Classical Music Rare Record Price Guide...?

[admin_exported]

So I have started to monkey with vinyl, buying in bulk and re-selling on...

Of course my job is made easier by the publication of The Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide, but it does not cover classical and I have been asked a couple of times by a gentlemen or two if I 'have any classical?'. And I do... I have loads, in a pile, unsorted, because I cannot begin to evaluate them... I have searched Amazon and there are classical rare record guides but they seem to be a few years old. Does anyone know if there is an modern authority and if so what it is called? There is 'Gramophone Classical Music Guide' but Amazon are not clear on what it is... i.e. does it evaluate records and give a monetary value or does it evaluate music and performance in terms of recommending the smooth from the rough....

Guess a trip to Gramophone's website might be in order....

 

[Anonymous]

The Gramophone Classical Music Guide is 'just' a book of reviews, and tends to only include the best versions of each work currently available, and so I imagine it would be useless for your purpose I'm afraid, albeit it is a great reference book for those people (like me) who listen to predominantly classical music. I'm not sure if I can think of any comparable reference books to "The Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide" but you could try talking to some people in the business? In London I can think of at least two - Harold Moores Records or there's one near Waterloo station, called Gramex I think. Might be worth trying to find out how they price their items.

 

[John Duncan]

The Gramophone Good CD Guide is only for in-print CDs I think, and is about reviews, not value. Nothing on either of the Gramophone websites (either current or planned) discusses this sort of thing either AFAIK. Perhaps AE has some insight...

 

[John Duncan]

(jinx)

 

[Andrew Everard]

Not aware of a collector's guide, but there are some used record dealers advertising in the back of Gramophone - may be worth seeing whether they have online lists of discs for sale as this may give you some idea of value.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the responses... ffish I did not mean to imply 'just' in the context that you have taken it, sloppy English, so apologies. I do enjoy classical music but in a very Classic.fm context and do intend to take the opportunity to familiarise myself... however a values book can also be a pretty good indicator of choice as well as a review publication (esp. if review publication is weighted toward CD's).

I will approach some of the dealers.

From my own investigations, there is a rare record guide that publishes but it appears to go in 2 yearly cycles...

(what are the photo size parameters? Sorry if this pic is too large).

the publishers actually operate through Ebay and I have had some contact... they have delayed the publication of the 2008 edition due to the economic circumstances (they imply global but maybe it has something more to do with theirs). I am not sure that I understand delaying publication of a 2008 edition for 2 years or that a publisher of prices can worry about circumstance and time affecting the values in their books (surely that is just par for the course?)... anyway I shall investigate further.

Thanks again.