How much records worth

As they are rather unusual and limited in production to just a handful of copies, test pressings are highly regarded and sought out by collectors. Sometimes, test pressings may contain different versions of one or more songs from the commercially released albums. This can also add to their value. We have written a more in-depth article about test pressings and acetates.

You can read it here. Records pressed in foreign countries are often of interest to record collectors. While most collectors are interested in records from the country where they live, a lot of them are interested in owning anything unusual by the artists that interest them. Most record albums are designed by record companies in either the United States or Great Britain, and most releases from either country are nearly identical.

Other countries, however, have been known to create dramatically different versions of records from the U. Sometimes, foreign pressings may have different titles, or different covers from the more common versions from the U. On other occasions, record companies in other countries may choose to press albums on colored vinyl. Many albums from Japan from the late s through the early s were pressed on dark red vinyl. These pressings are highly regarded by collectors for both their unusual appearance and their sound quality.

While many American Beatles records are worth a lot of money, so are those from Great Britain, as the band released records there prior to releasing them in the U.

Prices for foreign non-U. In general, collectors in the United States will always be interested, to some degree, in any foreign record by artists whose records they collect.

While limited edition pressings of albums are a relatively new thing, they are now quite common, with record companies intentionally limiting releases to a few hundred or a few thousand copies. In past decades, when records were the predominant format for selling music, record companies were content to sell as many copies as possible of a given title. In recent years, records have become more of a niche item, and record companies are somewhat hesitant to spend the money to master, press, and distribute them.

By producing only a limited number of a given title, and by making it publicly known that production will be limited to xxx number of copies, the record companies have a greater likelihood of having a particular title sell out quickly, rather than sitting on a shelf for a period of months or years. Sometimes, these limited editions are individually numbered, while most are not.

Sometimes, a limited number of copies of a given album will be pressed on colored vinyl, with a larger number pressed on black vinyl. In some cases, such as with the soundtrack album to the film Inception , all copies are colored vinyl and they are numbered as well.

Limited edition pressings by most any artist will have some value above the original selling price, as record companies are unlikely to issue limited edition pressings if there is no established market for them.

The exception to this would be records from companies that do not ordinarily release records, such as the Franklin Mint. Over the years, the Franklin Mint has released a number of recordings as limited edition sets, usually spanning many volumes.

Most of these recordings were also pressed on colored vinyl and the sets were marketed in mass media to consumers who were not record collectors. These recordings have little value unless they are offered in complete sets, some of which came with as many as records. Occasionally, record companies release an album or single, only to change their mind and withdraw it from general release. This can happen for a number of reasons, ranging from a corporate decision that may or may not have anything to do with the record itself, a decision by the artist to change the product after release, or even an announcement by prominent retailers that they will refuse to sell the record as released.

Regardless of the reason for withdrawing the record from circulation, such releases will naturally be scarce, hard to find, and in demand among collectors. More often than not, withdrawn releases will also command substantial prices on the collector market. Listed below are a few examples of record albums which were withdrawn from the market shortly before or shortly after being released to stores.

Angel — Bad Publicity — The album Bad Publicity had a cover that depicted the band having a raucus party in a hotel room. After only a handful of copies had been issued as promotional items, the album was withdrawn, retitled to Sinful , and released with completely different artwork showing the band in white suits against a white background.

Prince — The Black Album — In , Prince intended to release an untitled album that had an all-black cover on which neither a title nor the name of the artist appeared. The cover was replaced by a picture of the band sitting around a steamer trunk.

We have written an extensive article about the Beatles Butcher cover. Paintings have been forged, currency has been counterfeited, and unfortunately, so have many rare records. While there are many factors that go into determining vinyl records value, perhaps none is more important than the need for the record to be an original pressing and not a counterfeit pressing created at a later date to resemble the original issue.

Counterfeit records first appeared on the market in the late s or early s and while the early attempts were rather obvious and fairly crude, technology has improved in recent years, making many counterfeit records difficult for the layman to identify.

These titles were sold by chain record stores alongside the legitimate record company issues. If a record routinely sells for a lot of money, there is a good chance that the title in question has been counterfeited. Many albums by the Beatles, along with other popular artists such as the Yardbirds, Elvis Presley, and Pink Floyd, have been counterfeited.

In a few cases, such as the Beatles album Introducing the Beatles , counterfeit copies may actually outnumber the real ones. It goes without saying that a counterfeit copy of a rare record will have limited value when compared with an original pressing.

We have written an extensive article about counterfeit records. In the s through the mids, record companies kept close tabs on whether an album was selling well or poorly. Poor selling albums were usually removed from the catalog and existing copies were sold at a discount. Starting in the s, record companies took a different approach, and reduced the prices of slow-selling records, keeping them in print but offering them for sale at a lower price point.

Collectors often become interested in records that have gone out of print, and the prices for these no longer available titles can get quite high, depending on the artist and title.

In these cases, collectors are usually paying high prices simply to hear the music. In the case of some albums, which may have only been originally for sale from small record companies, these reissues might actually sell more copies than the original album. While some collectors remain interested in owning an early or an original pressing of a recently reissued album, there are others who are only interested in hearing the music, and will be happy to own a reissued version of the album instead.

Most mass produced records sold over the past 60 years or so have been poorly cared for by their owners. They may have been played on low-quality equipment, stored outside of their covers, and handled by their playing surfaces, rather than their edges. Many covers were poorly stored, leading to ring wear or splits in the covers. Finding a copy of any record that is more than 20 years old in such condition is quite difficult, and the value of a record can vary widely depending on its condition.

In the case of many records from the late s and early s, finding worn and nearly-unplayable copies of a particular record might be relatively easy, while finding one in mint condition may be nearly impossible. In the case of such records, a mint copy might sell for 50 times as much money as a worn-out copy of the same record. What does all of this mean?

Starting in the late s, the easiest way to find out about vinyl records value was to consult a price guide. Over the past 40 years, a number of books have been published every other year or so that list the value of certain types of records.

There are price guides for rock albums, jazz albums, classical albums, 45 RPM singles, country records, and soundtrack and original cast recordings. There are also specialty price guides for records from Japan, records by the Beatles and records by Elvis Presley.

While these guides have served collectors and sellers fairly well, the books are bulky, somewhat expensive, and have a tendency to become outdated rather quickly. Are they popular? Was this their only record?

What style of music does the artist sing? What is the title of your vinyl record? Is it an album or a single release? If you are interested in learning more about the four different types of vinyl records, please visit our Types Of Vinyl Records page. How does the sleeve look? Are there any creases, folds or signs of wear? Is the vinyl record still sealed?

Depending on how the record or records have been stored, there may be discoloration on the sleeve. How about the actual record? Are there any deep scratches that may affect the sound quality? Did your family often play the record or was it kept away? These are the types of questions asked when determining the condition. We are local in Cleveland, Ohio. Call Paul today at or send us a message. Let us personally inspect each of your records and make an offer.

We are a family owned business with over 20 years of experience in buying used vinyl records. We are the best in Cleveland, Ohio. We are knowledgeable, friendly and have a passion for great music.

If you think you may have a copy lying around somewhere, now would be the time to start digging. Though met with critical acclaim, neither the single or the LP sold particularly well at first. Did you think classical music would be left off of this list? Record companies would often enlist the help of relatively unknown artists to provide the album art for their classical and jazz releases. This particular album cover was drawn by a certain starving artist that was destined for stardom.

His name? Andy Warhol. There are only seven known copies of this record in existence. Half soundtrack, half dialogue recording, this record was scrapped when Herman Wouk, writer of the novel on which the critically-acclaimed film was based, threatened to never allow the studio to use his work ever again if they released the album.

Wouk was furious at what he saw as blatant theft of his intellectual property, since the B-side of the record was a recording of the climactic courtroom scene, lifted verbatim from his novel.

Columbia agreed to halt the release of the album and destroy all copies. A few employees filched some copies before they were demolished — there are rumored to be close to a dozen that survived. There were 25, copies of this single pressed.

In a story that since become punk legend, the Sex Pistols terrorized their label so badly that they were dropped six days after signing the record contract in a publicized ceremony in front of Buckingham Palace. The very limited Australian edition on translucent vinyl is said to only have 50 of its kind — though only a small handful have surfaced over the years.

The song references the assassination of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement, but Bono says he could have better fleshed out the lyrics. According to him, the Edge and producer Brian Eno convinced him that keeping the lyrics vague would allow the song to resonate deeper with non-English speakers.

Rumor has it that Olivia Newton-John hated the way she looked in the picture printed on the front of the disc so much that she had the record company stop the pressing. Between 20 and 30 records survived. Jazz fans rejoice! There were between and 1, copies of this record printed in , but a small variation in printing makes one particular version especially valuable. The story goes that famed jazz record label Blue Note ran out of labels when printing the record. In theory, the other version should be worth even more.

According to blues legend, Johnson met with the devil at the crossroads between Highway 1 and 8 in Mississippi. There, Johnson traded his soul for the ability to master the guitar.

There were only 15 copies of this record pressed, and the cover of each was hand-painted by Dave Buick, founder of Italy records. The copies were made for a Detroit record release show for the band in , as the fledgling band was on the incline, destined for stardom. Hopefully, you kept it safe. The record label that handled the release, Tiger Lily, was a tax scam operated by the mob. The scam worked like this — a large portion of records would be pressed and later written off as unsold.

A few of these records made it into the right hands and achieved cult status. The pressing of the record that is particularly valuable, however, is one that features a stencil rendition of the front jacket painted by none other than notoriously elusive street-artist Banksy.

There were only of these limited edition hand-spray painted versions made, with several different color variants. The record label decided to be cautious in the wake of the controversy and political turmoil and ordered the records destroyed.

You may remember this record from an episode of Pawn Stars. The price was deemed too steep for the vinyl, which was not in the best shape. One lucky Canadian record collector picked up a copy sans the Warhol artwork-adorned sleeve for 75 cents at a flea market, but this was no ordinary re-pressing.

The acetate record ended up being a test pressing that featured early versions of many of the songs — there are only two in existence, and one belongs to former Velvet Underground drummer Moe Tucker. Gordy ordered the pressings destroyed.

Soussan unscrupulously bootlegged the record and released it by crediting Eddie Foster as the musician. The record was a smash hit. Such is the case with this already valuable record. A few tracks were meant to be replaced before the release, but someone at the pressing plant missed the memo, and a few copies featuring the wrong songs were pressed. There are said to be less than 20 mono copies of the record and only two stereo copies. In a stroke of luck, the North Carolina seller of this extremely rare 78 RPM slab came into possession of the record at an estate sale.

He threw the record up on eBay and watched a bidding frenzy take place. There are believed to be only copies of the record in existence — both belong to the winning bidder, John Tefteller. The reason? However, by that time promotional copies had already made it to circulation. Evidently, the singer changed his mind about the record, releasing a CD version in At least one copy managed to escape out into the world.