# What would you do?



## David born 1950 (Apr 21, 2021)

I am 71, live in Philadelphia, and find myself with (in paid storage) having accumulated about 6,000 classical music LPs (33 1/3 RPM), of which about 15% are opera. The balance are symphonies, soloists, concertos,etc. The condition is generally excellent. But, being far from affluent, I really wonder if this luxury of holding onto them is really worth it. (I pay about $45 per month to store them.)

Perhaps there are others in this predicament. Maybe not. Maybe some have some insights into this matter. I am throwing out this question in hopes of maybe finding alternatives to this 'dilemma' (I know that there are worse pains than this!)

Selling for a fair price is a possible alternative, as such luxury of holding onto them becomes more dubious as the years pass.

- David


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Hi David, welcome to Talk Classical. Do you still regularly take a bunch from storage home to play them? In that case the sheer joy of doing so could make it worth. If the collection is basically just stored forever, I would seriously consider selling it.

I know it's not easy to get rid of things like this. I had hundreds of books that I've been moving around the world with me for the past 40 years, even though I knew that I would not read any of them again. Last year I made the decision to get rid of them (donated them to a thrift store), and I never regretted it. The space they took is now used in a much better way.

My ridiculous CD collection on the other hand... Hands off, I still play them. Maybe not all, but to have the choice is already a brilliant feeling.


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## David born 1950 (Apr 21, 2021)

Yes, I do grab a bunch and play them. And that does make me somewhat happy, sometimes very happy (although I simply cannot get my head into Mahler's second). Life is funny in that logic does not always act as the more important component. A bit of joy melded with a bit of reality with the fact that this music is available for constant listening on youtube (but NOT for download), makes my 'necessity to keep these LPs' questionable.

Actually selling them becomes an exercise in frustration, made more so when acknowledged by the 'fact' that LPs are suddenly 'in'. (They ARE and then ARE NOT.)

Incidentally, how does one post one's facial photo? - David


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I've downsized my CD collection (never owned LP's) before. It was getting out of hand, with a lot of different versions of the same work, some I didn't even want to listen again. I've still got lots I don't listen to anymore. Don't know how you feel about each of your albums, but if you was me I'd be able to get away with less than 1000 that are essential. That way you may not need paid storage anymore. But I know the nice feeling of being able to listen to what you don't even want to listen to.


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## David born 1950 (Apr 21, 2021)

Yes, (laughably), I would STILL need storage for a mere 1,000. My efficiency apartment is a whole 12 feet x 13 feet (3 Meters X 3.5 Meters), so the options are simply not there. It is a bit like Manhattan, where the only way to put more is to go UP. Each 'footprint' space is analogous to an entity carved in gold because each square millimeter is so precious!!! - David


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

You living in a jail cell? haha. How about converting to MP3. There is software that does that.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

David born 1950 said:


> Incidentally, how does one post one's facial photo? - David


If you are referring to the picture under my forum name - that's an avatar. You can choose one (although you may have to have a few more posts first) on your profile page. Mine is Scottish actor Richard Wilson in his role of grumpy pensionado Victor Meldrew from the series One foot in the grave.


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## David born 1950 (Apr 21, 2021)

Oh, I did not know that one must first be authenticated as genuine (i.e., not a robot) on this forum. Well, since it is free, how much can I complain??? - David


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I would take my problem to the Princeton Record Exchange: https://www.prex.com/

But I would take care not to leave with more LPs than I came with. Seriously, they might send someone to your storage location to evaluate what you have, and you might strike a deal. It's their thing.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

When I moved into my new house 20 years ago I made the then painful decision to get rid of my LPs - well, most of them. I gave them to a local charity and don't know if anyone bought any of them or they wound up in the landfill. It's never bothered me, surprising even me. I did keep about 300 and haven't listened to any of them in 20 years. Last year I boxed up a bunch and sent them to someone on this site. Still have a bunch that are very excellent recordings in immaculate shape and maybe try eBay. But who knows if that's even worth it? Fortunately, with just two of us and 4000 sq ft, storage isn't an issue.


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## David born 1950 (Apr 21, 2021)

mbhaub, for the life of me I cannot understand how 'in' LPs are, once again. Are they? Or is this a nasty psychological conundrum which defies definitive definition? How many HERE have and listen to the 33 1/3 RPMs? Probably one or two. It seems that rock music is the winner here for the old-fashioned format. But, I have to admit that I do like to listen to them. - David


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

David born 1950 said:


> I am 71, live in Philadelphia, and find myself with (in paid storage) having accumulated about 6,000 classical music LPs (33 1/3 RPM), of which about 15% are opera. The balance are symphonies, soloists, concertos,etc. The condition is generally excellent. But, being far from affluent, I really wonder if this luxury of holding onto them is really worth it. (I pay about $45 per month to store them.)
> 
> Perhaps there are others in this predicament. Maybe not. Maybe some have some insights into this matter. I am throwing out this question in hopes of maybe finding alternatives to this 'dilemma' (I know that there are worse pains than this!)
> 
> ...


Welcome to TC - I am also David but born a year later, so I immediately relate to you!

I also have a large number of CDs and LPs in storage - I want to get rid of them.

*Selling them*: at various times I've tried this, but without really making much of a dent. If there is a second hand LP/CD store in your area, you can try that. I brought a number of my non-classical CDs to one in Nashville and sold them pennies on the dollar. To be honest, compared to the bother of getting them in a bag/box and lugging them to the store only to leave with about enough to buy myself lunch at the Mexican restaurant next door, I could have just thrown them away and saved time.

I also tried selling on Amazon/Ebay - and sold one (!) Led Zeppelin box set.

*Keeping them*: well, it's the lazy/easy way out. But psychologically it is depressing. I hate having the stuff, and since my listening is almost exclusively via streaming, makes zero sense. All of it is digitally stored on my computer anyway.

One of these days I will lug them to the dump.


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## David born 1950 (Apr 21, 2021)

To be more accurate: To hold onto them is, psychologically, a confluence, BOTH depressing and uplifting, (like a Mahler symphony). I pay the monthly storage as I think of my 'riches' in those records. (I am a film camera nut and have a treasure trove of film 35mm SLR cameras that is second to virtually anywhere.) My need to acquire such is compensation for my lack of a real career in life. (Am gay and childhood was more than miserable with my school peers.) We are, essentially, products of our upbringing. I would love nothing more than to get into the head of Derek Chauvin (although, politics is not appropriate here.) - David


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I got rid of the cases and sometimes the booklets of my 4000+ CDs and have kept them in sleeves. Amazing how little space they take up. In recent years I've got rid of about a third of my collection, condensing it still further. I do have a bit more living space than you, though.


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## Amadea (Apr 15, 2021)

Edit: Sorry, I've read CDs instead of LPs. If they were CDs, I'd suggest you to upload the content on an hard disk or use a cdcase in plastic but I don't think there's a way to do that with LPs.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

David born 1950 said:


> mbhaub, for the life of me I cannot understand how 'in' LPs are, once again. Are they? Or is this a nasty psychological conundrum which defies definitive definition? How many HERE have and listen to the 33 1/3 RPMs? Probably one or two. It seems that rock music is the winner here for the old-fashioned format. But, I have to admit that I do like to listen to them. - David


They are. The Berlin Philharmonic is releasing some really fancy boxes of CDs and also making LPs along with it. On Arkivmusic you can go to Formats and choose Vinyl. It's astonishing to me how many there are. And there are new cartridges and turntables out there - at all price ranges. I don't get it at all. I would never go back to LPs!


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## golfer72 (Jan 27, 2018)

The vinyl craze is insane to me. They have turntables for tens of thousands of $. All so you can hear the snaps crackles and pops. Ill stick with CD's thank you


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

I'm keeping my LP and CD collection. For years my collection was really just all over the place with over 3,000? items scattered to the point where I had actually purchased a handful of items twice because I forgot that I already had it. For about two weeks from Christmas Eve of 2020 through mid-January, my wife was down with COVID, and my teenage son and I had to quarantine. While my wife was confined to the bedroom with mild symptoms I cleaned the whole house from one end to the other and took the storage room and made it into a little office/library where I now have all my items carefully categorized. I don't just enjoy LPs and CDs for music but I also like them for the cover art, liner notes, the culture, and history. 

BTW: My wife made a complete recovery; and my son and I either had it and were asymptomatic, or never caught it from my wife, despite living in close quarters with only bathroom.


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

re: vinyl

I think that the thing about vinyl is that it lent itself to having a greater respect for the music. The albums had to be handled with care, cued up, played one at a time. Then you lived with the album for a week or two before you could get back to the store and buy more records. In the digital world it's too easy to switch from one thing to another; so it's become quantity over quality.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

David born 1950 said:


> I am 71, live in Philadelphia, and find myself with (in paid storage) having accumulated about 6,000 classical music LPs (33 1/3 RPM), of which about 15% are opera. The balance are symphonies, soloists, concertos,etc. The condition is generally excellent. But, being far from affluent, I really wonder if this luxury of holding onto them is really worth it. (I pay about $45 per month to store them.)
> 
> Perhaps there are others in this predicament. Maybe not. Maybe some have some insights into this matter. I am throwing out this question in hopes of maybe finding alternatives to this 'dilemma' (I know that there are worse pains than this!)
> 
> ...


I would probably donate it to music schools and or local libraries so that other people can access quality music.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Hello, David.

I appreciate your conundrum, and empathize.

I recently moved, bringing with me a rather substantial LP and CD collection. It was easier for me to part with hundreds of books than with any of the music discs. I found a consignment shop for the books, and though it isn't much I do still get a check every other month or so for 50% of the price the books sell for.

I am interested in downsizing my disc collection, but my affection for the objects runs deep. And I treasure the sound of vinyl. I've invested in a fairly decent turntable/cartridge/phono amp to complement my audiophile quality tube amp and speakers. I don't hear "snaps crackles and pops" from my well-cared for vinyl (even on many a disc fifty and sixty years old) and often the sound quality blows away that of any CD pressing of the music. (I suspect I too would not treasure vinyl if it were to snap crackle and pop as some say it does, and I sort of feel sorry for those who have such experience rather than the sheer pleasure of live, in the room with the musicians music which is what good quality equipment, fine vinyl pressings, and well cared-for LPs will deliver.)

I've spent much of the Covid year sequestered with my collection, much of it still in boxes from my move. (I've been limited in creating shelving space because of the social distancing thing and inability to visit area lumber yards for shelving wood). Still, I have a couple thousand CDs and LPs currently sitting on the shelving I salvaged from the old home. And because of the Covid sequestering I've been able to catalog much of the collection at the website Discogs, which allows for collectors to create a personal catalog with various opportunities for distinguishing genres, styles, composers, performers, labels .... Quite a versatile tool.

Millions of discs are currently listed at Discogs, and they are distinguished by their various pressings (year, pressing plant, remastered, reissued, etc.) so one can break down to a precise copy. For instance, there may be 50 to 100 different versions of a single disc, but Discogs has that covered. Still, there are many discs yet to add to the database. I've found that most of my rock and jazz was already on site, but the classical was not, and I've added a couple thousand disc from my collection into the Database so they are now accessible to other members who access the site. There is no cost to sign up.

I found it enjoyable to use this Catalog. Adding discs takes some time, especially for larger box sets -- typing in the database information, but the final results, complete with images of the discs and labels and booklets and packaging, are remarkable.

As well, Discogs is a sellers site. I have not yet opened a selling account, but I have purchased from Discog sellers. My aim is to eventually (after I'm completely catalogued) use the site for dumping off some of my collection. Not only do sellers make a few bucks, they know their music is going to a good home where it will be appreciated.

You might consider looking into this website and opening an account and adding some of your discs to the database. You might even get inquiries from members about willingness to sell something they've seen in your collection.

Meanwhile, I am also planning to go through each of the boxes of LPs I have (about 20 boxes in the garage space right now, what is not currently shelved -- I packed the boxes by label and have about 80 albums per box), both shelved and unshelved, and to cull out those discs I simply cannot part with, and to see if I can unload the others at one of the local disc sellers. There are a couple around the area, but again, because of the Covid, I haven't been able to explore and check out which sellers might be best to work with. Suggested here already was the Princeton Record Exchange, a legendary place well worth consideration. I suspect I can easily dump off 2000 LPs and maybe twice that many CDs and still have a substantial collection. I'm less concerned about making money from the collection than I am with having it reside in a "good home" where it will be appreciated. Record sellers can help with that, too.

So I empathize with your situation. Now that Covid is becoming manageable and now that I've completed the two shot regimine and am officially over the line for vaccination protection, I should be getting out more to explore this new area and check out some of those sellers. I suspect some of them may be willing to come to my garage and check out the discs.

If I find out anything valuable about getting rid of records in a useful way here in the Philadelphia area, I'll post back. Can't promise when that will be, though.

Meanwhile, just the other day I saw on Discogs that the Offs First Record is listed as 10 For Sale from $299.95 to well over $800. I purchased my copy direct from the record company, CD Presents Ltd., when it was first released, back around 1984 for about $5. My copy has a pristine like-new cover, all inserts included with the original shipment, and a disc which plays with nothing sounding like a snap crackle or pop. (I just played it the other day.) Discogs tells us that 202 members have this disc and that 406 members want the disc. The lowest it has sold for at Discogs is $100, the highest registered is 555.54. Since so many are interested in the album, I suspect that if I were willing to offer my copy for $200 right now I could undercut the current lowest seller, possibly find a buyer quick (since the WANT LISTS are watched carefully by Discogs and automatic messages go out to those interested whenever a new price occurs), and make a profit of $195. Not bad for a punk rock/ska record from the mid '80s. And that's just one record in my collection.

Here's a link to Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/

If you put Offs First Record into search box, you'll get information for that album. I see the CDs are selling for over a $100, too. Never realized the Offs would prove so ... valuable!

I've had fun collecting records for sixty years. I would like to continue having fun getting rid of my collection, bit by bit. I could never listen to everything I have one more time, but I plan to listen to a lot of it, perhaps one last time, prior to dumping it off one way or another. As long as my ears hold out.

Again, I'll keep you informed if I find out anything worthwhile from area sellers interested in classical LPs. Admittedly, rock and jazz move more easily, but there are still many a classical fan out there. Discogs presents evidence of that.


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## cybernaut (Feb 6, 2021)

golfer72 said:


> The vinyl craze is insane to me. They have turntables for tens of thousands of $. All so you can hear the snaps crackles and pops. Ill stick with CD's thank you


My two older brothers are vinyl fanatics, and keep buying ever more expensive turntables and cartridges....and speakers and amplifiers, etc etc etc.

I think it's nuts, but hey, it's their money. I listen to digital files 100% of the time and love that I can fit 5000 albums on a miniSD card that is the size of a fingernail:


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## cybernaut (Feb 6, 2021)

Coach G said:


> re: vinyl
> 
> I think that the thing about vinyl is that it lent itself to having a greater respect for the music. The albums had to be handled with care, cued up, played one at a time. Then you lived with the album for a week or two before you could get back to the store and buy more records. In the digital world it's too easy to switch from one thing to another; so it's become quantity over quality.


There is truth to this.


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## David born 1950 (Apr 21, 2021)

Correction: There are turntables going for HUNDREDS of thousands of USD. - David


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## David born 1950 (Apr 21, 2021)

Thank you for your comprehensive reply concerning this and other attributes to my original question, SONNET CLV. Philosophically, one can well wonder WHY a person who is prudent with money would opt to pay storage costs month after month, but I do and have no terrible angst over that decision. Life is, and sustains, more than being a repository of common sense and rational thinking. I have an excellent 1957 recording (Mercury Living Presence) of Bartok's Violin Concerto (Menuhin, Dorati, Minneapolis) which I truly treasure. Somehow, logic leaves the podium at certain times with less esoteric matters.

NO, classical music is NOT DEAD, despite the heavy metal and hip hop crowd's overwhelming presence. I cannot understand why those genres are so popular; even more, I cannot fathom just what constitutes talent in today's PC world. But sales data indicate a sustained interest in that garbage.

I had thought of Princeton long before I was advised on this forum. But they, with due honesty, warn people up front that they pay, really, next to nothing, even for mint discs. After all, people seeking bargains are their biggest customers.

I even have a 78 RPM album of my piano teacher's piano teacher (Egon Petri) playing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1 (I forgot the orchestra). There is a lot of stuff out there which never did and never will appear on CD because of economic matters. - David


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## David born 1950 (Apr 21, 2021)

Oddly, I posted a reply to SONNET CLV but it never appeared. Wonder if I did something wrong. - David


EDIT: The automated moderation chose to be moderate with me!!!! Thank you Art. - David


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Poooooooooof. There it is. For some reason the forum's software put it in the moderation queue for mod approval.

Edited to add: this is usually done with posts that trigger the 'possibly spam' safeguard in the program (like multiple links in posts by new members), don't know what triggered it here though.


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## David born 1950 (Apr 21, 2021)

I will be honest here: This conundrum does not surprise me, as, through my whole life, people have always had an excuse to demote me. The software is smarter than one would normally think!!!

Perhaps one phrase triggered this when I made a comment that heavy metal and hip hop were 'garbage'. I am, perhaps, not sufficiently PC for the software's demands. 

But one thing is for certain: Art is always there and he is as comforting and solid as a ROCK. - David


ADDENDUM: POST # 25 is NOW alive and well. - David Lyga


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

When I was a kid in the 1970s, I collected baseball cards, comic books, and _Star Wars_ action figures.By the time I got to high school I was no longer interested in those things and it all became discarded as a matter of house-cleaning. During the 2000s, my youngest son became a _Star Wars_ fanatic and decided to go to the local comic store and see if I could purchase some used _Star Wars_ action figures for my son to play with, and they were selling for a LOT of money. I told the guy at the store that I once had those toys when I was a kid and didn't know that they might become valuable when my mother was house cleaning and threw them away. He said that that is why they are valuable, because almost EVERYONE'S mother threw them away.

So one thing I don't want to do is end up slapping myself in the face someday because I disposed of my music collection. I never started a classical and jazz music collection as an investment. It came from a deep love an enjoyment of the music, as well as am appreciation for the culture and the history. I don't have any holdings in stocks, bonds, gold, silver, Bitcoin,or real estate. I don't have the investment capital, the intelligence, or the vigor, to follow through with any of those things. I have a modest retirement fund, my house which is still not paid for, and my cemetery plot which is the only piece of real estate I own outright. But I do know music and even if my music collection ends up being worthless, it's still valuable to me, and I think that that is worth something.


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## David born 1950 (Apr 21, 2021)

In life, the night is darkest just before dawn. However, there is no set formula to determine just when that 'near dawn' event is to take place.

Yes, there is always the hope that that massive LP collection will become valued and desired. But, when that dawn comes, I do not know. I am 71, healthy, and sometimes wise (sometimes NOT), but I can make no predictions as to whether holding onto this accumulation will be ultimately warranted.

(Now, if ART ROCK were to offer me about 5,000 Euros to deliver the records to Amsterdam, then further east to Kampen, I would consider the trade.)

Coach G; ditto what you said about comic books. In the fifties, we would buy them for 10 cents each. (Candy bars, then, were always 5 cents; 6 cents at the movie theater.) NOW???

My mother got sick and tied of the stacks of comic books and threw them away in the early 60s. Thus, one could technically say that her actions were not prudent. However, looking at the perceptions held AT THAT TIME, her actions were sane and valid.

- David Lyga


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

cybernaut said:


> My two older brothers are vinyl fanatics, and keep buying ever more expensive turntables and cartridges....and speakers and amplifiers, etc etc etc.
> 
> I think it's nuts, but hey, it's their money. I listen to digital files 100% of the time and love that I can fit 5000 albums on a miniSD card that is the size of a fingernail:
> View attachment 154294


Don't lose it - I'd be sure to misplace something that small!


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