prices seem to be unrealistic, despite the seller’s nom d’eBay, but sometimes the items sell, such as: Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago, Mercury 60134. This was a stereo pressing that looked to be a first stereo pressing with the deep grooves and black labels. It was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. This one has sold for collectible prices a few times in the past, but it has always been relatively common and available, even on eBay. So the inflated prices seem to be an aberration, such as this one that sold for $149.99.
Just as that price seemed to be inflated, this one seemed to be less than expected:
Fred Jackson, Hootin’ N Tootin’, Blue Note 4094. This looked to be an original mono pressing with the New York USA address and the Van Gelder and ears in the deadwax. The record was listed in VG+ condition and the cover was Ex. There was only one bidder and the record wound up selling for $139.99. Given what some of the New York USA Blue Notes have been selling for recently, I would have expected more interest, and more bidding, for this one.
Mal Waldron, Left Alone, Bethlehem 6045. This was an original pressing that was listed in M- condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. The top bid was $865.55.
Sonny Rollins Volume 2, Blue Note 1558. This was an original New York 23 pressing that was listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $825.99.
Good luck to vinylrealist for getting his asking prices.
Aside from being common anyway, many of the Brubeck records he has listed are second or third pressings.
That Dizzy “Greatest Trumpet” he has listed is dime-a-dozen.
Looking at his completed auctions, he sold a mono copy of “Kind of Blue” for $500 that he labeled as “original” but which is clearly a second pressing. $500!!!
I would assume that the cheap Fred Jackson was due to the low feedback and VG+ grading…
I’m vinylrealist. Let me explain why I list at the prices I do.
The main reason is ebay is very unreliable nowadays. Starting low may attract attention, but is no guarantee that the item will fetch anything like what it’s worth. It took a few tries to sell the Adderley in Chicago. If I had listed it for $9.99 it would have sold the first time – for maybe $50. It’s free to list so there’s no risk in putting a record up at a high price but a lot of risk starting low and hoping for the best.
I’ve been lowering my starting prices when items don’t sell. The Dizzy was down to $9.99 which is hardly asking too much for NM copy, even if it is 2nd.
Another reason for the high prices is that many of these are in really, really beautiful condition, and deserve to have a premium on them.
Kind of Blue was a later pressing, as I clearly stated in my auction. But if you look at auction results, there are 10 non-CBS 6 eyes for every one CBS 6 eye, so there has to be some rarity to this pressing. Also, the vinyl was possibly unplayed – and the buyer was very happy with it.
I’ll be selling at the WFMU record fair in November, and will be much more willing to negotiate prices without having to pay ebay/PayPal fees.
Al-I didn’t comment earlier as I just got around to reading the post(!). I think my mindset(at the moment)is summed up well by your throw-away line:”Just as that price seemed to be inflated, this one seemed to be less than expected”. From a sellers perspective,you can only hope to have more of the former,not so many of the latter. A buyer,of course,feels exactly the opposite! Maybe what we used to say on the playground after an especially tough game could sum up both viewpoints-“ya win some,ya lose some”…
$150 seems really high for a stereo press Cannonball. These obviously have to be later presses with the oval logo (private marketing strat: FIRST STEREO PRESS) I’ve had a few of these in VG-/VG condition (just a killer record!) but always $10-15 bucks. It’s ok in stereo format but I prefer the mono. the original monos have the block logo and I just got a killer ++ copy this week for $51.00 (i’m pretty cheap/thrifty so that’s a lot for me but I’m tired of VG-/VG presses of this bad boy) …………. $149 for a stereo …. poor guy .. i’m sorry.