I have over 4,000 albums on my NAS, no CDs and about 10 signed LPs. It’s rather liberating not being bogged down by stuff. I’d be more concerned about my two teddy bears from childhood than the stereo and music files.
I’m leaving my collection to the nation…
I must admit, this is the way I’m looking to go, Instant access, no storage hassle and has been mentioned elsewhere, just switch off, and that’s it, I must also congratulate you Nigel on your current system, it looks great, there’s a lot to be said for keeping it simple.
Best place for it
(Keep your knickers on, Phil fans - I’d think a lot of my ‘noise’ albums would go the same way)
Well, it’s not for everyone but it works for me. I don’t want to leave a load of stuff behind for others to deal with. Our music collections may mean a lot to us, but to others they are just a bloody nuisance. I ended up with all sorts of bits from my dad, pictures of people I didn’t know, a stamp collection, old coins, WWII medals and all sorts. It was hard getting rid of stuff.
The thing is your collection is just your collection. No-one else in the world will have identical taste. Best to think of it as having brought your music for your own enjoyment, and then that’s it. If it can go to a good home after then great, but CD’s (in my case) will have little value in say 20-40 years - Vinyls, who knows
I’ve already started to sell off various stuff that I dont need anymore, and know that my child will just bin when I’m gone, so at least I get the benefit now where these funds go into my HiFi indulgence pot. Loads of stuff gone from the loft. Last week I made 14p on a very plastic item which I thought was great as it got recycled, and I gained space, win-win.
Updating my will became a priority a couple of years ago following my wife’s sudden death at the age of 55. My stepdaughter has always shown an interest in my record and cd collection (along with my hi fi system) so she’s getting the lot when my time comes. We both shed quite a few tears when I told her. And I know she’ll cherish them.
Why not leave a token of appreciation to your loved ones?
Assuming that there is in fact a benevolent God and an agreeable after-life then I am planning a rather high-grade system for myself. I’ll take my music with me.
Good luck with that
I’ve had some time on my hands intermittently over the past 24 months and managed to get my collection of physical media into Discogs. Once I’d done that and seen the value, I suddenly bought into the importance of proper storage (i.e. placing outers on all vinyl)… when I’m gone it will go to loved ones and ultimately it will be up to them if they want to keep it or not.
I’m mainly streaming these days so thinking about selling my vinyl collection now while prices are good. Don’t want to have to move the whole collection next time I change homes and would probably use the money on upgrading the HiFi.
During lockdown I started cataloguing my collection in Discogs and discovered that, based on recent sale values, it’s worth almost as much as my life insurance policy.
I periodically remind my wife that, when I fall off my perch - and the odds are that I will predecease her by at least a decade - please don’t call the local charity to cart them away. First option should be to offer them to our kids (an almost certain no, but still), then to contact one or two trusted hi-fi dealers with an offer to sell them for a generous commission.
I realise that the incentive to do this will fade after all the Blue Notes and assorted rare records are gone, but a periodic cheque should ease the financial burden for a year or two.
I recently told my daughter that when I go she gets my record collection. She was quite excited by the prospect, or at least I think she was when she replied “great!”…
I know from experience that selling a collection is not easy and doesn’t bring the rewards that might be anticipated.
I recently sold my vinyl collection of 350 albums all in mint condition. I put together a spreadsheet and sent it off to about 10 dealers.
Responses varied from cherry picking a few, to a common I haven’t got the cash at the moment to offers ranging from £600 - £800.
I know a few were rare and discogs might have been a route but that is time consuming and it is based on the fact that there is someone out there who wants that album despite the price discogs might say it’s worth. Plus I wanted to get rid of the lot.
Here is a reality check for those looking to sell their CDs and vinyl as a collection. This is what you might get, on average, if you are lucky to find someone with the cash. Oh and all those Pink Floyd albums forget it a common response from dealers is we’ve got enough of them already
CD = 10p
Vinyl in good condition £2.5
Remember the stock market crash all those assets vastly over valued based on the market index (here discogs) which in reality are worth a fraction of their perceived value.
That’s a similar response I have had, can’t comment on LP prices, as I don’t own any vinyl, but the general ball park figure for a run of the mill CD 10p, common all garden artistes, not interested, got a shed full.
I’m glad I got shot of mine a few years ago. I sold some on eBay, and a load to Music Magpie, and gave hundreds to the charity shop. Now the local charity shop won’t even take them.
You sure it wasn’t “grate” ?
I have about 500 modern jazz cds. A decent collection which I have curated ( yeah… squeezed that nonsense in) over the years.
All Jewell cases gone. Paper liners and plastic sleeves.
I offered them free of charge and delivery to a well known specialist but there was no interest.
The daughter tells me that she will use them to keep the birds away from the soft fruit bushes on her allotment.
Collections of things are only worth what someone is willing to pay.
My late father collected model die-cast vehicles mainly purchased in the 70s 80s and 90s, most of which actually state on the boxes ‘Collectors Series’ to suggest an appreciating asset and to be kept in the box as ‘mint’, however pre-1970s die-cast model vehicles were mostly trashed as toys before getting finally binned, the few remaining and even fewer mint examples with original packaging then subject to interest from a large enough number of affluent older generation people with interest to buy them at market prices.
My father’s collection however contains nothing at all rare, mostly mass produced in China.
Plus the older generation who were interested are rapidly getting replaced with a younger generation with less disposable money and very different life interests. The result is a collection of old collectables that no one wants to collect any more, not completely valueless but worth just a tiny just tiny fraction of the original cost. I have seen such like in the bargain buckets outside charity shops for 99p each.
It’s more debatable if vinyl collections go the same way but like anything will depend upon the quality of the article, plus how the next generations of people develop in their leisure culture.