The first rule of record value is rarity. The second is condition. Ebay has introduced a new rule: competition.
A record is worth what 2 people are prepared to fight it out for. That particular record on that day. Not all copies of that record ever.
This week I bought on ebay a copy of Dee Walker's 1984 mod revival gem Jump Back! for £19. 4 years ago it sold for £111. What that means is 4 years ago one person thought it was worth £110 and another was prepared to pay £111. 3 weeks after that first sale, a copy sold for £56, probably to the buyer who lost out with the £110 bid on the previous listing.
In the last year, Jump Back! has sold on ebay for between £19 and £30. Once the very few people who really want a record have it, the long-term value settles.
I used to work in a second-hand record shop buying records from the public. Sellers would often bargain with, "But it's worth £50 on ebay." The correct answer to that is: "Sell it on ebay, then. Remember ebay charge you to do that and you've got to take it to the post office. Would you like to buy a record mailer or have you got some at home? You need to clean it as well. It's not in great condition. You should buy some lighter fluid and an anti-static cloth. I can sell you the cloth for £6."
Dee Walker? She was a 22-year-old building society employee from Kent. Dance Network label boss Paul Bultitude said: “We can call her Dee. The mod scene needs a Cilla or a Sandy.”
Paul Bevoir wrote Jump Back! “a groovy dance song along the lines of The Locomotion.”
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