[max190]

Had an estate sale at my mother-in-laws house this past weekend. My sister-in-law gave me a box of (24) old 10" 78 rpm shellac records. The majority of these are Victor that have a black&gold label. The others are Columbia, Decca, Brunswick, Mercury, Victrola, Rca Victor, and Premier.
I have no way to play these. Only 6 of them have jackets. Visually looking at them I do not see big scatches. The labels are in decent shape. They need a good cleaning though which I believe I can do with regular dish soap and water?

Really do not want to invest in jackets or try to sell on Ebay. Sounds like a PITA
Of course my sister-in-law thinks they are worth a lot of money What the hell do I do with these?

[electricbear]

Find out who in GAS is running a set up that can do 78s. Clean the lps and invite yourself over to their house to give them a whirl. Wine is generally a good bribe. They probably have little monetary value so you might as well enjoy the music on them.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Any time I'm trying to sell something, the first thing I do is to find one of what I'm selling, and see what they're going for on the open market.
Just an idea for a starting point.

[max190]

Find out who in GAS is running a set up that can do 78s. Clean the lps and invite yourself over to their house to give them a whirl. Wine is generally a good bribe. They probably have little monetary value so you might as well enjoy the music on them.

That is a good idea except for for the part of listening to them

Any time I'm trying to sell something, the first thing I do is to find one of what I'm selling, and see what they're going for on the open market.
Just an idea for a starting point.

I checked on a couple of them and they ranged from $3.00 to $8.00 but had to be in almost perfect condition.
I found this link http://www.icollectrecords.com/buy/. Sent them an inventory and they will respond with a formal purchase offer. 

[Scott F.]

Wine Scotch is generally a good bribe.

 

They probably have little monetary value so you might as well enjoy the music on them.

Generally speaking that is true. Unless they are obscure jazz or blues, you'll be lucky to get a buck a piece for them unless they are pristine.

That is a good idea except for for the part of listening to them

You'd be really surprised how good a 78 can sound on a proper, amplified system.