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Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
rec.music.{marketplace/collecting} Hierarchies
Last Update: 30 December 1995
Copyright 1995 by Ernie Longmire (Lazlo Nibble)
Additions, corrections, and inquiries to lazlo@swcp.com
Ernie Longmire, P.O. Box 93775, Albuquerque, NM 87199
See the end of this file for more detailed copyright info
The current version of this file is available from:
ftp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/lazlo/marketplace-collecting/
Thanks to the following for help and suggestions:
David A. Pearlman <dap@vpharm.com>
Andrew Russ <endwar@phys.psu.edu>
Jim Saxe <saxe@pa.dec.com>
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::: Questions Answered In This FAQ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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General Questions
G001 How much is my collection worth?
G002 I have a record/CD/tape with a drill hole/notch cut in the cover.
Why are records/CDs/tapes "cut out"?
G003 I have some items marked "Promotional - Not For Sale".
Is it really illegal to buy and sell these?
G004 I want to buy records from someone outside the US, but I don't want
to send cash -- how can I arrange payment?
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CD Questions
C001 Is "CD Rot" for real?
Some of my CDs are turning a bronze color. What's going on?
C002 What was the first CD ever?
C003 I have a mispressed CD -- it's supposed to be by Artist X but it
plays a completely different album. Is it worth anything?
C004 Why is it illegal to rent CDs but legal to rent out videogame CD-ROMs?
C005 Where does my money go when I buy a CD?
C006 What's the longest CD ever pressed?
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Vinyl Questions
V001 What is an RCA "Shaded Dog" record? Why are they so valuable?
V002 What is a test pressing? Are they collectable?
V003 Why is the Caine Mutiny soundtrack worth ten thousand dollars or more?
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::: General Questions ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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G001 How much is my collection worth?
Any item has two values: how much someone is willing to pay for it,
and how much someone would have to pay before you'd be willing to
sell. Therefore the only people who can really determine the real
"price" of an item are the buyer and seller.
It may or may not help to consult a price guide. Guide authors use
all kinds of techniques to derive the prices they list, but they can't
take into account local supply and demand, market fluctuations brought
on by reissues or changes in people's tastes, or retailer whim. Supply
and demand always trumps the price guide. Some really high guide prices
are the highest price that item brought at auction somewhere; just
because there's one person crazy enough to pay that price for the record
doesn't mean you can expect to find another.
If you're trying to sell your collection to a dealer and expect him to
pay you guide price on it, forget it. Even if he can sell the records
again for those prices, he's typically only going to want to pay you
half that price for them -- otherwise he's not making any money in
selling them. You can almost always do better in selling your collection