If an artist is not from the United States, collectors will often seek out records from the artist’s country of origin. 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.S. This should be obvious, but the artist in question will be a big factor in determining the value of a record. While tens of thousands of artists have released records since the invention of the medium, not all of them interest the public in equal measure.

This is another very overlooked factor when choosing to sell your record collection or even a single record. If you have a record collecting friend who is going to pay the top price for each record that you have then you might be able to realise every ounce of potential that your collection has. However this is rarely the case and many peoples motivation will be to clear some space from a loft or spare room. RPM Record Albums Price Guide Over 50,000 33-1/3 Record Albums (and growing) from 1949 to about 1995. In the 1960’s most of the earlier 1960’s Lp’s sold in Mono around 1966/67 even numbers of Mono and Stereo records were sold and in the late 1960’s most were sold in Stereo. So another great example is the very first issue from 1963 of Please Please Me by the Beatles, it’s worth so much more in Stereo than Mono. One simple reason scarcity, hardly any were sold in Stereo. Move forward 6 years and look at yellow submarine. This sold way more in Stereo than Mono. Which ones worth more… Mono. Again scarcity is what pushed the value up. The market for the rarest records continues to be strong. The rare 1920s through 1960s keys from Paramount, Vocalion and others in

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Reissues can often affect a vinyl record’s value dramatically, and sometimes, the price of original pressings can drop as much as 90% when a formerly rare album again becomes available as a newly-released record. Prices for foreign (non-U.S.) records can vary widely, depending on age, condition, and all of the other factors mentioned in this article. In general, collectors in the United States will always be interested, to some degree, in any foreign record by artists whose records they collect. In the case of records that are common to moderately rare, anything copy that isn’t in something close to new condition may have little to no value at all. Many of the people we’ve spoken to about records over the years have the impression that “old records” must be worth more than new ones. While the age can have an effect on a vinyl record’s value, it’s one of the less important factors. Releases from early in the career of a famous artist may have more value than those from later in their careers, particularly if they didn’t become famous right away. A good example of this would be the recordings of Elvis Presley. While his first five records for the Memphis-based Sun label sold reasonably well for their day, their sales figures were minuscule compared to those of his later releases on RCA, making the Sun versions fairly valuable.

As with acetates, test pressings are usually used for evaluation purposes by record company personnel, though they are occasionally sent out as promotional items. 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.One factor that’s of vital importance in determining a vinyl record’s value is condition, which we’ll discuss at length later. Because the condition of a record is held to be important by collectors, the ideal example of a record to own, in the eyes of many collectors, would be one that has never been played at all. Because of this, collectors will often pay a huge premium for sealed, unopened examples of records they are seeking. The topic of mono vs. stereo is a complex one, and we have previously cover that in detail in another article which you can read here. (new window.) What the “common vs. scarce” factor means is that the most valuable record by a particular artist may not be their best-known title, but rather one that was disregarded by the public and/or critics when originally released, making it relatively scarce today. A good example of this would be Music from the Elder by Kiss, released in 1981. Released after a string of best-selling albums, Music from the Elder had a different sound from their previous releases and offered no hit songs and no songs that regularly received airplay. As a result, the album sold poorly and soon went out of print. If you’re planning on trying to determine the worth of one of your records on your own, don’t let the task intimidate you – figuring out a record’s monetary value isn’t always as hard as it sounds.

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. Record companies do pay attention to such market trends, and today, it’s quite common to see newly-pressed reissues of albums for sale that haven’t been available on the market in decades. It also really important to consider how you want to sell your record collection. There really can be potentially two different values on a record collection. One is the individual selling value and the other is the bulk selling value. What ever type of collection you have I am always keen for you to get in touch. Of course I may want to buy your record collection, but I’m also happy to just offer some advice and options as to what you could do with it depending on your circumstances. Please do get in touch with me here. Exceptions to that exist; that can come in the form of artists who were never particularly popular, but who were influential in the industry. That’s true of artists such as Robert Johnson, the Velvet Underground, or the Stooges. None of these artists were very successful and their records sold poorly when new. All three were enormous influences on other musicians, however, and as a result, their records sell for surprisingly high prices today.Selling valuable vinyl records can be just as rewarding as buying them, especially when you know that your unwanted LPs are going to enthusiasts who will cherish them for years. Whether you’re looking to sell some Velvet Underground records you have, or you’re just looking to see what the potential value of your favorite Led Zeppelin album is, all it takes is a bit of research. Launched in 1987 and published bi-annually - the Rare Record Price Guide 2024 is the SEVENTEENTH edition of the World's most comprehensive guide to prices of UK releases from 1950 to the current day. NOTE: Because there have been millions of records issued over the years, our guide seeks to list only the most valuble ones. Our staff is working diligently to expand our listings. 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. When an album is reissued, the original vinyl record’s value usually falls in the marketplace. 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. Other artists may have had records with high values only during the time they were recording, with prices in the collector market dropping considerably after they finished their careers or when they passed away.