[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey all,
A lady on one of my (non-audio) forums husband passed away, and she's looking to find a new home for his record collection of thousand of albums. There are no record stores near where she lives (Milwaukee is the nearest city, and I'm not sure how far she is from there).
I'm trying to help her out. Anybody interested or have any advise would be greatly appreciated.
The records are all in boxes, stored vertically, safe and sound.

Thanks folks! 
Bob

Edit: She's in Hartford, WI .... about 39 miles from the middle of Milwaukee

[GentleBender]

Any idea of genres? That is a lot of vinyl! That may peak some interest or she could ship them to me to figure out. 

[Bob in St. Louis]

To quote her, "Mostly classic rock but there was jazz, and a very few classical".
She's going to get me some more info, and hopefully a better "count".

[woodsyi]

Unless she is willing to invest a lot of time to learn the market value of each record for its condition, she is better off selling the lot or in several lots on Craig's List.  Some collecter/reseller will drive over and make an offer, probably for less than a dollar per LP. 

If she can use tax deductions, she can also donate the bunch and take tax deduction.  Again,  if she doesn't want to work to figure out the value of each that she is donating, she can take up to $499 deduction each year without filing special forms.  If a good will charges $1 for the crappiest LP there, I think you have a legal position to valuate each record at $1.  It could be $2, $3 or $.50 -- whatever.  You need to document how many records were donated and how you vaulate them to be $499.  It may take a few years to donate and claim deduction. 

She may be sitting on a pile of gold or a heap of trash.  she won't know unless she educates herself to recognize gold.  Then she has to list, sell, and ship on E-bay.  Otherwise, you sell or donate them in a lot or in several bunches. 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Good words Rim thank you Sir.
She's actually considering doing an Excel Spreadsheet of them. 
So, she's willing to do the footwork to get their value it seems.

By the way, I did link her here, so she's following along.
Thanks fellas!

[thunderbrick]

Damn, if Elizabeth were still on AC she could be the appraiser/marketer/advisor.   

[Bob in St. Louis]

Where did she go?

[macrojack]

Unless she is willing to invest a lot of time to learn the market value of each record for its condition, she is better off selling the lot or in several lots on Craig's List.  Some collecter/reseller will drive over and make an offer, probably for less than a dollar per LP. 

If she can use tax deductions, she can also donate the bunch and take tax deduction.  Again,  if she doesn't want to work to figure out the value of each that she is donating, she can take up to $499 deduction each year without filing special forms.  If a good will charges $1 for the crappiest LP there, I think you have a legal position to valuate each record at $1.  It could be $2, $3 or $.50 -- whatever.  You need to document how many records were donated and how you vaulate them to be $499.  It may take a few years to donate and claim deduction. 

She may be sitting on a pile of gold or a heap of trash.  she won't know unless she educates herself to recognize gold.  Then she has to list, sell, and ship on E-bay.  Otherwise, you sell or donate them in a lot or in several bunches.

Another potential tax deductible option would be to donate to a public radio station. Many of them still use/play LPs and would be glad for the gift.

[Bob in St. Louis]

That's a good point too.
Just a thought.....would the potential dollar amount go up since the records would be going to a 'real' music place (that knows the value) as opposed to a charity that's essentially "taking stuff nobody wants"?

(Not sure if I worded that very well?) 

[woodsyi]

If she is going to enter names and titles on a spreadsheet,  she might as well  search her LPs at https://www.discogs.com/search/.  Enter the title and you can get all the information.  Assess the conditions of the cover and the disc and she can get an idea of what the LP is worth.  Sign up and she can enter the whole lot in her Discog collection.  It's a good place to start if you are serious about selling individual discs.  You may be obligated to "contribute" to use the site.

[woodsyi]

If she is going to enter names and titles on a spreadsheet,  she might as well  search her LPs at https://www.discogs.com/search/.  Enter the title and you can get all the information.  Assess the conditions of the cover and the disc and she can get an idea of what the LP is worth.  Sign up and she can enter the whole lot in her Discog collection.  It's a good place to start if you are serious about selling individual discs.  You may be obligated to "contribute" to use the site.

The more I think of it, she should do this with about 20 records that look to be in good condition (the best candidates for resale).  The result will more than likely show her the worth-littleness of most records.  It may discourage her from trying to find a hidden gem or two which will require a lot of time and effort with no guarantee of finding any.

[aldcoll]

+1 on the donate to a public radio station as two in my area do major fund drives with sales of donated goods and extras from the supplier's that want air play.

One of them also has a Beer tasting along with the sale.  Not sure which stimulated the other

Shop Local Support the Arts, be it hops or tunes

FWIW  Alan

[GentleBender]

Good words Rim thank you Sir.
She's actually considering doing an Excel Spreadsheet of them. 
So, she's willing to do the footwork to get their value it seems.

By the way, I did link her here, so she's following along.
Thanks fellas!

That is what I thought I would do when I scored a ton of vinyl. Over 12 boxes for $50! Then I began going through the endless boxes and found that no one wants old country music. You have to make sure you enter the correct catalog # to see the correct pricing before you can get into grading the cover and the media. I was committed and added many album catalog #'s to the database that were not there, until I had enough. I then picked the albums I wanted to keep, gave some to friends and sold each box for $20 so that I never had to look at them again.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks for the continued advice!

Best she can tell, she's got about 4500 albums.  

[thunderbrick]

I still think a local audiophile should drop buy and do a brief evaluation.  What about the TT?  Other gear?

Edit:  Oops! Missed the point about "all boxed up"     

[*Scotty*]

Bob, there are a lot of record stores in and around Milwaukee. She is only about a half hour North of Milwaukee on 164. She can take photos of the collection with her smart phone assuming she has one and send it these via email to record stores she has contacted by phone.
 She should get a few offers and for a collection this large and they should be willing to drive a little ways to pick up them up.
Scotty

[Bob in St. Louis]

I still think a local audiophile should drop buy and do a brief evaluation.  What about the TT?  Other gear?

Edit:  Oops! Missed the point about "all boxed up"     

She said her son *might* be taking the gear. Might.
If not, I may be here with a list of equipment.

[mlundy57]

Thanks for the continued advice!

Best she can tell, she's got about 4500 albums.  

Holly Smokes!!!!  Sure makes my piddly little 25 albums look like a grain of sand.

[SteveFord]

That's a lot of albums, all right. 
As for where did Elizabeth go, I got to wondering the same thing so I sent her a PM some time back to see if she was okay but no reply.
Back to the album collection.

[Jonathon Janusz]

Bob, I sent you a PM about this.  Hope I can help.