Are Vinyl Records Worth Buying And Selling? Are There Some Worth Thousands And Even Millions?

According to the US Magazine Variety, vinyl record sales where up a whooping 22% in the first half of 2022, defeating streaming music sales who only managed a 10% growth for the same year. There are even vinyl records that have entered the million dollar price range.

The number of album unit sales shipped rose 15.7% over the same period last year, up 21.8 million units (US$ 570.2 million value) from 18.8 million units (US$ 460.5 million value). But more important is the jaw-dropping 97% sales growth of vinyl records last year.

But what makes this number more jaw-dropping is the fact that this figure was dramatically skewed by the pandemic which forced the closure of most record stores for many months, although mail-orders thrived during the same period.

This is as compared to CD sales whose sales has been continually declining. More importantly, CDs are more expensive to manufacture. CD sales continued their slow downward slide, going from 18.4 million units (US$ 204.3 million) to 17.7 million units (US$ 199.7 million).

For a very long time, vinyl records was the dominant music and audio media but when cassette tapes were invented in 1962, they quickly started making vinyl records obsolete.

CDs or compact discs were invented in 1982 and in turn made cassette tapes obsolete. Then we know the rest of the story, digital music and music streaming became popular and is now increasingly making CDs obsolete.

But why the resurgence in demand for vinyl records? There are a few popular answers like vinyl record audio quality is much, much better than the other audio mediums. Another answer would be because of their size which allows for art like album covers.

In fact, there are art connoisseurs who treat album covers as pieces of art. To them, vinyl records are two art mediums in one: the music being an audio art and the album cover being a printed work of art.

The third most popular answer is that vinyl records evoke a feeling of nostalgia. Since many of the old music of the yesteryears have been recorded in vinyl records, they are like antique pieces or a piece of memory from the past both visually and in audio.

Do you know some of these famous music artists: Abba, Adele, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Elton John and Taylor Swift? Well, all of them have vinyl albums and there are other famous and lesser music artists doing the same.

According to the Guardian, a famous UK publication, demand for vinyl record manufacturers are so high that these same artists are competing with each other for the rights to have their vinyl record manufactured by the limited supply of vinyl record manufacturers.

According to a public statement by Ed Sheeran, his contemporary Adele has the limited supply of vinyl record manufacturers all cornered up that he’s finding it difficult to have his own vinyl records produced.

Additionally, other relatively young music artists such as Bruno Mars, Lana Del Rey, Lil Nas X plus other much older music artists such as Sting, Neil Young and Rod Stewart are doing the same.

As you can see, these are big time music artists no matter their age and they’re just a few examples of the music artists having their music record in vinyl records. Truly, it’s a good time to be in vinyl record buying and selling.

There are already plenty of old vinyl records which have entered collectible status. This is the reason why you should take good care of your vinyl records, because they may become collectible investments if they hadn’t already.

It might be a good time to revisit your storage spaces or your parents/grandparents if you hadn’t already done so. You or They might just have an old vinyl record that is already getting damaged because of your/their neglect in storing them.

You must avoid touching your vinyl record surface as your hands may have oil and other residue that can interfere with the sound quality of a vinyl record and might scratch or damage it.

Always use paper and plastic sleeves to individually separate your vinyl records from each other as the friction from each other might damage them. You must also take care to store your vinyl records in an upright position, not doing so might warp them.

Lastly, you must keep your vinyl records in a cool area. It is a known fact that even strong exposure to the sun might warp or even melt your vinyl records. 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit is recommended for storing them and 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit for everyday use.

Just in case you found old vinyl records in your storage space or just want to clean the ones you’re using on a regular basis, here are a few pointers on how to clean them:

1. If there dust in your vinyl record, don’t brush of the dust with your bare hands as your hands might contain oil and other dirt which might damage your vinyl record’s surface. Instead, use a record cleaning brush which is actually a good tool if you have vinyl records.

2. Use a solution instead of just plain water. You can buy a record-cleaning kit which comes with a cleaning brush and a special cleaning fluid. Alternatively, you can use a cleaning solution without Isopropyl alcohol as it can damage the surface of your vinyl record.

You can also use plain soap and plain water. There is however the danger that dish soap can leave a Film on your vinyl record. You can use Deionized or Distilled Water instead of plain water, and avoid using household cleaning products.

3. Follow the vinyl record’s grooves: Slowly run your brush/cloth along the grooves of the vinyl record either starting from the center of the vinyl record or on its edge, afterwards, reverse the process. Wait for the vinyl record to dry before putting it back on its album sleeve.

I won’t make my list of the most ”Most Collectible Vinyl Records” because many other online articles and videos when read and watched together can do a much better job. Simply typing the Google search term: “most collectible vinyl records” would be all that’s needed.

But let me give you an idea of how much certain vinyl records can fetch in the collectible market. According to hmv.com in their June 10, 2019 article: The 10 most expensive vinyl records ever sold:

The vinyl record of the music artists Wu-Tang Clan titled: ”Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” was sold for a record US$ 2 million. The album and the buyer of the album both have an interesting background. I highly recommend that you read the article from HMV.

Let’s say you went old vinyl record hunting in some discount shops and second hand stores but found only vinyl record album covers without the actual vinyl record in them. Are they worth anything?

Well, it just so happens that I found a good online article detailing how some of them can be worth a good deal of money. The article is from ratherrarerecords.com and is titled: ”are there albums where the covers are worth more than the records?”

For example, according to the article, an album by the music group The Beatles sold on eBay on 2018 for US$ 9,100. Approximately US$ 9,075 was paid for the album cover while the remaining US$ 25 was paid for the vinyl record.

As said, there are plenty of reasons why people collect vinyl records. The first is because of the superior audio quality and for the second and third reasons are for the art quality and nostalgia of which the record cover has.

Let’s face it, a vinyl record audio data can easily be transferred to another vinyl record, cassette tapes, CDs and digital file while an original vinyl cover is harder to duplicate because printed media leaves a “patina” which records the passage of time and makes it a unique object.

Vinyl records and even just their album covers are not only getting more and more popular but are getting more and more collectible. It might be time to check your storage spaces in case you find old ones which are worth some or big money.

This is because vinyl records have superior audio quality, have better artwork and with the passage of time carries with it the distinct aura of nostalgia, so much so that even new vinyl records of today are worth a good deal of money.