When was the last time you even saw a vinyl record for sale in any kind of large retail store? This is actually a trick question and it applies to whether or not pawn shops will buy vinyl records. Let me explain.
There are some things that come and go in popularity. For instance, the rotary phone was the industry standard for years and while we will probably never see them in mass production ever again – there is actually a following for some of these phones for their aesthetics and retro cool-factor.
On the other hand, pagers were a huge rage in the late 80’s and early 90’s but you can take it from me right now, we will never see these things again. They will never be back and have long since been gladly forgotten!
But that having been said, what about vinyl records? Well these guys have a special place in a lot of musicians and music lover’s hearts and minds.
First of all, there is the argument that the sound quality from a vinyl record to superior to just about anything out there.
Secondly, they share that whole retro-coolness factor that a lot of older technologies do these days and that definitely makes them appealing to a certain market.
On the other hand, 8-tracks and long gone, have no coolness factor and you can all but forget about them.
Do you see the comparison I’m trying to draw here… some things are just popular and cool and vinyl records happen to be one of those things.
Because of that, there are a lot of pawn shops that will be all too happy to take a look at what records you might have laying around and see if there is something that they can do with them.
Just like records, pawn shops have gone through their own in-and-out of popularity phases and right now, pawn shops are HOT!
Because of that, pawn brokers want to have items in their stores that are equally hot and your records just may be exactly what they are looking for believe it or not.
But that having been said, not everything is cool sailings or perfect. Let’s dig a little deeper.
There are some pawn shops that will buy vinyl records, but you should call ahead and ask first.
Okay, so there it is, your expansive (or not so expansive) vinyl record collection. What do you have in it?
No, seriously, ask yourself… what do you have in it? Is it anything that’s rare or valuable?
Are the records and their holders in good condition or are they a little beat up? Do they even play still?!?
You’ve got to be honest about what you have before you get excited about the idea of a pawn shop handing your piles of cash for your records.
You see, just like all things, certain records are going to be a lot more valuable than other records, that’s just the way it is and there’s not much you can do about it.
While there are some artists or some rare prints that might be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars, there were millions of records produced that aren’t worth even a penny by today’s market standards.
That having been said, there are also plenty of records in between that may be worth a few bucks or more, so don’t lose hope.
Just know, that just because something is a record doesn’t mean that every pawn shop is absolutely going to fall over themselves to get their hands on it. However, for the right record in good condition – you might be looking at a TON of money!
How To Pawn Vinyl Records
So now that we’ve got that clear, let’s dig a little deeper and talk about some things you can do to pawn your vinyl records successfully.
Have The Sleeves – A big thing will be whether or not you actually have the sleeves as this can add a lot of value to the record, or on the other hand, not having it can greatly reduce the value and collectability of the record.
While we are talking about the sleeves, make sure that they are in at least presentable condition. This is not something that you really want to take a wet towel to, or expose to moisture in any way, but make sure that it’s at least relatively cleaned up and dusted off.
Make Sure They Play – If your record doesn’t play, then your local pawn shop probably won’t be too interested in it. Because of that, it’s not a bad idea to look at them and check up front to be sure that they play properly.
If you don’t have a record player handy that you can test the records out with, then at least make sure that they are free of any significant marks, pits or scratches as these will severely impact the playability of the record and therefore it’s value.
If the record is too badly damaged then you really shouldn’t expect a pawn shop to give you much, if any, money for it simply based on it’s poor condition.
A Word About Newer Vinyl Records
There is actually been such a resurgence in interest of vinyl records that they are pressing new ones at this point.
Now just like the older records, the condition will of course matter but something to really be aware of with newer vinyl records is that there have been some very limited releases that have been recently pressed that are worth unbelievable money.
The reason that I bring this up is that you don’t mistakenly think that just because the record isn’t old that it isn’t worth anything. That’s just not the case – there are some newer records out there that collectors just go nuts over.
Keeping all of these things in mind, you should hopefully have a good experience with your local pawn shop when you attempt to pawn your records.
