The Downside Of Ridiculous Auction Prices

[Pete S]

Last week a copy of Bobby Williams went for a ridiculous price of over £300 on JM's auction when we all know and have discussed the fact that it's only worth a maximum of £150. Today there is a set sale list with the same record listed at £350. So because of the price it attained in the auction, does this now mean that all copies are worth £350? Of course it doesn't. But it won't stop people listing it until £350 does actually become the recognised price.

You might as well all use your price guides as door stops.

[Guest Officer Dibble]

Last week a copy of Bobby Williams went for a ridiculous price of over £300 on JM's auction when we all know and have discussed the fact that it's only worth a maximum of £150. Today there is a set sale list with the same record listed at £350. So because of the price it attained in the auction, does this now mean that all copies are worth £350? Of course it doesn't. But it won't stop people listing it until £350 does actually become the recognised price.

You might as well all use your price guides as door stops.

totally agree with you pete, far to many records have gone for ridiculous prices recently even though people know how many copies are about , this is verging on greed it's all well wanting a reasonable price for arecord but some people take the p**S , they get greedy then wonder why they can't sell them . Bobby Williams brill record but not £350 brill

[Harry Crosby]

Last week a copy of Bobby Williams went for a ridiculous price of over £300 on JM's auction when we all know and have discussed the fact that it's only worth a maximum of £150. Today there is a set sale list with the same record listed at £350. So because of the price it attained in the auction, does this now mean that all copies are worth £350? Of course it doesn't. But it won't stop people listing it until £350 does actually become the recognised price.

You might as well all use your price guides as door stops.

Never have been able to get my head round this one pete, it allways used to be the more copies came up for sale the lower the price? i understand some records are cming from personal collections so they have allways been over here but still very bemuzing to me

[davidwapples]

its so they can redusce it and then the probable buyer will think they have got a bargain as seller wanted more

as one dealer said to me , you cant haggle upwards

[Pete S]

It's not just that record, obviously, but as soon as people see a record selling for more than it should on auction, they seem to up the price. Now, I've just gone through over 100 really top quality originals for someone, I'm pricing up records like The Yum Yums which books at 800 quid on ABC dj, yet we all know thats because it sold at that price in auction - so I have priced it at 500 quid. Margaret mandolph, book price 500 quid because of auction, my price 325 quid. And so on and on...

[Garethx]

The price hike of the Bobby Williams 45 is a puzzling one. Manship's one was a demo, which is arguably a lot harder than the issue, which I maintain is not a rare record in any sense of the word. In fact, there's been a copy on practically every major monthly soul mail order list since I started collecting over twenty years ago (starting at around £10 on Soul Bowl in the early 80s) and the stream of issue copies shows no signs of abating yet. Is it in-demand as a dance sound again? I hardly think so. Great record, but £350 seems madness.

Pricing records according to what 'trophy-hunters' (not my words) are prepared to pay is fraught with difficulty. Take the Halo 45 mentioned in another post here yesterday. Sums in the region of £2,000 were paid by a few individuals to become one of the first to have and play the record, but once such people had it the price in the real world was much harder to gauge: a friend of mine found one in Washington DC a few years ago and actually had great difficulty shifting it at any price on his return to the UK. If a copy of Halo appeared on here priced at £2,000 it simply would not sell. The figures that rank and file collectors are prepared to pay should determine the price of a record rather than one-off auction results.

Edited May 16, 2008 by garethx

[Our Kid]

There never has been a proper pricing system in Northern Soul.How many stories have we heard about tunes being found in relative quantity and then being dripped out to maintain an artificially high price to fund the cost of this/the next trip to the States.

So it's rollox to start going on about individual prices when the scene has been rigged for a long,long time.

Power to any buyers elbow.It's the rush when it hits the deck that counts not what it's worth/what you paid for it.

Paul

[Jason S]

Take the Halo 45 mentioned in another post here yesterday. Sums in the region of £2,000 were paid by a few individuals to become one of the first to have and play the record, but once such people had it the price in the real world was much harder to gauge: a friend of mine found one in Washington DC a few years ago and actually had great difficulty shifting it at any price on his return to the UK. If a copy of Halo appeared on here priced at £2,000 it simply would not sell.

Really? Not so sure. The market for that sound/era seems to be growing - even on the funk board some people who you assumed were staunch '69-73' funk only collectors have started asking for the late 70's soul-disco funk stuff of late and it seems to be increasing. I'm sure there are still a few serious collectors who have the means to pay £2000 for Halo and would willingly do so...it's not like it really comes up these days and I'm sure a few who want it are missing it. Also, if one was offered most likely the seller would maybe go direct to a few sources that they knew would be more ready to pay than offer it here first. I get asked almost every day for this type of sound from all corners of the globe so I think it's maybe more bouyant than it may seem. That said not sure one has been offered on here before so it remains to be seen.

Edited May 16, 2008 by J-Brew

[Diggin' Dave]

It's the rush when it hits the deck that counts not what it's worth/what you paid for it.

True, but the less money you pay to get your wants, the more you'll be able to get this rush, so I still prefer buying records @ normal prices (or lower of course )

An upside about this high pricing is that you can mention "usually lists @300+, get it now cheap, only 250"

The big downside is that it's becoming more and more a waste of time to wade through the sales lists that pop up every day...

[Ernie Andrews]

Same with the Fabulous Dimensions- One goes on Ebay for $133 and a couple of weeks later people on here selling what I regard as a £25 record tops for £100.00.

I suggested a price range section on here where a number of prices would be given and then voted on by members over a 72 hour period producing a poll which would be the guide!

The downside of all this is that the credibility of the scene comes into question from anumber of angles. One being where dealers up their price on their site even though they had it priced 30 or £50 lower last week- The copy is exactly the same but the market has changed- Do we really want to treat vynil the same as stocks & shares - If we do its time to leave In my opinion!

Edited May 16, 2008 by Ernie Andrews

[Garethx]

Really? Not so sure. The market for that sound/era seems to be growing - even on the funk board some people who you assumed were staunch '69-73' funk only collectors have started asking for the late 70's soul-disco funk stuff of late and it seems to be increasing. I'm sure there are still a few serious collectors who have the means to pay £2000 for Halo and would willingly do so...it's not like it really comes up these days and I'm sure a few who want it are missing it. Also, if one was offered most likely the seller would maybe go direct to a few sources that they knew would be more ready to pay than offer it here first. I get asked almost every day for this type of sound from all corners of the globe so I think it's maybe more bouyant than it may seem. That said not sure one has been offered on here before so it remains to be seen.

Bear in mind this was a few years ago, Jason. The 45 was hawked around the usual suspects who already had a copy. Beyond them there tends to be a vacuum of people willing to shell out large swathes of cash on a sound that may either: 1. not work on the dancefloor; or 2. turn out to be not rare enough to demand such a pricetag.

Halo has undeniably become a bit more of a 'known' record in the interim so maybe might fetch the two grand mark again.

The period before it filters down from the handful of people who would pay £2,000 for a virtual unknown into the domain where the wider collecting scene becomes aware and receptive to paying a huge price is one where potential bargains are to be had.

[El Corol]

Viva la Revolucion!

Burn the price guides and lets round up all the dealers....imprison them, torture them and threaten to chop of their heads if they don't lower their prices and stop sticking relatively common records into auctions. Failing that, lets find the buyers who pay these prices and stamp on their toes and give em a right good telling off for ruining it for the rest of us!!!!!!!!

We'll fight them in the record bars, we'll fight them in the warehouse's

Come on who's with me.....the scenes ours for the taking!!!

We need more anarchy on this scene........if you agree wear a safety pin at your next soul night!!

[Pete S]

Viva la Revolucion!

Burn the price guides and lets round up all the dealers....imprison them, torture them and threaten to chop of their heads if they don't lower their prices and stop sticking relatively common records into auctions. Failing that, lets find the buyers who pay these prices and stamp on their toes and give em a right good telling off for ruining it for the rest of us!!!!!!!!

We'll fight them in the record bars, we'll fight them in the warehouse's

Come on who's with me.....the scenes ours for the taking!!!

We need more anarchy on this scene........if you agree wear a safety pin at your next soul night!!

Right behind you, figuratively speaking

[Guest Ivor Jones]

Last week a copy of Bobby Williams went for a ridiculous price of over £300 on JM's auction when we all know and have discussed the fact that it's only worth a maximum of £150. Today there is a set sale list with the same record listed at £350. So because of the price it attained in the auction, does this now mean that all copies are worth £350? Of course it doesn't. But it won't stop people listing it until £350 does actually become the recognised price.

You might as well all use your price guides as door stops.

Well Pete,they might list it for that but it doesnt mean it`ll sell though. And i`ve got a feeling theres gonna be a correction on the price of a lot of vinyl coming in the near future, if a recession does happen. I reckon its just got out of hand mate...........

we`ll see eh ?

best, Ivor