Selling your records online takes minimal effort, and I make substantially more money vs taking it to a record store or putting it on Craigslist.Everyone shops online now. People donu2019t browse record stores like they used to. People want to buy from the comfort of home and not make the trek to and pay more at a record store vs the web. So when you take your records there to sell, youu2019re going to get a fraction of what theyu2019re worth vs online. Iu2019d do this only if you have no interest in the legwork and just want to liquidate them.I probably spend 5u20138 hours a week listing items, taking pictures, and packing orders. That little amount of time generally pays my phone and grocery bills, it makes for decent supplemental income. I pay $10 a month to print my own postage, and just drop of my orders in a USPS bluebox down the street to avoid having to make a trek to the post office.I can get packing tape, bubble wrap and packing paper from a Staples and thatu2019ll run me maybe $40 every other month, depending on volume of sales. I also break down cardboard and cut it to make own free vinyl mailers.Vinyl can be shipped USPS Media Mail - which will run you about $3 per record shipped within the US. With packing, each record is around 1LB. The price goes up about 50u00a2 for every additional LB, the maximum being 70LBS.Hereu2019s where you should sell your vinyl onlineAmazon handles roughly 50% of all e-commerce transactions, of any kind. If you Google an album, the Amazon listing generally will be the first search result, ergo, it would get the most site-traffic, and will give you the highest chance of selling.Tip: Log on regularly and lower the price of all your items to be the cheapest one available. It only takes a few minutes, and your sales will go up.Pros:Seller Account is free - listing any record is free, youu2019re only charged a commission fee once an item sells.Quick to list an item - you look it up in the database, select the condition, set the price and youu2019re done. Generally takes about 60 seconds and item.No Photography required - Amazon uses stock photos for the listings. You do have the option of uploading a photo if you wish.Unlimited listings - Got 4000 records and a spare room with a bunch of shelves? I havenu2019t made a fortune overnight, but Iu2019ve made a few hundred bucks every month for my efforts if I continuously keep prices low.Listings donu2019t expire - Iu2019ve had items in my inventory for years before they sold, and no fees were incurred waiting on said item to sell.From my own experience, if you list the same record on Amazon/eBay/Discogs - it will generally sell for the highest amount on Amazon.Cons:Easy to lose your selling account if youu2019re late on shipping items, or donu2019t respond to your emails within 48 hours. Near-impossible to get your account reinstated more than once. Your SS# or Tax ID & Bank Account are associated with your account. Once youu2019re out, youu2019re out.When order issues arise, Amazon almost always sides with the customer. Customer service is generally unhelpful, most responses are automated and generic. Itu2019s the price you pay for selling on Amazon, but the sales generally outweigh that setback.Pricing is more competitive on this site - if you list a record for $5.99, other accounts that have the same item sometimes have computer generated program that continuously lower there item 1u00a2 to yours, you may have to continuously lower your prices over a period of time. Because of this, you may see some records priced for 1u00a2. These are generally high-volume sellers who make a small profit from shipping on each transaction.Not as good for rarer vinyl- youu2019re restricted to only what can be found in Amazonu2019s database - so if you have some rare LP or an import, it may not be on Amazon, and you donu2019t have the ability to create a listing from scratch. If you do have an upgraded Seller Account, and only if the record has a Barcode, you might be able to add the item to their database. A lot of red tape.You may not be able to list some items in the database - some titles are restricted to premium seller accounts, which can be expensive and very difficult to get approval for.Similar items may sell quicker on eBay vs Amazon.Payment turnaround is about a week.If you use a Tax ID on your seller account, you have to pay/claim taxes on in-state orders.u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014-eBay can be equally profitable depending on what you have.Tip: Fill all 79 characters of your eBay listing titles with as much info as possible. Each word in your title is a search keyword. Try to include catalog number and genre. If you run out of characters, omit punctuation, your theu2019s & andsu2019s, or prepositions - to, with, in, on, atu2024 the word vinyl can be redundant and unnecessary because itu2019s already listed in the vinyl category. Example:OK: Alice Cooper u200eu2024 Love It To Death Vinyl RecordWay Better: Alice Cooper u200eLove It To Death LP Straight WS 1883 Rock 1971 Exposed ThumbPros:Pricing things cheap on eBay will often move product much quicker than on Amazon.Ability to create your own listings - this is great if you have something rare or an import.Auctions are great for rare or desired records. You might get people in a bidding war and will drive up the final sale price. I sold David Bowieu2019s first album for about $250 as an auction on eBay.Payment is instant if you have your items as a Buy-It-Now.Selling lots - Instead of listing a bunch of $5 records, do lots of 5 for $25, or an auction. If you curate the lots, they will sell. Donu2019t do a bunch of random records, that doesnu2019t work. Make lots of Jazz, Rock, Metal, Folk, or by Decade, Record Label.Customer service is a little better than Amazon, and itu2019s not as easy to lose your account, and itu2019s easier to get a suspended account reinstated.You donu2019t have to pra SS# or Tax ID to be a seller on eBay.Cons:More fees vs Amazon - eBay will generally give you about 100 free listings a month, but after that, listing each record, regardless if it sells or not, will cost you 35u00a2. Ebay does email promotions once a month offer additional free listings.Transactions are done through Paypal, which is a bit of a restriction.Selling limits - depending on whether or not your account is brand new or if youu2019re an established seller, you get a finite amount of listings per month. For myself, I can only list 270 vinyl per month or - a few thousand dollars in sales - whatever comes first. With Amazon, your potential is limitless.Bargain mentality - people will more often want to haggle on eBay because thatu2019s sort of the culture of that website. No one ever contacted me on Amazon and made an offer on my listings. Youu2019ll get a lot of lowball offers from potential buyers on eBay. If you select the Best Offer option, youu2019ll see what I mean. I personally do not use it.Takes longer to list an item - where it might take 60 seconds on Amazon, itu2019ll take few minutes per item on eBay. I have to write the title, take and upload photos and click on a bunch of other presets vs listing on Amazon where itu2019s way more streamlined.u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014u2014Discogs is also a great website to sell records - it caters more to audiophiles and serious collectors.Tip: Look for rare vinyl or local music vinyl releases that might end up at a Goodwill or estate sale, and add them to the Discogs database. Someone out there may be constantly visiting Discogs looking for that odd record some local band put out 20 years ago and only made 100 copies and was never professionally distributed. These can go for a high price.Pros:Ability to create new releases - this is great if I have something rare. Chances are it already exists in the Discogs database, which is far more comprehensive that Amazon or eBay. I regularly add rare titles to Discogs and sell them, vs trying it on eBay. People spend more time looking for specific versions of albums on Discogs, and the layout leads people to those specific versions much better that other websites.High priced sales for rare items - on average rarer tapes sell faster and for a higher value on Discogs compared to Amazon/eBayAbility to accept payments like Check or Cash - while that may not be a plus for everyone, I do get a number of Discogs orders where someone just mails me cash or a money order. Cash is risky for the buyer though, they have no way to track if it ever arrives to a seller if they just use a stamped envelope.The commission fees are lower on Discogs than than Amazon/eBayCons:Not the best website for common vinyl titles. Your Bruce Springsteens, Barbara Streisands and Toni Braxtons arenu2019t going to sell nearly as well vs Amazon / eBay - those sorts of records sell at a slower pace on Discogs.Less site-traffic - Discogs doesnu2019t get nearly as many visitors as Amazon or eBay, but it still substantial.===========================================================Other Tips:Craiglist is good if you have cheap records, or a huge lot you wanna get rid of. Donu2019t waste your time trying to list single records. Or use it if you strictly wanna deal in cash transactions and not deal with shipping. Most people will wanna haggle the price. If you wanted to sell 50 records for like $20 - give it a shot.Free webshops like Storenvy are an option for selling your vinyl but these search results appear further down on Google, so they substantially get less site traffic. I would not advise paying for a monthly website to sell your vinyl, youu2019re just competing with the other websites who carry the same items and get more visitors.Record stores are resellers who have to make money too are going to pay you nothing-$5 depending on title and condition. $5u2019s gonna be for the rare stuff. Most of what you bring in wonu2019t fetch more than $1 per title. There are a few extenuating circumstances.Half-Price Books also buys/sells vinyl. They pay even less than most record stores. I only sell worthless records to them, if I want to get a few bucks I can use to buy something in the store. Generally Iu2019ll take in a box of like 20 records, and Iu2019ll get an offer like $4, if itu2019s all run-of-the-mill stuff. Unless you ask, they will keep all the records they didnu2019t want to buy from you, and offer you an amount on only what they wanted to pay for, and just throw those other items in their clearance section.Facebook Marketplace may be an option to sell vinyl - depending on where you are located.Donu2019t try to sell records that are heavily scratched, especially if you arenu2019t test playing them before trying to sell them. Since people canu2019t see/feel/hear the vinyl, youu2019re going to get a lot of returns & complaints. Indicating that your records have been tested, and mentioning surface noise and other minutiae will help thin out potential problems. The more you communicate and describe the item, the more money youu2019ll make. A good template would be something like:Used 12u201d vinyl record in Good condition - some minor scratches on record, test played, playback not affected. Jacket has minor wear.Always grade your used records lower than they actually are. Even if youu2019re properly trained to evaluate the condition of vinyl - everyone else has an opinion, and someone out there will complain on the most minuscule of imperfections, better to exceed oneu2019s expectations.Record Swap Meets happen all over the country, these can be a lot of fun if you set up a table, you might make a little money for the weekend, or trade for stuff you want. Same applies to Flea Markets, Sunday Markets or Garage Sales. People often look for records in these spots.Do not bother attempting to sell any of the following types of vinyl:Adult Contemporary, Classical, Compilations, Modern Jazz, 90u2019s Pop, Contemporary Country, Religious Music, Xmas/Holiday - this stuff for the most part worthless and has a low desirability.Goodwill and most thrift stores will give you a tax receipt for your donation, so even if you have worthless vinyl, you can donate it, and write it off as a deduction on your taxes.If youu2019re in a band and want to sell your own records - make sure you setup a Bandcamp account. Probably the most lucrative website to sell your own vinyl.The more sought-after types of vinyl are usually:Metal, pre-80u2019s Jazz, Classic Hip Hop, Funk, 60u2019s Psychedelic Rock, early Country, Colored Vinyl, Picture Discs, Early Punk/Hardcore, Japanese & Import Records, Ethnic Music, Experimental, Electronic, The Beatles, Progressive Rock, Rare soundtracks & 45 Singles.Please comment below/message me if you have other questions - selling records online really is a breeze if you do it right.
