I hate to say this, but...

I've run across a few people asking value for their 45's and LP's. Just buckle down and buy some price guides! Duh.

victrolaguy: Stop being so nasty. It was a fair question.

I'm not trying to be nasty... but at the same time, I don't see you answering people's questions about record values. I however get out my price guides everytime I see someone on here asking the question, and will continue to do so. What I'm getting at? Well, if I hadn't got my first price guides way back in 1996, I wouldn't know half of the stuff I do about these older records. They are wonderful to have around the house, if you're a collector... and they have a myriad amount of information on all sorts of topics. I find that some people just need a kick in the pants to get motivated... and what you see in the first post is my virtual kick! Now, if you don't have a price guide, go get one.

I must say, we have had a few "one post only" people pop in asking about the value of records. Many seem to think their Bing Crosby White xmas records are going to see them into early retirement. My usual responce is that most records are only worth a dollar or two, unless its early and rare- which is the truth. And to check ebay for other examples the same. The problem with any price guide is that they tend to over-exagerate the prices often, but they are good references to see whats rare, collectible, and popular.
I don't have price guides for records, but plenty for antiques and phonographs in general. The ones here in Oz, are compiled with pictures and prices that dealers have on their stock- and not the price the item actually sells for. Many prices are way over the top. One has an Edison A100 disc machine priced at $2250! $500-600 would be top dollar here, and in the US, I frequently see them sell for around $200 on ebay. I do have another guide for "Art", which is a bit better. It's priced by auction sales that have occured in the last year, and is a lot more accurate- but still not perfect.
Anything is only worth what someone pays for it, so just because a record sells for $100 once, it don't mean the next copy to come along is going to fetch the same price again. you see this time & time again on Ebay.

You are 100% right! I keep mine around as a discography, and more often than not, use it just for that. Value is based on what someone will pay for an item, and what you yourself are willing to pay. It's also good to keep you from getting screwed on common record that you've, by some strange reason, never seen before. I use the Goldmine series of price guides... and so do most of the dealers in my area. It primes me for when I go to the shops. I'll at least know what to expect when I go to buy a record I want. The Goldmine guides are reasonable with value. HA HA, Bing Crosby! That was one of the most re-issued records EVER! Nice!

old collector wrote:victrolaguy: Stop being so nasty. It was a fair question.

Can't help it. I calls 'em like I sees 'em!

shane wrote:I don't have price guides for records, but plenty for antiques and phonographs in general. The ones here in Oz, are compiled with pictures and prices that dealers have on their stock- and not the price the item actually sells for. Many prices are way over the top.

What are these phono guide names? How often are they updated? Where can I get one? I'd be interested more in the unit guides than the records guides, but i'll take info on both if anyone has the info available.

The price guides I get are for antiques in general, but they include a few pages of machines, and are released annually. Theres usually 2 or 3 pages of gramophones/phonographs, and the same again for radios and a page or two of jukeboxes, and 1/2 to 1 page of records. The guide we get here in oz is Carters antique price guide, and there is Millers in the UK, which also includes machines. There is a similar guide in the US, but I cant remember the name of it, and Im not even positive it has machines included(but I'd imagine it would) Perhaps a phone call to one of the larger book stores might point you in the right direction. The antique guides aren't cheap though. The one I get is $130, but are worth it for me, because I collect all sorts of antiques. I've been getting them from my family for xmas since 1989, and they make an excellent reference library. Before this, our local library used to get the UK Millers books, and I'd just photo-copy the gramophone section.

Just an after thought too- for the last few weeks, I've been adding most machines to my "watch this item" list on ebay, and when the auction ends ,I copy a picture of the machine to my computer. Say a HMV 101 portable sells for $160, I save the picture as 101hmv160, and the date is automatically recorded on the computer. Im hoping in time to build my own price guide, which will show me exactly what price a machine sold for, and what condition it was in. Machines that don't sell, due to a researve or no bids, still get saved, but I dont include a dollar value at the end. When I get enough, I'll burn them onto a disc and delete them from the computer, and start again. I might even do a 1/4, 1/2 or yearly disc depending how many I end up with and how many fit on a disc. I guess you could do the same with records, or any other collectable for that matter, and with the amount of machines that pass through ebay in america, you'd probably have a great reference within a few months. I've only been doing this for machines out here, so I don't get confused with different dollar values etc.

Thanks for the info, good idea on ebay pricing!

I have also just found out that Bob Baumbach's book "look for the dog" has current price estimates for all Victor models.