Here's the 4th English translation of our free booklet "Onban Domei"
Translation for page 17 this time,
Serial Column “The Thorn Path to Vinyl”
The 1st Episode: Fun and pain! “Vinyl Trial”
**********************************
When is the time you sell vinyl?
When you are needing cash, when your room becomes too small for storing your vinyl, or when your family complains….
I think there are various reasons. Nevertheless, it is necessary to organize your collection if you once decide to sell.
What a “fun” and “pain” it is ….
With the COVID-19 situation, some people have more time on their hands, and they may decide to view and reorganize their collection.
It is commonly called “room digging” or “home dig”. As you dig, you will discover vinyl that has been long forgotten.
You may have been considering purchasing a particular album, but by digging, you realize “I already have this”. You may be thinking, I’ll listen to these albums someday for comparison, but you end leaving it on the shelf … because of this, I sometimes discover an album that makes me think “Oh, I had no idea I owned this album!”.
I am sorry to throw a wrench in your “fun” feelings, but when you start searching your shelves with selling in mind, you may feel down about the tough choices you have to make. Enjoying music, especially physical analog records, is more of an “experience” than just listening. If I gently pull out an album from the shelf in my home (even if I forget I had it), it will bring back memories from that time.
“I went round the local recycle shops with my friend and bought it …”, or “I ate a great hamburger steak at that time …”. The vinyl itself brings back various memories, so it’s not only about the sound.
If you will be immersed in memories, you will feel like your albums as your own children and will be unable to sell anything. Therefore, let me give some advice to those who cannot decide whether to sell.
If you are once determined “I’m gonna chose albums to sell!”, you have to open “Vinyl Trial” by yourself (well-known with Mr. Hideyasu Moto’s manga, “Recosuke-kun”), and you must judge each album independently. For trial, I recommend you these “3 principles of selling vinyl”.
■ Do not listen once more.
You will think it is too good to let go of or you may grow tired of trying to make a decision. I guarantee with 99% certainty that you will be unable to sell.
■ Do not partially sell.
For example, when you decide to sell vinyl of a certain artist, I recommend you do not keep some of that artist’s albums. If you think keeping the best album of that artist, you will struggle with choosing one and you will be unable to sell anything after all.
■ Don’t look back.
There is no use crying over a split milk. If you really want it back later, you can always rebuy it!
In conclusion, no one really wants to sell their albums, if there is no reason.
Once you conger up enough courage to make the sell, cash is waiting for you, and everyone likes cash.
Some vinyl that you happened to buy many years ago, now has become high priced viny, or a matrix number that is not familiar with me means to collectors and it makes a vinyl price higher. Sometimes you will be unexpectedly surprised with the buyback price.
I am not bragging but our staff at Diskunion are the best at assessing the value of your album!
By the way, after reading this column, don’t reconsider selling the album that you have decided not to sell.
After selling your records, you will instantly receive cash and you can buy more music, or even have a great meal. You can live a fulfilled life, at least temporarily. But selling is about more than just the money. It also keeps great albums in constant circulation, so this allows future generations to experience the sound and artistry of vintage albums.
Selling vinyl means that you are a part of the history of that cycle.
Maybe this will make you feel better about selling your records … no way! It is painful!
If you notice, the same vinyl are lined up, that happens often.
Written by: Akira Yamanaka (The manager of Diskunion Shinjuku Rock Record store)
The founder of “Red Funk” which is the project to dig deeper into classic Soviet music.
Manga “Record Junky Tomikazu” and column “Et Cetera related to Records” are now appearing serially in the Mysound Magazine.
Comments