Value

The Exchange Value is the Relative Price

I wanted to know how much my collection is worth altogether and therefore took some weeks to mark each item in the discogs.com database. Below you find the result… a theoretical number.

Whenever I have to make a buying decision I merely ask myself: is this price worth it? Meaning: how much am I willing to pay for it. If I feel an urgent need (e.g. personal favorite, missing item to complete a ‘series’, third party recommendations) this could be a high amount. But is this justified? A quick look into the discogs.com sales history of the item reveals a reasonable price interval. But this is a look into the past! Another look into the actual offers by sellers may show a higher or lower price level. These are just price requests – never sure if the item will really sell for that price.

So it remains a complicated guess, a snapshot with a bias, similar to other investments in shares or whatever. Everything is relative and so are prices! My best guess for the exchange value is that relative price…

So here you see the discogs.com sales history (UPDATE Status: 22.09.2023 for 6.733 items): i.e. the maximum price historically paid for exactly these items in my collection:

Min €61.058 Med €147.133 Max €339.249

All items can be viewed also here: https://www.discogs.com/user/discodjcom/collection?header=1 (pictures and lots of information but no filters for queries as in my database here)

Exceptions from the value count

– super rare items, which have never been sold the real way on discogs.com (only faked prices to save fees …)
– unofficial issues/counterfeits/bootlegs (all such have been excluded from discogs.com – unfortunately they removed also some very rare promotional copies below, although they are 100% official, e.g. „in-house promos“)- as with other pieces of art the high-end items are rarely sold between the die-hard collectors and reach sometimes enormous prices ( check: https ://www.popsike.com ) which vary a lot:

– Madonna: Erotica 12“ pic €6.000
– Prince: original Black album EU €6.000
– Prince: 319/Pussy control promo CD €1.500
– Prince: Undertaker CD €1.000
– Prince: 51 hours 12“ €800
– Michael Jackson: Special Presentation Disc €500
– Prince: Hits & B-sides Vinyl album promo €300 (not listed on discogs)

Thoughts about Value

Do not collect „collectable items“ only!

I own lots of „sub 5 Euro records“ just because I want to create a certain environment (e.g. a year in special clubs of my youth, personal memories, creative side steps, underground sounds to avoid too much „mainstream“…)
It is widespread knowledge, that the most famous records of the most famous artists („the big names“) are most valuable. But it is boring just to collect Elvis, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd etc. for this reason.

Some additional value trend observations:

-1990s pop/rock LPs are on a high price level which is still increasing
-Roots of 1980s/1990s techno, deep house and D&B prices are increasing
-Oldschool rap and even electro rap prices are decreasing
-So is Disco and Soul…
-Promotional copies sometimes retail less than stock copies with picture sleeve

Value Statistics

Collection total value (5980 items with exception of super rare items)
(Status Sept. 2017: discogs.com, selling each item separately)
Total Value Max.: €144.714 (Near Mint condition), Med.: €74.115 (Very Good condition = less than VG+).

As most of my items are in VG+ to NM condition, a realistic average price is 70-80% of the max. value Of course this applies only for the value of single records, not considering discounts for larger quantities.This table shows the number of items and their cumulative value in € intervals: