Vinyl is quickly becoming the most popular physical medium for purchasing music. If you’ve ended up with records you don’t want, cash in on that popularity by learning how to sell your used vinyl. Read on for a guide to the best ways of replacing unwanted vinyl records with cold hard cash.
Selling Your Used Vinyl Locally
Now more than ever, people are realizing the importance of spending their hard-earned cash locally. It is only through local support that businesses like ours can thrive—folks in this area have kept 7th Heaven in business for more than 45 years! Events like Record Store Day and RSD Black Friday put a spotlight on the unique and important role local record stores play in their communities.
But we’re not just here to take your money, we’re happy to give you cash as well! The Vinyl Underground is always buying used vinyl. In terms of how to sell used vinyl, we would definitely recommend you selling it to us. That’s like, the BEST option. If, for whatever reason, you just CAN’T make it in to sell us your records, there are a couple of other (worse) options.
Sell Used Vinyl Online
There are a few places online you could try to unload your unneeded vinyl if you’re so inclined. From eBay to Facebook, there are a handful of online marketplaces you might find someone willing to purchase your vinyl. Keep in mind you’ll have to deal with shipping your vinyl if you choose to sell online. This is an added expense and a liability because of the fragility and size of vinyl records. The inconvenience continues when selling your used vinyl online, simply because you will have to sell each item individually (versus bringing them to 7th Heaven and getting them all taken off your hands at once!).
All in all, we feel that selling online is an enormous hassle and you’re not likely to get more money when you factor in your time and shipping costs. MAYBE if you have a copy that’s super valuable, it could be something to consider.
How to Sell Your Used Vinyl
So, you’ve made the decision to sell Late Aunt Gladys’s milk crates full of old records. What’re your next steps?
Go through your records
First, it’s a good idea to give a cursory glance over your stock. Make sure nothing is broken or too damaged to be used. If you do have damaged records, you can always use them for cool crafts or decorations. It’s never a bad idea to research the titles you have—maybe there’s a real gem in there that could be worth serious cash. There probably won’t be, but you never know.
Things to look for when starting to sell your used vinyl would be the pressing number, year, country, and label; these can be found on the record itself or the cover.
Whether your copy is an original or reissue will also factor into the value, and you may have to do some research to figure out what you’ve got. Certain LPs, by nature, will be more valuable. Things like bootlegs of performances not released, autographed covers, and promotional copies are sometimes what collectors look for.
Condition matters
The demand will be a major factor in the offer you get for your vinyl, but the condition of your records is paramount—no one wants a record that won’t play. Vinyl cover and record condition is rated with codes. Sealed records are the best you can hope for with mint condition a close follow up. Used vinyl and their covers can show slight signs of wear or age while still being considered good condition. Most used vinyl that hasn’t been seriously mishandled likely fall into the “Very Good +” to “Very Good” categories.
Bring multiple records at once
Once you have it narrowed down to which you want to sell, bring ‘em on in. We recommend bringing in your whole haul at once rather than a few records at a time. We’ll take the time to go through it.
Most local record stores aren’t going to try screwing you over—we value vinyl in a way that gets you a fair price and helps our own business thrive. We will pay as much as we’re able based on the condition and demand of the records you bring us. It wouldn’t be good for business to rip off the locals, after all.
It’s that simple. You bring us vinyl, we give you cash. With the holiday season upon us, it’s a great time to come by—help our stock and help your pockets with some extra cash for the holidays
Are Used Vinyl Records Worth Any Money?
It totally just depends upon the record. If you’ve got a high-demand vinyl in mint condition, it could be worth some serious moolah. Most used vinyl records aren’t going to be worth much, though.
Unless Gladys was a vinyl collector herself, you probably don’t have any used vinyl worth a fortune. So you probably won’t get rich selling used vinyl (we sure haven’t), but it is a fantastic way to breathe new life into something that could be a treasure to someone else. You may not care for any of the records your Great Aunt Gladys left you, but someone’s bound to! And getting lunch money and helping a small business is a pretty sweet exchange for a box of used records you don’t want.
Instead of throwing them away and letting it go to waste, sell the records you don’t want anymore to us. You’ll get cash in your pocket that wasn’t there before, and someone will be able to purchase the record of their dreams from your discards.
Get started with making money on your used vinyl at 7th Heaven in Kansas City
We absolutely think selling your used vinyl locally is the best and quickest option. And we think we’re the best people to sell to, obviously. Not to mention after you’ve sold us your records and made a little money, you can head up to check out the best smoke shop and sex shop in Kansas City.