A New Adventure in Jazz Collecting, Part 5

On Feb. 4, 2023 I turned 70 years of age.

Yada, yada, yada . . . on Feb. 7, 2023 I sent an email to Carolina Soul Records to see if they would be interested in buying a portion of my collection. So, yeah,  you could say turning 70 was a bit of a tipping point for me. Why did I reach out to Carolina Soul as my first choice? We’ve all been watching over the past few years as they have come out of nowhere to be one of the premier sellers of jazz vinyl on eBay. They seem to grade the records fairly, they must have a strong coterie of loyal customers, they get good prices, and they keep getting these pretty amazing collections of jazz records. I also figured, with the money they’ve collected in some of these auctions, they might have the wherewithal to actually pay cash up-front for the records. Plus, there were a few comments on the Jazz Collector site that pointed me in their direction, alluding to their reputation for being “very favorable” on consignment payouts, as Clifford mentioned the other day a comment on the first article in this New Adventure in Jazz Collecting.

The next day I got an email from Jason Perlmutter, the founder and owner of Carolina Soul, which basically said “let’s chat.” We did chat a couple of days later and I told him what I was thinking: That I was ready to sell a good portion of my collection; that I expected a fair price, given the quality of what I had; that I would prefer an outright sale versus consignment; that the number I had in mind for what I expected to get in return was pretty high based on my extensive knowledge of the market. I asked him if he was intimidated by the number and he said he wasn’t, which was a good sign. I also got nice vibe from him. He seemed like a nice guy and someone I would be happy to do business with.

We made a second date for me to show him the collection on FaceTime. This was before I had decided what I would be prepared to sell and what I would keep. I told him up front that I was keeping virtually everything by certain artists – Coltrane, Rollins, Bird, Bill Evans, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday – but I had doubles of most of their collectible records and they would be included in the package. I also said I was keeping all of my 78s, not just because I like them, but because the market for them is so limited.

All in all, I estimated I would be prepared to sell 6,000 to 7,000 records, which would still leave me with a core collection of about 2,000 records, including my Beatles collection and other non-jazz records. I also let him know that this was a fairly momentous decision for me, which he well understood, and I suggested he move pretty quickly before I had a chance to change my mind. Jason’s reply: “Thanks, Al. Based on what you’re saying, I ought to make plans to visit ASAP!”

There we go with another exclamation point!!!

So, we started making plans for Jason to drive in his van from Durham, North Carolina to The Berkshires in Western Massachusetts for the possible sale of 6,000 to 7,000 records. How did he end up with 700 records in his van as he began the journey back home? Stay tuned.