Popsike, is it still a valid guide?

[Andykempster]

Firstly, sorry if this is not the right place for this thread 

 

Would you consider Popsike to still be a valid source for pricing information? If so why not?

Personally I think it’s a bit out of touch but I could be wrong, what are your thoughts?

all the best, Andy

[Frankie Crocker]

About as much use as a chocolate teapot when it comes to pricing. The range of prices thrown up over a long period of time can confuse both sellers and buyers. Useful for estimating the scarcity of a particular record or the ratio of demos:issues. Interesting to analyse the bidding history to track major finds, heightened demand etc. Totally misleading to sellers who think they will achieve maximum prices for their records. Of some use in suggesting what to bid to win an auction. Like price-guide books, Popsike is of interest to us collectors but must be used with an open mind.

[Jnixon]

I still use it to get a flavour for what’s going on but it’s not much use if the last time a tune sold was 3+ years ago. 

Discogs is much less useful. May as well read Tolkien but all the info adds up to something if you look at both I guess. 

[Stephen Houghton]

Having checked popsike a few times ,it just gives you a roundabout price ,but what other forum can you use .I tend to check other sellers prices and price accordingly. Its just the same as selling anything ie car or antiques

[Soulman58]

I haven't bought or sold anything for eons.  But reading on here over the years Id say  it depends if you want a quick sale look at prices from the main uk sites and take 40% off, if looking to buy aim for that but be prepared to wait.

[Julianb]

Always look at the 'new to old' list. At least it gives the most recent prices

[Midnight Drifter]

I normally apply a combination of all of the aforementioned to get a feeling about a possible price, i.e. a bit of popsike (sorting new->old and high-> low), a pinch of discogs (sales history) and to round it up I check some of the UK websites.. 

[Jnixon]

4 minutes ago, Midnight Drifter said:

I normally apply a combination of all of the aforementioned to get a feeling about a possible price, i.e. a bit of popsike (sorting new->old and high-> low), a pinch of discogs (sales history) and to round it up I check some of the UK websites.. 

Only issue with discogs sales history is it never shows grading. They should change that really - it's kinda important.

[Midnight Drifter]

5 minutes ago, Jnixon said:

Only issue with discogs sales history is it never shows grading. They should change that really - it's kinda important.

Actually, it does show it, just click on the 'Last Sold' and then you will see everything:

 

[ShaunT]

The issue I've found with Popsike and (especially) Discogs as a UK buyer is UK sellers have seemed to hike a lot of prices up in accordance with the raise of US shipping. So if a records is, say, $4 the P&P will be circa $15. So suddenly if a record was going for £5, it's now £15 to match the US total cost. It's frustrating.

[Midnight Drifter]

True, those effects are difficult to incorporate. The same applies to the long-standing different price regime UK / US which certainly biases popsike and discogs prices.

[Jnixon]

51 minutes ago, Midnight Drifter said:

Actually, it does show it, just click on the 'Last Sold' and then you will see everything:

 

Well I never thanks for that! 

Not used it to buy or sell for six or seven years so that’s quite the revelation. 

[Graham Jarvis]

Popsike just reports on the prices paid on each transaction or sale, some years back I picked up a Motown record one of only 6 copies, the listing on Ebay was mispelt and I got it with no other bids for £50. As no other copies have ever been for sale on line before,  the irony is then if anyone searches on popsike for the same record  it's last sale was at £50!

It is not a site that values a record it just records the sale prices or provides an indication over time. As a particular record suddenly becomes popular and it's not rare then you can see the trend. It's unlikely a super rarity needs to be put on Ebay.

It's just a useful indicative tool for how many sold over a period and the prices paid at a point in time.

 

 

[Midnight Drifter]

Plus popsike doesn't show all ebay auctions for whatever reason.. over the years, I have witnessed a couple of rarities successfully being sold on ebay that never showed up on popsike. It's a mystery box..

[Merve]

26 minutes ago, Midnight Drifter said:

Plus popsike doesn't show all ebay auctions for whatever reason.. over the years, I have witnessed a couple of rarities successfully being sold on ebay that never showed up on popsike. It's a mystery box..

Could that be because of how the seller lists it ? Their information gathering tool might not pick it up if its got "Wigan Monster !!!" (or the like) as a pre-fix ?

[Midnight Drifter]

Could be an explanation but the ones I have in mind had title and label listed if I recall correctly.. 

Typos could be another explanation but pure guessing here from my side..

[Jnixon]

I’ve had buy it now sales not appear on popsike 8/9 years ago. Not cheap ones either 

[Andykempster]

I still always use it as a point of reference along with Discogs, manship price guides and advice from others but tend to find it a bit hit and miss

[Modernsoulsucks]

In this day and age you may as well consult chicken entrails.

[Merve]

7 hours ago, Midnight Drifter said:

Could be an explanation but the ones I have in mind had title and label listed if I recall correctly.. 

Typos could be another explanation but pure guessing here from my side..

Guessing here too mate ! The prices are all over the place these days wherever you look.

[Chalky]

Popsike has never bern a valid guide, too man anomalies and variables, the green eyed monster descending when bidding etc.

Your fillers have mostly remained constant price wise but anything of interest to many, any guide is out of date. You see a record sell for £200, the next seller adds £50 to that, they aren’t happy with the £200 even if 10 copies have sold at that. Having said that recent set sale history, be that list or dealer to collector, or the shop floor as we say when allowed again is about the best guide you will get.

Best thing to do is look at as many sources as possible, gather as much sales history as possible, take out the anomalies  

Any guide is good for reference though.

[Dobber]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bill-Cosby-Little-Ole-Man-Don-Cha-Know-45-rpm-Northern-Soul-Vinyl-Single/233812556553?hash=item3670507b09:g:fqcAAOSwOA9fzmcu
 

someone should show this clown a guide....any guide off this planet,cos the guide this chap is using must be from planet have someone’s arse out!

[Nick Soule]

Popsike has made a lot of improvements such as archiving BIN sales (they didn’t do this until like 2 years ago) and preserving sound clips to try to compete with the other eBay sales history archive, Gripsweat. I still think their site is clunky and I despise the autocomplete feature on their search bar, but it’s an important historical reference as it goes back to the early 2000s.

[Tricky]

Bloody hell thanks for that last sold tip.

How have I missed that