A New Adventure in Jazz Collecting, Part 6
I was going to milk the suspense for a couple more days, but I changed my mind. I’ll cut right to the chase. I was prepared to sell Jason from Carolina Soul Records about 5,500 records. My strong preference was an outright purchase and not a consignment. Jason was prepared to buy 5,500 records from me and had the wherewithal to make the outright purchase based on the amount I told him I was looking for. He and his colleague Nate came up to my home in The Berkshires and spent the better part of a day and evening poring through the 5,500-or-so records I had put aside. The opportunity for a big deal was in place . . . .
. . . but we couldn’t agree on the price. It was as simple as that and it was all very amicable. Jason and Nate were great and we had a nice, easy rapport. Jason shared pertinent information about his business model and what he and Nate thought they could get for the records. I didn’t want to let the records go for the amount they offered and we were too far apart for a compromise. So, sitting in my living room with Jason, Nate and The Lovely Mrs. JC, I suggested we turn to Plan B. I would go through the records yet again, this time with the idea that we would do a consignment deal.
If I haven’t done so already, I should make perfectly clear that money was not the primary motivation for me. If I wanted to maximize the value, I could sell the records on eBay myself, or even do something here on Jazz Collector, where I could avoid paying eBay fees. But one of the main decisions I made was that I don’t want to be in the jazz vinyl retail business. What I really wanted was to pare down the collection and reduce it by a significant amount. This meant including a lot of really valuable records, but also a lot of records that would not necessarily be worth the effort on Carolina Soul’s part to sell on eBay. I understood.
When I realized that I wasn’t go to pare down the collection in the amount I wanted, I reset my priorities. I was never looking to make a financial killing, but when I was hoping to sell a large part of the collection outright, I loaded the package with a significant amount of the real high-end stuff. A few examples: Thad Jones and Sonny Clark on Blue Note. I had original pressings and later pressings, either Japanese or United Artists. In the original package, I included the originals for Carolina Soul. In the revised consignment deal, it was the later pressings. Blue Train: I had a New York 23 and a West 63rd. For the package deal I included the New York 23; for the consignment deal it is the West 63rd. Miles Davis on Blue Note: in the original package I decided to keep the 10-inch and sell the 12-inch. When it became consignment, I kept them all.
I was willing to sell a bunch of high-end records because it will give me a sense of how well the consignment process works. It was a hard call, but I included all of my doubles. I tell you, when you are holding an original copy of Soultrane, Blue Train or Saxophone Colossus in your hands and you know that you searched for years for those records, it is very hard to part with them, even if you have another copy. I’m sure Ruldolf can attest to that as well. Also, there were very rare collectibles that I just don’t listen to: The Donald Byrd on Transition and Jutta Hipps and Grant Greens on Blue Note are examples of that. My Jutta Hipp with Zoot is so clean, I’m hoping we may be able to set a new high for that record.
What’s next? I haven’t heard from Jason for a few days, but per our last email, the records may be going up for auction this week. I gave him carte blanche to list them as he wants, to grade them according to his standards, to use whatever language he wishes to describe them. After all, he’s the one in the business of selling rare jazz vinyl on eBay, and he’s done pretty well without me so far. Stay tuned.
I hope the sale is successful. Let’s be honest, the premise and intent of jazzcollector is about how much money rare Jazz albums are worth and how to interpret various pressings. To say”money was not the primary motivation ” is not truthful. I respect the hard work involved and don’t discredit the idea of getting the most money possible. The experience of being the seller, versus the buyer is a wake up call indeed.
Can you give us a ballpark of the asking price?
With some top albums (Mingus, Coltrane on Atlantic) I am still in the difficult phase of deciding which copy/version to keep and which to ditch. Of some items I have even four original first pressings, the US, UK, Danish and French. I cherish them all and often say to myself that I am under no obligation to sell.
At the other hand you can only play one. Why keep them all?
At the other hand, I can easily ditch a stellar record if there are tracks which are particularly annoying. Like Moanin’ and the Blues March on Blue Note 4003. The decision to part with this album was easy to make. I sold it and don’t miss it.
Moanin’ annoyin’? Geez, one of the classics of the hard bop era. Is that why it’s annoyin’?
BTW, I love Moanin’. I may be doing a radio show up here in The Berkshires and that was one of the records I played on my first taping.
Frankly, I cannot stand those two tunes anymore. I have had an overdose and now they annoy, or even irritate, me. I know this may hurt the feelings of hard bop adepts. My sincere apologies.
I had a discussion on this subject with the late Kees de Kat. He had the same negative feelings towards these two tunes. They have been pushed upon us ever since the Autumn 1958 concerts in Europe.
Rudolf, that’s funny because those same tunes ruin it for me. This probably explains why, despite my handle name, I have made no effort to secure the original. Love the rest of the date though…
I’m curius Al, You had talked with Jason about a price that was not “intimidating”. So there was a reasonably clear price-point for the records. What happened? Did Jason feel the records didn’t measure up? or did he change his mind for some other reason to come in with a lower unsatisfactory offer? I imagine it was dissapointing for you not to do the larger deal.
I get what Rudolf is saying…”moanin” and “the blues March” do sound a bit overdone..overplayed? Anyway would love to hear that actual numbers thrown around here…would be very interesting to hear.
The auctions for Al’s records seem to be going live right now! I just bookmarked a few.
Correction – “the actual numbers”
Short of selling the records oneself, individually over time, consignment is the only way to avoid getting ripped off.
Selling rare records to a record dealer is a race to the bottom. You are competing with families anxious to sell off the collections of the recently deceased patriarch.
Al, Carolina Soul isn’t selling your copy of Freddie Redd Shades Of Redd are they?!
If what I see on Carolina Souls offerings this week are any indication, Al I believe your records are now up for sale!
They’ve listed Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims, but interestingly only give the vinyl a VG grade.
Al, I applaud you taking the steps to downsize your collection. Most do not have the wherewithal to set aside (gulp) 5,000 lps for sale; that is so much work! I do wish that things would have happened in a way in which you could be DONE w/those records, checking it off your list. I also appreciate the positive vibes you sent out to the Carolina Soul bruhs, despite the inability to make the deal happen. Wishing you success on your consignments, this transition, and the next season of jazz vinyl sales. Whew…
Their grading may hurt casual traffic. I’m sure they don’t want returns, and this is a lot of volume to hit at once. But VG- may help me pick up 1 or 2 less-popular releases. We’ll see. There’s lots of time for the market to catch up to the listings. And there will always be guys like me looking at the 0 bid stuff with a gleam in their eyes.
Sigh, but Austin Record Convention is coming up in a few weeks, too….
I see some 250 great records at auction, most of them strictly graduated as VG, but they are surely in VG+ condition.