Comments on: The Great Ebay Debate

By: Jazz Record Collecting Online: A History and Personal Memoir (P.S.: Comments are Back!) | Deep Groove Mono

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 03:38:15 +0000

[…] Larry Cohn—responsible for much of the content in Fred Cohen’s Blue Note collecting guide—responded to a newsletter that addressed eBay’s effect on the collector market. Cohn firmly believed that the absurd high bids covered by Perlman on his blog were outliers that […]

By: Anders Wallinder (Shaft)

Anders Wallinder (Shaft) — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 07:30:48 +0000

Hmm this makes for an interesting read in 2021. Who was right and who was wrong 😉
Well the market has only gone up. Interest in vintage jazz LPs and Audiophile editions continue to rise.

However there is the Discogs factor that was not prevalent in 2011 in the same way as today. Ebay’s role has diminished but the international interest in Vintage Jazz LP’s has certainly not.

By: Christian Kiel

Christian Kiel — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:09:44 +0000

I do very much agree with Rudolf and his argument that the current high-paying collector group will fade away within a considerably short time. Which in consequence means I’m strengthening the idea that Ebay inflates the market in a way. I’m 32 years old, starting to collect the “everyone-wants-them” Blue Notes in Germany and next to never see people of my age in Record Stores with Jazz (i live in the countryside though). By my own way of listening to music quite frequently in mp3-form, it’s easy to imagine that a generation growing up with this way of music- consumation will certainly not spawn a great number of record collectors IN GENERAL, leaving the number of them collecting jazz records a tiny fraction. This will, most probably within 30 years at the longest, lead to the effect that even the scarcest Blue Note LPs should drop severly in prices, even on ebay, i imagine: On the one hand side, older collector’s items will flood the market, since their heirs will most probably not want thousands of records, the falling number of collectors on the other hand side will thus most probably get their records at a lower price. I absolutely can’t understand how people can regard the purchase of a 2000$-Record in this ligth a way of clever money investment, as Al i think sometimes supposes they see it. Which in the end leaves me at age 30-something at the moment a bit frustrated by the current prices combined with the outlook on probably never being able to regain the invested money. This may sound a bit “economically-only-thinking”, but for me at a price of above 45 $ every record i buy becomes an investment, though i would very much more like it to be simply bought for the music. For example, i very much wish to own an original copy of any of the Jutta Hipp Hickory-LPs, simply because I enjoy the music and it gives me a thrill that one of the earliest recording artist for Blue Note was a German Woman. But as the market for these LPs dictates prices I cannot afford at the moment, I definitely will not buy one since I’m sure it will have lost value in a range of hundreds of dollars when i’m in a far away future might want to part with it again. Thanks for reading, Chris

By: Floris Stehouwer

Floris Stehouwer — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:03:49 +0000

Young jazz collectors exist! I am 32 and have been collecting jazz and blues records for about 10 years now. I know several other collectors of my age too.
Ebay has triggered a price increase, for several reasons. First of all the entire world market is bidding on records now, where before ebay only a small and limited number of clients at a record store or fair would determine a price.
Secondly the US dollar collapsed so badly in 2007 and 2008, that is now a very good moment for us Europeans to buy records with our EUROS.
However, the best deals one obtains by building up a good network amongst fellow jazz collectors in your area, trading your double copies and buying collections when a collector from a previous generation passes away or needs money.

By: Another eBay Debate: What’s The Value Of A Dealer’s Reputation? | jazzcollector.com

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:40:49 +0000

[…] sparked debate with our chronicling of prices of high-end collectibles sold on eBay (see, The Great eBay Debate). We still believe that this, by far, is the most accurate depiction of the market, because it is […]

By: Mike M

Mike M — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:02:50 +0000

I think ebay provides a fair market price for anyone willing to take the time to seek out the best deal. I believe the “rare” jazz lps are often inflated by overzealous buyers, but there are many other great original pressing lps (including Blue Note, Prestige, etc.) that are reasonable on ebay. I have seen nice original copies of “Something Else” sell for less than $70. You can buy an original copy of “Black Byrd” (great jazz/funk) for under $15 easily. I used to buy late 50’s Blue Note original pressings from my local record shop in Houston for $50 (five years ago). It is still possible to find these types of deals on ebay if you are patient and have the time to do the multiple bidding. My only complaint with ebay is the fact many sellers only grade visually instead of actually listening to the lp. I do not like to spend more than $50 on a lp from ebay only to find out it has a skip or a lot of surface noise. At my local record store, I am able to play test the record at the store or return the record if it has an unforeseen skip. It is too much trouble to have to mail records back. Therefore, I usually try to spend less than $50-$75 a record on ebay and stay clear of the “rare” lps.

By: jazzcollector.com » Blog Archive » A $38,000 Bill Evans Letter: A $129,000 Trane Manuscript

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:44:36 +0000

[…] if he or she wants to participate. And finally, it’s a true worldwide market. Check out The Great eBay Debate for other opinions. But there are, we recognize, other places for jazz collectibles, and other […]

By: Dave Sockel

Dave Sockel — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:02:02 +0000

Great thread. As someone who started up building a jazz vinyl collection from scratch 5 years ago, eBay has been a godsend. I live in Atlanta, where I also have some retail options, but again, these are very hit and miss and I spend more on gas and time trying to strike gold.

I am about to try my hand selling my duplicates on eBay. Maybe I can catch some of that bidding irrational exuberance on my stuff.

By: sean

sean — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:07:13 +0000

Quote from Larry: ” around 1983 virtually all the albums would have been dumped by their original owners, since the Japanese dealers and collectors were paying upwards of $500 to $2,000 for many titles which previously sold routinely in the $20-$40 range”

Does any on here have personal experience of selling to Japan in this period of Jazz LP collecting? If so, what were the hot titles and this time in Japan? Does anybody remember the prices certain LPs were fetching on the Japanese market?

By: Al

Al — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:19:03 +0000

Re new countries. I mailed my first record to Lithuania today.